Found a weird bone in a pork shoulder yesterday, had to look it up

I was breaking down a case of pork shoulders for the weekend special and hit something hard near the blade bone area. Turned out it was the scapula cartilage that had calcified, never seen it that big before. I spent 20 minutes on my phone checking old butcher forums and learned it's pretty common in older sows. Has anyone else run into that weird hard chunk and thought it was a mistake?

3 comments

3 Comments

calebc401mo ago

Man I had this exact thing happen during my first year as a line cook. Whacked a pork shoulder with my cleaver and hit something that felt like a rock, I literally thought a piece of the blade had chipped off and embedded itself in the meat. Spent way too long panicking and taking pictures for the chef before he laughed at me and explained it was just old pig cartilage. Made me feel like an idiot but hey, at least now I can spot it from across the kitchen.

jessej231mo ago

Whoa hold up, you took pictures and everything? That's next level dedication to panicking. I would've just stood there staring at the cutting board like a fool until the chef walked by. Gotta respect the commitment to documenting your own rookie moment though, right?

jamie_adams1mo ago

The chef ever show you how to feel for that cartilage before you chop?

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