c/butchers

A hog kill in Boise made me ditch my cleaver routine

Watched a guy at a small processing shop break down a 250 pound hog with nothing but a boning knife and a saw. He did more in 20 minutes than I do in an hour with my usual gear. Anyone else ever see a simple setup that humbles your whole station?

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maxm50•10d ago

Realized I was sharpening my boning knives wrong for years

Took a Saturday class at a local shop in Portland and the instructor watched me for five minutes before asking why I was dragging the blade toward myself on the stone. I was rolling the edge over, not actually honing it, and the fix took maybe 10 minutes of practice. Anyone else pick up a bad habit that a pro had to point out right to your face?

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karent75•12d ago

Overheard a customer talking about dry aging at home, got me questioning my setup

I was working the counter on Saturday and this guy in line was telling his friend he dry ages a rib roast in his fridge for 10 days using just a wire rack and a fan. He said he did a 28 day strip loin last winter and it was better than anything I sell at $32 a pound. Made me wonder if I'm overthinking my humidity controlled cabinet, or if he's just lucky with his fridge at 38 degrees. Has anyone here tried the home fridge method and actually compared it side by side with a proper aging bag setup?

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karent75•19d ago

That farmers market lamb shipment looked off, check your next delivery

I stopped by a small packing house outside Tulsa last Tuesday to pick up an order and noticed the lamb carcasses sitting on the dock in the sun for way too long. They were supposed to be temp controlled but the coolers were set at like 48 degrees, not the usual 34. The guy running the place shrugged and said it was only 20 minutes, but I saw the meat sweat and it smelled gamey already. Has anyone else caught their supplier cutting corners like this, or am I just paranoid about one bad batch?

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the_claire•21d ago

One customer's comment about my lamb chops changed my whole cutting style

An older woman at the farmers market said my frenched racks looked 'too tidy' and now I leave the fat cap on and cut with the bone angle instead, so how do you all balance pretty cuts with the way people actually cook them?

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emmafisher•21d ago

Warning: Saw a band saw blade snap at a market demo in Denver last Saturday

I was watching a guy do a quick butcher demo at the Union Station farmers market and his 1 inch blade let go mid-cut, flew right past my shoulder. He had been using it for weeks without checking for cracks, now I check mine every single morning before we open, you all doing the same?

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the_piper•22d ago

That $180 deboning knife set was a total waste of my money

Last fall I bought a fancy six piece set with different sized curved blades because I figured it would speed up my prep work. Turns out I only ever reach for the one medium knife, and even that thing loses its edge after maybe forty chickens. The other five just sit in the roll and collect dust, plus the handles are too slick once your hands get greasy. I should have stuck with my old $45 Victorinox and spent the difference on a good steel. My mentor back in Cleveland warned me about gimmick sets, but I figured times changed. Anyone else end up with a drawer full of knives they regret buying just because the display looked pretty?

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ninab95•25d ago

Why I dropped my fancy cleaver for a $12 cimeter

Used to swear by my expensive German cleaver for everything, breaking down chickens and trimming roasts. Then about 6 months ago I watched an old timer at a shop in Nashville work a whole side of beef with just a skinny cimeter, no chopping at all. I got curious and grabbed a cheap one from the supply store, figured it was a throwaway. Turns out slicing through silverskin and separating muscles is so much smoother with that curve, my wrist stopped aching by the end of the week. The cleaver still comes out for bone work, sure, but that little blade does 80% of my day now. Am I missing something or did I just get stuck in a habit for no reason? Anyone else make a similar swap and never look back?

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barnes.brian•26d ago

Changed my mind on bone saws after a trip to a whole animal shop

Last month I stopped into a place in Portland, The Meadowlark, to watch them break down a side of beef. The guy there used a 10 inch hand bone saw instead of a bandsaw, and he was done with a rib section in like 4 minutes. I always figured hand saws were slow and dangerous, but seeing how clean the cuts were and how little meat got shredded changed my view. Anyone else switch from a bandsaw to a manual saw for certain joints, or am I overthinking this?

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ninaross•1mo ago

That $150 meat grinder attachment was a total scam for my shop

Bought the fancy KitchenAid attachment last month to do bulk sausage for the deli case, and it jammed on the third batch of pork shoulder. My old $40 hand crank grinder from a yard sale in Dayton has outworked it every single time since, anyone else stuck with one of these?

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parker_bailey•1mo ago

TIL a $9 pork loin from HMart beat my $40 prime ribeye

I watched the counter guy at HMart in Flushing hand-trim a shoulder for 6 minutes and realized fat rendering beats marbling for flavor, so has anyone else switched up their cut of choice after seeing a pro work?

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patricia905•1mo ago

Bought a $120 tenderizer gun that barely does anything, stick to the mallet

Picked one up online after seeing it in a reel, used it on a chuck roast last Tuesday and it just made holes without breaking down the fibers, so now I'm back to the $8 wooden mallet and asking if anyone else got scammed by one of these gadgets?

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mason_jackson•1mo ago

Vent: my band saw blade snapped mid-order and I had to hand-cut 14 ribeyes

Saturday morning, busy as hell, I'm breaking down a whole ribeye for a customer who wanted 14 thick cuts. About halfway through the third steak, the blade just lets go with a pop and whips around the housing. No warning, no dull feel, it just gave up. I had to stop everything, dig the pieces out, and swap in my back up blade, which took 20 minutes while the case sat sweating on the counter. By the time I got back to it, the meat had warmed up too much and I had to rechill it before finishing. Customer was cool about it but I lost my whole morning rhythm over a blade I bought three weeks ago. Anyone else have a brand new blade snap on them like that, or am I just cursed with bad batches?

