c/butchers

Watched a old-school butcher break down a whole hog in 12 minutes flat at the Iowa State Fair last month

He was using this beat up 8-inch scimitar and never even touched the saw, made me rethink my whole approach to splitting ribs - anyone else ever ditch their saw for just a good knife?

Beware of dull knives on pork shoulder, almost lost a finger last Saturday

I was breaking down a 30-pound pork shoulder at the shop in Brooklyn and my knife slipped right off the bone because I was too lazy to hone it. The blade caught my thumb, needed 4 stitches at urgent care. Has anyone else had a close call from rushing through a big cut without checking your edge first?

I finally tried dry aging vs wet aging a rib roast side by side

Last month I grabbed two Choice rib roasts from the same batch at the wholesaler. Put one in my dry aging bag for 28 days at 38 degrees and kept the other vacuum sealed in the walk in for the same time. I was really surprised how much MORE beef flavor the dry aged one had, like a nutty almost funky note that the wet aged one just didn't have at all. The wet aged one was fine, don't get me wrong, it was tender and had that typical beef taste you expect. But the texture on the dry aged one was noticeably firmer and the fat rendered way better when I cooked it. Trim loss was about 20 percent on the dry aged one which stung a bit since I paid $9 a pound. Has anyone else here done a direct comparison like that with your own customers? What did they say about the difference?

Had to choose between a whole hog breakdown for $4.50 a pound or buying pre-cut primals at $6.20 last Tuesday at the shop

Went with the whole hog because of the cost difference, but three hours into breaking it down I was cussing myself out over the time it took compared to just trimming primals has anyone else felt like the savings aren't worth the extra sweat?

Swapped from a push bone to a sheep horn for bacon slicing

Used to just use a standard plastic pusher for belly slicing, but after a trip to a shop in Portland I saw a guy using an old sheep horn. Bought one for $15 at a flea market and it's way easier on my wrists and gives me way more control. Anyone else ditch the standard tools for something weird?

Hot take: most butchers over-trim their ribeyes and it's costing them money

I was reading through some USDA yield grade data last night and found out the average butcher leaves nearly 8% more fat on the cutting room floor than they need to. That's like $2-3 per steak at current prices. I got curious after a guy at the shop in Austin showed me how he trims his Prime ribeyes with almost no waste. Makes me wonder how many of us are just doing it the way we were taught without actually checking the numbers. Anyone else ever run the math on their trim loss?

That time an old timer showed me how to save a brisket flat

I was trimming a brisket at the shop last Tuesday and an older gentleman came in to pick up his order, saw me struggling with a thin flat, and told me to fold the tip under and tie it with butcher's twine. He showed me right there on the counter, and it saved me from having to sell it as trim or grind. Has anyone else picked up a simple trick like that from a customer that you still use years later?

Had a customer point out I was hanging lamb wrong for the last four years

Guy comes in with his dad runs a farm up in Vermont. Watches me break down a hindquarter and just goes 'you're gonna lose a lot of the loin that way.' Told me the leg should be hanging with the aitch bone facing a certain way so the grain lines up for the chops. I checked my old training manual from trade school and sure enough I had it backwards the whole time. No wonder my racks came out inconsistent. Anybody else ever have a random customer just casually drop some knowledge that made you rethink your whole setup?

Old timer at the shop taught me a scary lesson about grinder temps

I had this guy come in last Tuesday to get a brisket ground and he just stood there watching me work. He pointed at my grinder and said "you're cooking that meat before it hits the pan" because I was running it too fast without letting it rest between passes. I thought he was just being picky but he showed me how the plate was hot to the touch after just 3 pounds of chuck. Has anyone else caught their grinder heating up from a long session?

Swapped to a half-round scimitar after using straight boning knives for 10 years

I been breaking down primals with a straight 6-inch boner since I started at the shop in Portland, but last week I grabbed a 8 inch half-round scimitar on a whim. It cut through those chuck rolls like butter, no more fighting against the curve of the blade to get the fat caps off clean. Anyone else made the switch and never looked back?

Finally got my lamb shoulder right after 4 tries this month

Been working on my lamb shoulder for the Sunday specials at my shop in Portland. Took 4 tries this month but I finally hit the right fat cap thickness and cooking time so it doesn't dry out. Anyone else struggle with lamb or is it just me?

My uncle the retired butcher told me to always sharpen my knives on a wet stone. I ignored him for 3 years.

