c/butchers

The day I lost a whole primal because of a loose floor tile

Last Tuesday I slipped on a greasy tile in the walk-in and dropped a whole beef primal right into the drain. Took me 20 minutes to fish it out and by then it was a total loss. Anyone else ever have a freak accident wreck your whole day like that?

1 comments

taylor668•12d ago

Spent 3 hours chasing a bad grind on my new bandsaw blade yesterday

I was cutting some pork shoulders and the blade kept wandering no matter what I did. Adjusted tension, checked the guides, even swapped the blade out. Turned out the weld on the blade had a tiny bump I could feel with my fingernail. Had to file it down smooth and it cut perfect after that. 3 hours because I didn't check the weld first. Has anyone else dealt with a bad factory weld on a new blade?

2 comments

faithwalker•13d ago

Just realized my old mentor was right about breaking down whole lambs

I was chatting with my old mentor Dave last weekend at a shop in Portland, and he said I was wasting too much time on perfectly trimmed cuts when customers just want the meat. He told me "stop chasing the Instagram butcher look and sell the whole damn thing." Has anyone else had a boss or mentor say something that completely changed how you work without you realizing it till later?

2 comments

david_rivera4•14d ago

That Tuesday when I broke down a whole steer with a dull knife

Had been putting off sharpening for weeks. Got to the second hind quarter around 10 AM and my wrist was already screaming. Took me almost 45 minutes just to get through the inside round on one side. Finally stopped at lunch to hit the stone for 10 minutes and finished the rest in under 2 hours. Anyone else ever push through a bad day like that instead of just stopping to fix the tool?

2 comments

grant.nina•14d ago

Overheard a customer at the farmers market say they want 'the cleanest cut' on their pork chops

I was trimming up some loin chops last Saturday and this lady kept asking me to make sure there was no silver skin left at all. Said she got a bad one from a grocery store once and it ruined the whole meal for her. Made me think about how most people don't even know what silver skin is or why it matters. Any of you guys have customers who give you really specific requests that make you change how you trim things?

2 comments

paige427•15d ago

Hot take: skip the fancy boning knife and get a Victorinox instead

I spent 3 years using a $150 German boning knife at my shop in Austin and thought it was the best thing ever. Last month I grabbed a $40 Victorinox Fibrox on a whim during a rush and honestly it cuts cleaner and holds an edge way longer for daily work. Anyone else find expensive knives are overkill for breaking down beef and pork day in day out?

2 comments

the_logan•16d ago

Had an old timer at Wilson's Meats teach me something about pork shoulder

I was helping break down a case of shoulders at Wilson's last Tuesday and this guy who's been there 40 years walks over. He grabbed a shoulder and worked the bone out with a butter knife in about 30 seconds flat. I still use a regular boning knife - has anyone else seen a trick like that work?

2 comments

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elizabethg18•16d ago

Walk-in cooler broke at 2 PM on a Saturday, lost almost $800 of product

Was working a shift at a shop in Portland when the cooler just died. Temp hit 50 by the time I noticed. Had to toss about 60 lbs of prime cuts and ground beef. Owner blamed me for not checking it earlier. Now I check the temp log every hour on the dot. Anyone else have a boss who refuses to upgrade old equipment?

3 comments

lisa5•17d ago

Had a chat with a retired butcher at the farmers market yesterday

He was in his 70s and told me they used to hang beef for 21 days minimum, said I'd never know real flavor from a packer. It hit me that we rush everything now just to move product. Do any of you still do long hang times or is that just for the fancy shops?

2 comments

piper_reed•17d ago

The old timer who pointed out my dirty boning knife at 6 AM

Guy at the wholesale market in Portland stopped me mid-cut and said 'son, that knife film is gonna send someone to the ER.' He was right - I'd been too lazy to wipe between beef primals. Ever had a customer complain about bone dust or silver skin left on?

2 comments

the_charlie•18d ago

Old timer told me to stop trimming fat before weighing and it cost me real money

This retiree at the shop swore up and down that trimming the silverskin before weighing the whole primal was a waste. I figured he was stuck in his ways, so I kept doing it my way for six months. Then I broke down and tried his method on a batch of ribeyes last Tuesday. I ended up short on two orders because the actual usable meat was less than I quoted. Guy was dead wrong and I lost $40 on that single order. Has anyone else had bad luck trusting the old school methods around here?

2 comments

faithwalker•18d ago

Spent a whole shift fighting a bad bandsaw blade, only to realize it was on backwards

Man, I was at the shop in Austin last Tuesday and this big primal of beef comes in, right? I'm trying to break it down on the bandsaw and it's just fighting me every step. The blade kept drifting, cuts were jagged, took me like 45 minutes to get through one rack of ribs. I was cussing at the machine, thinking the tension was off or the guides were shot. Finally my apprentice walks over, looks at it for two seconds, and points out I had the teeth facing the wrong direction. Had to be on there for at least two weeks from the last guy who used it. Felt like a total idiot but dang that cut like butter after I flipped it. Anyone else ever do something that dumb that just ate up your whole day?

2 comments

jake_owens•18d ago

I was dead set against dry aging hanging meat in a cooler, but after 45 days on a ribeye I changed my mind.

The texture and flavor was nothing like the wet aged stuff I usually sell, and now I'm looking at building a setup for it, what temp and humidity are you guys running yours?

