c/butchers

5

ross.river•1d ago

Best Friday I have had in a long time at the shop

Last Friday we had a local rancher bring in 3 whole steers from his farm near Bozeman. Everything just clicked that day, the ribeyes had perfect marbling and I only had to trim about 2 pounds of silver skin off one whole side. Has anyone else had a random day where the animals just break down easier than normal?

14

seanh91•3d ago

I finally visited that fancy butcher shop in Portland everyone raves about

Went to Laurelhurst Market last weekend and honestly I don't get the hype. Their dry-aged ribeyes were $32 a pound and tasted fine but nothing special. My guy at the local meat market sells me the same quality for $18 and will actually talk through what cut works for what. Am I missing something or are these trendy shops just charging for the name?

17

williams.amy•3d ago

Question about aging beef in a home fridge setup

I started dry aging beef at home about 6 months ago using a spare mini fridge. The first few tries were okay, but after switching to a dedicated fridge with better airflow and a fan, the difference was night and day. The earlier batches had a slight off smell, but now after 45 days I get that deep nutty flavor every time. Has anyone else had issues with humidity control in a regular fridge for aging?

32

noah917•3d ago

Hit 1000 pounds of ground beef in a single shift yesterday, my arms are dead

i don't even know how it happened. we got a last minute order from a local diner chain and i was the only one on the grind. 1000 lbs. my forearms are still buzzing this morning. has anyone else had a shift that just wrecked them physically?

13

campbell.logan•3d ago

Twenty years of trimming briskets and I just learned I was cutting against the grain the whole time

A customer at my shop in Austin pointed out how chewy my prime packers were and offered to show me his method with a $20 boning knife from a garage sale, now I feel like an idiot does anyone else have a basic technique they overlooked for years?

6

skylerc86•4d ago

Spent 10 years breaking down primals with a curved boning knife

Old timer at the shop said why fight the curve and handed me a straight one. Took me 30 minutes on a single strip loin to realize how much extra work I was making. Anyone else have a blade shape they swore by until a mentor called them out?

1

uma306•4d ago

Old timer at the shop told me to stop using a sawzall for breaking down primals

I was zipping through a whole beef loin last Tuesday and this retired butcher named Ed walks by and says I was making it tougher by using a sawzall instead of a hand saw. He said the vibration tears the meat fibers more than you think. I switched to a 12 inch hand saw for the last primal and the difference in yield was about 3 pounds more usable meat off that one cut. Has anyone else noticed a drop in trimmings after making that switch?

14

jana_davis90•4d ago

PSA: Wet aging in the bag is overrated for most home butchers

I was all about that dry age game for 6 months, kept losing 20% trim on primals. Tried wet aging a whole ribeye subprimal for 28 days in the cryovac and honestly the flavor was flat compared to dry. Anybody else ditch wet aging after trying it a few times?

7

faith_thomas•5d ago

I finally splurged on a $300 meat slicer and it paid for itself in a month

Honestly, I was tired of my arm cramping up from slicing bacon and roasts by hand at the shop. Found a used Hobart on Craigslist for $300, figured even if it died in 6 months it'd be worth it. That thing sliced through a whole pork belly in like 3 minutes flat last Saturday. The savings on pre-sliced stuff from suppliers already covered the cost. Anyone else take a chance on a used piece of equipment and get lucky?

27

the_skyler•7d ago

Tried dry aging my beef at home and it actually worked

I used to think home dry aging was a scam for most people. Thought you needed that fancy $2,000 fridge setup or you'd just ruin your meat. But a buddy of mine has been doing it in his regular fridge for like 5 years now with no issues. He talked me into trying it with a rib primal I got from a local farm near Madison. I used cheesecloth wrapped around it and a wire rack over a tray, changed the cloth every 3 days. After 21 days I trimmed off the crust and cooked a steak side by side with a fresh cut. The difference was way bigger than I expected, the aged one had this deep nutty flavor and the texture was way more tender. Anyone else here doing home aging with just a regular fridge setup?

18

the_sage•7d ago

Talked with an old school butcher at the farmer's market yesterday...

He told me to stop trimming my ribeyes so close to the bone because the fat cap keeps them from drying out on the grill. Has anyone else had better results leaving more fat on?

7

troyp37•7d ago

The worst Saturday I've had in 8 years at the shop

Last Saturday we got a rush of 15 primals at 7am. Half of them were poorly trimmed from the supplier. Spent 3 hours just cleaning up shoulder fat on the chuck rolls. Lost track of time, ended up running late on a 200-pound catering order for a wedding in Arlington. Had to call my buddy Dave to come help bone out the loins. Anyone else have those days where everything just stacks up wrong?

27

kelly_coleman61•23d ago

My old grinder died mid-shift last Tuesday and I panicked

I was working through a batch of 40 pounds of chuck for burgers when my grinder just seized up. The blade was shot and I didn't have a spare on hand. Had to borrow a buddy's grinder two blocks away and haul it back. Anybody got a go-to grinder brand that holds up for heavy home use without breaking the bank?

4

maxm50•25d ago

Just hit 1,000 whole lambs broken down in my shop

I keep a rough count in my head and yesterday I realized I had broken down my 1,000th whole lamb since I started working here 4 years ago. That number surprised me because I thought I was way past it, but actually doing the math put things in perspective about how much meat moves through a small shop. How many of a single animal have you guys processed in your career?