I mean, I thought I knew better with my fancy electric sharpener from Amazon. Finally last month at the shop on Elm Street I grabbed his old stone out of the shed during a rush and tried it on a brisket knife. The difference was night and day, like the blade was cutting through butter instead of fighting me. Has anyone else had an old timer give them advice that turned out to be dead on?

Old timer told me my knife angles were off after 20 years of doing it my own way.

He showed me a 10 degree tilt on my boning knife that cut my trim waste almost in half on a single side of beef, and now I check my angles every morning before the first cut - anyone else had to unlearn bad habits that old?

That time I tried breaking down a whole hog with a dull boning knife

Last month I was in a hurry at the shop and grabbed a knife I knew was dull just to save time breaking down a 200 pound Berkshire hog. Ended up fighting through cartilage on the shoulder for 45 minutes and nearly sliced my thumb when the blade slipped. Has anyone else had a close call that finally got them to stick to a sharpening schedule?

That deboning trick for pork shoulder ate up 3 hours of my Sunday

I was working on a big pork shoulder order last weekend, about 45 pounds total, and thought I'd just wing the boning out like I usually do. Well, after fighting with the blade bone on the second piece for like an hour, I realized I was cutting wrong and had to rewatch a video from a dude in Kansas City. Honestly took me almost 3 hours to get all 4 shoulders clean, which is way too slow. Any of you guys have a go-to method for popping those blade bones out faster?

Found out the hard way that my boning knife was dull all week, so I tried that ceramic rod trick from an old timer

Spent Monday through Thursday fighting through a whole steer's worth of sirloin, then ran the knife on a $12 ceramic rod for 30 seconds Friday morning, and suddenly it was slicing through silver skin like butter, has anyone else seen that big of a difference from just a quick hone?

Debate: should you age beef in the bag or unwrap it?

Old timer at a shop in Denver told me to always dry age beef unwrapped for better crust. But my last batch of ribeyes lost almost 25 percent weight and felt like a waste. I switched to keeping them in moisture-permeable bags after that and got way less shrink. What's your take on aging methods, bagged or naked?

Why I finally stopped breaking down primals the same way every time

I’ve been cutting beef primals for like 6 years now, always did the same rib section method my first trainer showed me. Last month a customer at the shop in Portland asked for a specific Denver steak cut, and I realized I had no clue how to get it clean. The old timer who works next to me saw me struggling and just laughed, then showed me how to follow the intermuscular fat lines instead of forcing my knife through the seam. That was my ‘oh, duh’ moment. I had been fighting the meat for years because I was too stubborn to adjust my technique. Now I take 3 extra seconds to look at each primal before I start cutting. Has anyone else had to unlearn a bad habit after watching someone with more experience do it the easy way?

Warning about those new polymer cutting boards versus the old maple ones

I switched to a polymer board for a month because it was cheaper, but the edge on my boning knife dulled twice as fast compared to my 15-year-old maple block. Anyone else notice this with synthetic surfaces?

He warned me about the new supplier's short ribs

My buddy at the shop across town said their rib sections were cut too close to the chuck, leaving almost no cap. I didn't listen and lost a whole case to trimming. Anyone else get burned by a recent order?

Just read that a single beef carcass yields about 450 individual retail cuts. Found that in an old textbook from the 90s in my shop's back office.

Rant: The pork bellies from our main supplier went from perfect to flabby in just three months.

They switched their finishing feed to a cheaper corn mix in late spring, and now the fat is so soft it tears when I'm trying to skin them, so has anyone else had to find a new source this year?

Tried a new way to hang a side of beef and it was a mess

I saw a video where a guy in Texas used a single gambrel hook on a 600 pound carcass, so I tried it in my shop last week. The whole thing tilted and nearly dropped when the hook bent under the weight, which was scary. Has anyone found a good setup for bigger animals that doesn't risk dropping them?

Talked to my dad about the old block and tackle system at his shop

He was showing me pictures from the 80s and said 'we hung a whole side of beef with just rope, pulleys, and a strong back, none of these electric hoists.' It made me wonder how much of the craft's feel we lose chasing speed. What's one old school method you still use even though there's a faster way?

Just saw my pork shoulder yield jump 12% after switching to a new boning knife from Dexter

I was using an old Chicago Cutlery blade for years, but the thinner, sharper profile on the Dexter-Russell Sani-Safe 6-inch curved boner lets me follow the seams way closer, saving a ton of meat I used to leave behind. Anyone have a different brand they swear by for breaking down primals?