Stopped by a butcher shop in Pittsburgh last weekend and noticed something weird

I was visiting a friend in Pittsburgh and walked into this old school butcher shop downtown. They had all their pork shoulders sitting on racks instead of in the cooler, maybe 8 of them just out on the counter. The guy said they let them rest at room temp for 2 hours before cutting, anyone else do that or am I missing something?

3 comments

3 Comments

aaron_mitchell1mo ago

That's a pretty normal practice for some old school butchers, especially with tougher cuts like pork shoulder. The rest lets the meat come up to an even temperature so it cooks more consistently and the fat renders better. As long as they're keeping an eye on it and the shop is clean, two hours is totally fine no matter what the health inspectors might say.

logan_mitchell1mo ago

Whoa, hold on, I gotta push back on that a little. @aaron_mitchell, I hear you on the old school thing, but leaving pork shoulders out at room temp for two hours is a gamble with bacteria that I can't get behind. Even if the shop is clean, the surface of the meat hits that danger zone way too fast, and you're rolling dice on whether it's safe. I've seen too many people get sick from stuff like that to just wave it off like it's no big deal. You really trust that the temp stayed under 40 the whole time?

leo_black761mo ago

Yeah, EXACTLY. People forget that the "danger zone" isn't just some random rule, it's based on how fast bacteria actually multiply. Two hours at room temp is like a buffet for that stuff, even if the place is clean as a whistle.