3

the_miles•1mo ago

Old timer at the shop taught me something about beef tenderloin I still use

Back when I was working at a small shop in Pittsburgh about 10 years ago, there was this guy named Frank who must have been 70. He showed me how to feel for the chain muscle on a tenderloin with your thumb instead of looking for it. Said he learned it in the 60s and never cut one wrong since. I still use that trick every time I break down a whole tenderloin. Any of you old timers got a simple trick like that you picked up from someone?

4

lilyo30•1mo ago

Hand cutting vs bandsaw for breaking down a whole hog - hand won by a mile for me

Last month I did my first whole hog breakdown. Everyone online kept saying get a bandsaw, it's faster, cleaner cuts. So I borrowed my buddy's. Honestly? Hated it. Felt like I was fighting the meat the whole time, lost a lot of good scrap. Switched back to my old boning knife and a handsaw for the spine. Way more control, less waste, and honestly it wasn't that much slower. Has anyone else tried both and found hand tools just work better for certain cuts?

1

mark_hernandez12•1mo ago

Had to choose between hand-cutting and a bandsaw for breaking down a whole pig

Last weekend I got a whole hog from a local farm and I was stuck deciding whether to use my old hand saw or finally break out the bandsaw I picked up at a swap meet for $50. I mean, hand-cutting gives you more control for those tricky shoulder joints but man it takes forever. I went with the bandsaw just to see what the hype was about and honestly it was a game changer for the ribs and loin sections. The only problem was the fat and bone dust flying everywhere, definitely need to figure out a better setup for cleanup. But once I got past that I was done in like 45 minutes instead of the usual 2 hours. Has anyone else made the switch and regretted it or is this just me?

21

the_julia•1mo ago

Rant: Customer brought in a deer that was shot 3 hours prior

Had a guy roll up with a whitetail he shot at 6am but didn't drag it out till 9. The meat was already souring near the wound channels. Told him he needs to gut and cool it within 30 minutes or this happens every time. Anyone else deal with hunters who drag their feet on field dressing?

12

amy692•1mo ago

Always swore by manual grinders until I borrowed a buddy's electric one

I've been telling everyone that hand grinding is the only way to get consistent pork for sausages. Last weekend at a shop in Austin I used a Hobart electric grinder for a batch of 50 pounds of shoulder and it was done in like 8 minutes. Honestly the texture was just as good if not better than my old crank setup. Has anyone else switched over after being stubborn about manual tools?

7

xenar14•1mo ago

Walked into my walk-in cooler Tuesday and found my brand new bandsaw blade snapped clean in half

I was getting ready to break down a side of beef when I heard this loud twang sound. The blade was just lying there on the floor, not even bent up, just snapped like a twig. I checked the tension and everything was fine, so I have no idea what caused it. Has anyone else had a brand new blade fail on them for no good reason?

10

lisar14•1mo ago

Grain grinder seized up mid-sausage run on Friday

I was right in the middle of grinding 50 pounds of pork shoulder for bratwurst around 2 PM when my old grinder just locked up solid. Tried reversing it, tried tapping the auger with a mallet, nothing worked. Had to take the whole thing apart on my countertop with a crescent wrench and found a chunk of frozen cartilage wedged near the blades. Lost about 30 minutes of work time and my wife was not happy about the mess. Anyone else deal with sudden jams like this during a big batch? I'm thinking about upgrading to a bigger motor now.

16

thomas_roberts•1mo ago

Spent 4 hours cleaning a band saw that should have taken 30 minutes

I let my apprentice run the band saw for a week straight without cleaning it. By Friday the blade was gummed up with fat and bone dust so bad it wouldn't track straight. I spent 4 hours scraping everything down with a putty knife and degreaser because he didn't do a single end-of-day wipe down. Does anyone else have a system to actually get apprentices to clean as they go, or is it just me?

26

lee.lucas•1mo ago

Switched from a 10-inch to an 8-inch breaking knife for lamb and it made a difference

I was fighting with a longer blade on lamb shoulders for months until a guy at a shop in Chicago told me to try something shorter. The 8-inch gave me way more control around the bones and I got cleaner cuts on the rack in half the time. Anyone else size down for certain animals?

18

cora400•1mo ago

Appreciation post: That little butcher shop in rural Vermont I stopped at last month

I was driving through Vermont last month and stopped at this tiny place called Green Mountain Meats. They had a whole pork shoulder that was cut cleaner than anything I see in my shop. The guy working there showed me how they age their beef for 21 days in a cooler out back. I asked about their lamb and he walked me through their whole process with this old school band saw. It got me thinking about how much I miss that slower style of doing things. Has anyone else found a small shop that reminded you why you got into this trade?

27

spencer199•1mo ago

Stopped using a steel for a while and came back to it

I learned how to sharpen on a steel back in the late 90s at my first shop in a small town outside Richmond. For years that was the only thing I used, just a straight steel every morning before the rush. Then around 2010 I started messing with whetstones and diamond rods, got really into the whole precision angle thing. I mean, I still think those methods have their place for sure. But last month I pulled out my old steel for a quick touch up on a busy Saturday and honestly, the speed of it surprised me. It's not the same as a full sharpen but for keeping an edge going through a whole lamb breakdown it works fine. Anyone else go back to basics after trying all the new gear?