Where does the name "Boston Butt" come
from?
In pre-revolutionary New England and into the
Revolutionary War, some pork cuts (not those of high value, like the
loin and ham) were packed into casks or barrels for storage and
shipment.
These barrels were
known as "butts." In the Boston area, the cut from the hog's shoulder
became known in other regions as the Boston Butt. The name stuck, and
today it is still referred to as the Boston Butt almost every-where in
the U.S., except in Boston, where it is simply called a pork
butt!
