Threw a $120 prime ribeye in the back of my fridge with no fancy bag, just a wire rack and patience. It came out with a flavor that beat anything from my shop's locker, but the crust was a nightmare to trim off. Anyone else go cheap on dry-aging gear and still pull it off?
Was trimming a case of shoulders for sausage and my old 6-inch flex boning knife snapped right at the handle. Had to finish the last 20 pounds with my chef's knife which was a total pain. Anyone got a brand of boning knife that actually holds up to heavy use?
I always wondered why my steaks had that ragged look until a customer pointed out how much cleaner they'd be if I let the meat warm up a bit first. Has anyone else had that talk with themselves about tempering before trimming?
I was breaking down a whole ribeye primal and this retired butcher comes in just to watch. He said 'son, you're leaving too much chain on the cap' and offered to show me. He took my knife and made this long sweeping cut that saved me maybe 6 ounces of meat per roast. Has anyone else gotten random tips from old timers that just completely changed your yield numbers?
I've been a butcher for about 8 years now and I keep a little tally on my phone of how many hogs I break down start to finish. Last Tuesday I hit 500 exactly. That number surprised me because I remember struggling through my first dozen and losing count of how many times I nicked my finger or messed up the belly cut. The milestone matters to me because it means I finally know the muscle groups by feel, not just by looking at a chart. I still get nervous before a big order of 10 hogs shows up though. How do you all keep track of your skills improving over time or do you just wing it like I did for years?
Got a small primal of ribeye from my supplier. Stuck half in a dry aging bag from the store and hung the other half proper in my walk-in. Bagged one had that weird off smell after 21 days, real one was perfect. The bag meat lost way more weight too. Anyone else tried both and seen the same thing?
Been using the same dull blade for like 6 months on pork shoulders and it was tearing everything up. That sharpener paid for itself in one week with how clean my cuts are now. Anyone else just put off spending on sharpening gear way too long?
I always thought they were a gimmick compared to a proper cool room, but the flavor concentration on that cut was so close to the real thing it actually blew my mind... anyone else been converted by these things?
Always seared and grilled pork shoulder like it was a steak, trimming off the cap because I thought it was just extra fat. Watched a pitmaster in Arkansas throw a whole untrimmed shoulder on the smoker and it came out way more tender than anything I ever made. Anyone else change up how they prep a cut after seeing someone do it different?
Spent 20 minutes digging through the USDA's website after a customer argued with me about it. Turns out grain finished beef grades higher like 80% of the time. Nobody talks about that in the shop. Has anyone else had customers insist grass fed is always better for steaks?
I know most guys here swear by the cleaver for rib sections. But after I had to replace a broken blade on my Hobart last Tuesday, I borrowed a buddy's setup with a good band saw. Made cleaner cuts and saved me 20 minutes on a full ribeye roll. Anybody else find the saw beats hand tools for speed?
Everyone raves about the whole animal approach but I saw them wasting so much trim. They threw out a whole bucket of good fat that could've been ground into sausage. Am I the only one who thinks the 'nose to tail' talk is mostly marketing?
Ran into a guy named Sal who's been cutting meat for 40 years at a shop outside Cleveland. He watched me break down a loin and just said "you're fighting the grain, kid." I've been doing this 8 years and never really thought about it that way. He showed me how he angles his knife based on where the muscle runs instead of just going straight down. Took me 3 tries to get it right but the final cuts looked way cleaner and held up better on the plate. Anyone else have an older cutter drop some simple wisdom on you that made you go back to basics?
I picked up a whole wild hog from a hunt last month near Fredericksburg, and the fat cap was way thinner than I expected. Has anyone else had to adjust their grinding ratios for wild game to keep the sausage from drying out?
