Rant: 8 years cutting primals wrong and a damn elk carcass showed me

I been breaking down beef primals for almost a decade. Thought I had the seam lines down perfect. Then last month a buddy brought in a whole elk he shot. Different muscle structure, different fat deposits. I sliced into what I thought was a natural seam and butchered a whole hind quarter. Took me 30 minutes of staring at the mess to realize I been forcing the knife through seams that weren't there on beef too, just following old habits. Anyone else ever get humbled by a new animal species?

2 comments

2 Comments

beth_green8d ago

Gotta admit I used to think seam cutting was pretty universal across mammals. Elk taught me real quick that's not true. I had a similar moment with a wild boar a few years back. The fat is totally different, more like a thick layer of lard, and the muscles connect in weird ways compared to domestic pig. I ended up with a bunch of uneven roasts that looked like a kid cut them with safety scissors. Made me realize how much I was just muscle memory following lines I thought were there, not actually feeling for the real seams.

kelly_henderson838d ago

How long did it take you to stop expecting the same lines you see on a deer to show up on an elk? I had a buddy who couldn't let go of the muscle mapping he learned on whitetails for like three years after he moved out west. He'd butcher an elk and end up with steaks that looked like they were cut by a blind man with a hatchet. Your point about feeling for the seams is dead on though. You can stare at an animal all day and see lines that aren't really there because you're expecting them. Its humbling when you finally realize you've been guessing the whole time.