Coppa: Removing the shoulder blade and separating the coppa from the rest of the shoulder

The Coppa, or Capocollo, known by most italian americans colloquially –as well as Tony Soprano– as Gabbagool, is the muscle above the shoulder that runs from the back of the head and makes up the first part of the back of the neck.  This is how the shoulder comes if you purchase it at BJ'S and most likely any other local wholesale store.

I buy the shoulder or "Boston Butt" with the shoulder blade still attached.  I like to remove the bone myself being careful not to cut into the Coppa.  If you can locate the shoulder blade, the Coppa is the striated muscle on the opposite side of the Butt.

And this is me removing the blade from the opposite side.

Once the bone is out, make sure you check the remaining meat for any small bone shards you may have accidentally trimmed from the bone.  The next step is removing the coopa from the rest of the shoulder.  Try to find a logical place to separate the shoulder into two pieces. There should be a seam in the muscle, you want the Coppa to look somewhat cylindrical in the end.  This is what i came out with.

You can see the great fat marbling that makes this cut so perfect for salumi.  I trimmed it up just a bit before i put it in the cure.  Hope this helps with anyone considering butchering the shoulder themselves, trust me its pretty straight forward.  More on the curing process next time.