I was pulling a 90-pound shoulder for a Saturday order, got the hook under the bone, and somehow it slipped right off and hit the floor with a thud. Then of course it starts rolling like a runaway tire across the cooler, bumping into bins and a bucket of trim. I chased it for a good 10 feet before I caught it near the drain. Had to hose it off and trim away the dirty spots. Boss walked in right as I was wrestling it back onto the hook and just shook his head. Anyone else ever lose a piece of meat to the cooler floor like that?
I started cutting about 8 years ago and I used to trim everything super clean, like I was trying to make it look perfect for a magazine. One day a retired butcher named Frank came by the shop and watched me work on a whole ribeye. He just shook his head and said, 'Son, you're leaving half the money on the floor.' He showed me how I was cutting away too much of the deckle and leaving almost no fat cap. I felt like an idiot because I thought clean meant better, but he explained that customers actually want some of that fat for flavor when they cook it. Now I leave a quarter inch of fat on most primal cuts and my yield went up maybe 10 percent just from that one change. Has anyone else had an older butcher call them out on something that seemed small but really mattered?
Was breaking down a whole pork shoulder last Tuesday at the shop, got distracted by a phone call and took a bad angle on the fat cap. Ended up cutting right into the blade meat, had to trim off a whole chunk that should've been profit. My boss just looked at me and said 'that's a $12 mistake right there.' Anyone else have a moment where one wrong cut cost you real money?
After fighting with an old walk-in cooler for months, I spent last weekend installing a new humidistat and digital thermometer setup from a restaurant supply place in Portland. The first batch of ribeyes I cut yesterday had that deep, nutty smell and bright red color I've been chasing since I started dry aging two years ago. What do you all use to keep your aging rooms stable without breaking the bank on equipment?
I always thought you needed a fancy electric sharpener to get a good edge. But last week Jim at the shop just took a wet stone and showed me how it's done in about 2 minutes, no power needed. Has anyone else switched from electric to hand sharpening?
This guy named Sal who's been cutting meat for 40 years saw me taking off too much fat cap on a whole ribeye last Tuesday. He said I was leaving the eye exposed and it would dry out on the grill. Now I leave a quarter inch of fat on the cap and angle my knife to follow the curve of the meat. Anyone else get schooled by a veteran on basic cuts?
Guy comes into my shop in Portland wanting me to hold a whole prime rib for 60 days. I told him that's way past what most people do and he might lose a lot to trim. He said he watched a YouTube video and knew what he was doing. Picked it up yesterday, lost almost 40% to mold and trimming. He wasn't mad, just said it was worth it for the flavor. Has anyone else had people ask for these super long dry ages that don't make sense economically?
I was reading through some USDA inspection reports last week and found out that almost 25% of beef steaks sold at places like Kroger and Walmart get blade tenderized. The issue is they don't always label it clearly, so customers think they're getting a solid cut when really those needle holes can push surface bacteria deep inside. My debate is: should butchers push back on this practice or just accept it as standard now that most consumers don't even know what blade tenderizing is? Has anyone else dealt with customers asking why their steak cooks differently than expected?
Last month I saw a 5-piece boning knife set for $80 on one of those flash sale sites (you know the ones). Figured hey, even if they're junk I can just sharpen them and save money over my Wusthofs. Big mistake. The steel was so soft the edges rolled after trimming one whole pig. I spent more time trying to sharpen those things than actually working. Ended up tossing them in the scrap bin after three days. Has anyone else fallen for those knife deals or am I the only sucker here?
Was at a wholesaler in Omaha last month, this old timer who's been doing it 30 years grabbed a knife and went after a whole tenderloin like it was nothing. He was just hacking away, leaving silver skin and fat caps all over the place, made me cringe so bad I had to say something. He looked at me like I was crazy and said "the grinder don't care about silverskin" but I kept thinking about the poor restaurant that's gonna get that meat. After that I started buying whole loins and breaking them down myself at the shop. Took me about 5 tries before I got it clean and consistent, but now I charge a premium for my trimmed cuts and people actually notice the difference. Any of you guys run into butchers who just don't care about trim quality anymore?