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terrymitchell•1mo ago

That $200 bone saw attachment turned out to be a dud for my lamb cuts

Picked up a bone saw attachment for my band saw at a supply shop outside Omaha last month, figured it would make breaking down lamb shoulders a lot faster. First two carcasses it did okay, but then the blade started wandering on the third one and it chattered something fierce on the rib bones. I cleaned it, adjusted the tension, watched three videos on setup, and it still cut like garbage. Wasted about 15 pounds of good meat because the cuts were so ragged I had to trim most of it into stew chunks. The shop wont take returns on used blades either, so Im out that cash plus the ruined product. Any of you use a handheld reciprocating saw with a fine tooth blade instead, or should I just stick to my breaking knife and a cleaver for smaller stuff? I work alone mostly, so Im trying to find something faster but still dependable.

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williams.robert•1mo ago

The $80 tenderizer gadget that now lives in a drawer at my shop

I ended up donating that thing to the local culinary school after a month, and honestly the students probably hate it too. My advice, stick with the basic tools you know work.

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simonbell•1mo ago

Had a talk with an old timer about bone dust

Got a 70 year old butcher named Frank at the shop last week who told me I was wasting time worrying about keeping my bandsaw blade sharp. He said he never changed his blade more than twice a year and his cuts were cleaner than mine. Has anyone else had an older guy tell you something that went against everything you learned in school?

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bettyhunt•1mo ago

Hit my 500th side of beef today and it kinda freaked me out

Honestly, I was just counting up my orders from the last 3 years at Barnaby's Meats in Portland and realized I've broken down exactly 500 sides of beef. That number just hit different, like all those early mornings and messed up knives finally adding up to something real. Did anyone else get surprised by a random milestone like that or am I overthinking it?

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williams.robert•1mo ago

Still think whole hog butchery is overrated after that class in Austin

I went to that Salt & Time workshop last month in Austin and everyone there was raving about breaking down entire hogs. I get the appeal but for my shop it just creates way too much waste and slow moving cuts. We sold maybe 3 pork shoulder roasts last week while the chops flew out. Has anyone else found a good middle ground that doesn't leave you stuck with a ton of neck bones?

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troy439•1mo ago

Vent: Wasted $85 on a new grinder plate that didn't fit my old Hobart

I bought a replacement grinder plate online last week thinking it would be standard for my Hobart 4146. Got it in the mail, tried to pop it in, and it's about a quarter inch too small on the diameter. Now I gotta pay return shipping and wait another week. Anyone else run into fitment issues with older Hobart models?

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ruby_lane•1mo ago

The day I ruined 30 pounds of pork shoulder at a state fair demo

I was doing a cutting demo at the Iowa State Fair back in 2022, showing folks how to break down a whole shoulder. My knife was dragging bad and I kept getting ragged edges on the muscles, finally stopped and realized I had been using a steel that had a bent tip for like 2 years. A guy in the front row named Mike yelled out "your edge is catching on the fat cap" and I felt my face go red. Has anyone else had a demo go sideways because of a simple tool problem you ignored?

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the_miles•1mo ago

The day I figured out I was trimming steaks backwards for 5 years

I was working a Saturday shift at the shop when a retired butcher came in for some chuck. He watched me trim a ribeye and just laughed. Said I was cutting against the grain before I even got the fat cap off, which makes the meat curl on the grill. Forty years of cutting meat and I never thought to flip my angle. Has anyone else had a random customer teach them a basic trick they somehow missed?

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hugoj86•1mo ago

Pro tip: Stop trimming all the fat off chuck roasts before grinding

After 5 years of doing it the lean way, I watched a guy at Portland Meat Collective mix 20% fat back into his grind last month and the burgers actually held together without turning into hockey pucks, anyone else been overtrimming their whole career?

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schmidt.amy•1mo ago

Old butcher told me to stop washing my cutting boards with soap... he was right?

I had this old timer come into the shop last month and he watched me scrub down my board with soap and hot water. He pulled me aside and said I was killing the wood and ruining the seasoning... something about how soap soaks in and leaves a film. I switched to just scraping and using salt and a damp rag for the past 3 weeks. The board feels different, almost smoother... has anyone else gotten this kind of advice and actually stuck with it?

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the_piper•1mo ago

Just realized I was ruining my flank steaks for years

My buddy Dave who runs a smokehouse in Austin told me I was slicing flank steak wrong. He said I needed to go against the grain at a 45 degree angle, not straight across. I thought I knew better since Ive been cutting meat for 8 years. Last weekend I tried his method on a 2 pound flank and the difference was night and day. The meat was actually tender instead of chewy. Anyone else get stubborn about cutting technique and then regret it?

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price.jake•1mo ago

Took me 10 years to figure out I was trimming briskets wrong the whole time

I used to trim my briskets with a straight edge knife and always fought with tearing the fat cap. Then this old timer at a competition in Austin showed me he uses a curved breaking knife instead. The curve lets you follow the muscle shape without digging in. I tried it on my next shift and cut my trimming time from 20 minutes down to 12. Has anyone else had a tool swap that completely changed their cut quality?

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