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c/butchersthe_dylanthe_dylan18d ago

Watching a guy break down a whole hog at the Iowa State Fair finally made the primal cuts click for me.

He used a 6-inch boning knife and a saw, and his hands moved so fast I had to ask him to slow it down after the third rib section.
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patricia_singh81
That speed comes from muscle memory, not just skill. His brain isn't thinking about each cut anymore, his hands just know. It's like watching a machine that's been programmed by doing it a thousand times. The real trick is keeping that pace without wasting meat or nicking bone. Most people focus on the knife work, but the real art is in the economy of movement. He probably doesn't even look at the blade half the time.
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adam_young31
adam_young3118d agoMost Upvoted
Read that's how surgeons train too.
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