2 comments

alice_kim•19d ago

Saw a guy ruin a whole ribeye primal trying to cut against the grain on a band saw

He kept fighting with the blade and ended up with jagged, torn slices that looked like he used a rock. Has anyone else seen new folks mess up expensive cuts by not adjusting their approach for the tool they're using?

3 comments

king.stella•20d ago

Had to choose between a band saw and a cleaver for breaking down hogs

I been splitting market hogs for years with a cheap band saw but the blades kept snapping on me. Last month I said forget it and bought a 10 inch cleaver from the local hardware store instead. Took me a few tries to get the rhythm down but now I'm wondering if anyone else prefers hand tools over power equipment for this kind of work?

2 comments

william_jackson65•20d ago

I tried dry aging a ribeye in my home fridge for 21 days

So I bought a whole prime ribeye roast from Costco about a month ago and decided to try dry aging it myself. I set it up on a wire rack over a sheet pan in the back of my fridge, no special bag or anything, just let it sit for 21 days. After trimming off the hard crust I lost almost 30 percent of the weight, but the meat that was left had this deep funky flavor I've never gotten from a store-bought steak. Has anyone else here done home dry aging without a fancy setup and got good results?

2 comments

elizabethtaylor•21d ago

That $50 vacuum sealer I bought for wholesale cuts was a complete dud

Picked up a cheap vacuum sealer from a bargain site last month to pack up my subprimals for customers. It worked fine for about 10 bags then the seal bar just stopped heating. Lost $50 and had to rewrap everything in butcher paper anyway. Anyone else have luck with a specific budget model that actually holds up to heavy use?

3 comments

sammoore•26d ago

Overheard a guy at the meat show say he never tempers his beef before grinding

I was at the NAMP conference in Kansas City last month grabbing coffee and two old timers were arguing behind me. One said he throws his primal cuts straight from the cooler into the grinder, never lets them sit out. He claimed it keeps the fat from smearing and gives a cleaner grind. I tried it on a batch of chuck I was prepping for burgers and honestly the texture was way better. The fat stayed in little pieces instead of turning into paste. Has anyone else tried this or is this guy just lucky with his equipment?

3 comments

vera_campbell•26d ago

Found a way to keep my bandsaw blade tracking straight

I was having trouble with my bandsaw blade wandering on pork shoulders and hams. Tried adjusting the tension and guide bearings for weeks but it kept slipping. Finally I took a close look at the wheels and noticed a buildup of fat and bone dust on the rubber tires. Scrub them down with hot water and a stiff brush after every shift and the blade stays right where it should. Cost me zero dollars and saved a ton of frustration. Anyone else deal with this or do you just replace tires more often?

3 comments

patricia_green21•28d ago

My band saw blade snapped mid-cut on a whole ribeye yesterday

I was breaking down a 60 lb primal ribeye for steaks yesterday morning around 10 AM and about halfway through the first cut the blade just gave out with a loud pop. Sent a chunk of metal flying across the cooler floor and scared the new guy pretty bad. Turns out I had been running the tension too high for weeks and it wore a weak spot right near the weld. I had to switch over to my backup handsaw to finish the whole thing which took forever and messed up my timing for the lunch rush. The blade was only three weeks old so I'm wondering if I got a bad batch or if I'm just cranking it too tight. Has anyone else had this happen with the bimetal blades from the supply house on High Street?

2 comments

eva908•29d ago

Debate: Should butchers trim fat cap off pork shoulders before wrapping?

I visited a barbecue competition in Kansas City last month and noticed half the teams trimmed the fat cap down to a quarter inch before wrapping, while the others left the whole cap on. The ones that trimmed got more bark but the untrimmed ones seemed juicier. What do you guys do with your pork shoulders when pulling them for customers or yourself?

3 comments

james_kim•1mo ago

Old timer in Omaha told me to always chill my grinder before breaking down pork belly

I thought he was just being fussy, but tried it on a warm day last week and the fat didn't smear at all. Anyone else find temperature control makes or breaks a clean grind?

3 comments

cameron538•1mo ago

This guy at the farmers market in Boise tried to tell me how to cut a pork shoulder

He was a customer, not a butcher, and he got real loud saying I was 'wasting meat' by trimming the fat cap to a quarter inch. Said his grandpa taught him to leave it all on... I tried to explain about rendering and bark formation, but he just shook his head and walked off. Anyone ever have a customer argue with your cuts like they know your job better than you?

3 comments

grant.sam•1mo ago

My old boss told me to never sharpen my boning knife past a certain point.

He said a super sharp edge would chip on bone and be harder to control. For years I kept a slightly duller edge, thinking it was the right way. Last month I took a class with a guy from Kansas City who showed us how to get a razor edge and keep it. I tried it on a full pork shoulder breakdown and it was a total game changer. Cleaner cuts, less effort, and the edge held up fine. Why do you think some of the old school guys are so against a really sharp knife for boning?

3 comments

josephl67•1mo ago

Spent $400 on a fancy meat saw and it's been nothing but trouble

Everyone at the shop said a new high-end saw would be a game changer for breaking down lamb. I got the model with the special blade guide and variable speed. It jams constantly on the bone, and adjusting the tension is a pain. Honestly, my old hand saw was faster and more reliable. Anyone else have a tool that just didn't live up to the hype?

3 comments