My buddy in Boise talked me out of my old way to break down a rib primal

I always went for the saw first on a full beef rib section, thinking it was faster. He said to try scoring the cartilage between the ribs with a boning knife before you even touch the saw, and to feel for the joint with your fingers. I tried it on a 7-bone section yesterday and it was way cleaner, less bone dust, and saved me maybe 5 minutes. Anyone else have a small step that changed a big cut for them?

3 comments

3 Comments

gray616d ago

Guess I'll have to try this "reading the rib" thing angela_miller75 mentioned. Seems like a lot of extra touchy-feely work for five minutes. Is the bone dust really that big of a deal?

the_ruby12d ago

Totally thought the same thing for years, like why bother with all that extra feeling around. Tried it last week on a full rack and honestly it was a game changer. Way less of that gritty dust all over the meat and my board. The five minutes you spend finding the spot pays off because you aren't fighting the bone later. Changed my whole view on what counts as "extra work.

angela_miller7516d ago

Oh man, that's a solid tip. I read something similar in an old butchering book about feeling for the joint first, they called it "reading the rib" with your fingers. It always sounded like extra fussy work to me, but I guess it really does make a difference if you're getting less dust and saving time. Makes total sense now that I hear it actually worked for someone.