Rant: A 20-minute pork shoulder trim turned into a 2-hour fight with silver skin

I had a 12-pound pork shoulder come in yesterday that looked fine at first. Started trimming the silver skin off the fat cap, but it was fused to the muscle in a weird way I hadn't seen before. I kept going slow with my 6-inch boning knife, trying not to waste meat, and what should have been a quick job took me over two hours. Has anyone else run into pork with silver skin that just won't let go without a fight?

3 comments

3 Comments

angelar571mo ago

Ugh, how frustrating was that?

zara_kelly271mo ago

Wait, TWO HOURS on one shoulder? That sounds like a total nightmare. What kind of weird butchering left the silver skin fused like that?

bennett.noah1mo ago

Yeah, the "weird butchering" part is the key. My buddy got a pork shoulder like that once, it was like the silverskin had been welded on with superglue. He spent an entire Sunday afternoon just trying to get the thing prepped, and he's usually pretty good with a knife. It totally ruined his whole plan for a slow cook.