c/butchers

I stopped trimming ribeyes so close to the bone and saved 12 pounds a week

For years I used to trim every ribeye right up against the bone to make them look pretty for the display case. About 6 months ago I started leaving about a quarter inch of meat on the bone after watching a old timer at a market in Portland do the same. Now I get almost 12 extra pounds of saleable meat per week from the same amount of whole primals. Has anyone else found a similar tweak that cut down on waste without customers complaining?

A customer told me my ribeyes were cut too thick and I fought back but they were right

I've always cut my ribeyes at 2 inches because that's what I learned. This guy comes in 3 weeks ago and says they're too thick for his pan and he wants them at 1.25 inches. I argued with him about it for 5 minutes but he insisted. So I cut his order at 1.25 and he came back last Saturday saying they were the best steaks he'd ever cooked at home. Tried it myself on a couple of packs and yeah, the thinner cut cooks way more even on a standard home stovetop. Has anyone else had to adjust their standard cuts for home cooks vs restaurants?

Finally realized I was dulling my knives with my cutting board

Been using those thin plastic boards from the restaurant supply for 3 years and wondering why my edges kept rolling over. A dude from the old school shop in Philly told me to switch to a wood block and my boning knife is staying sharp twice as long now. Anyone else waste time on the wrong board before figuring this out?

Hot take: that Tuesday before Thanksgiving was the worst shift I've ever worked

I've been cutting meat for 11 years, but nothing prepared me for this. We had 14 bone-in rib roasts come through the door by 9am, all with custom trims. By noon I had a guy yelling at me because his prime rib was 0.2 pounds under what he ordered. The band saw died at 2pm and I had to hand-cut 30 pork chops. Has anyone else had a holiday week just spiral out of control like that?

That one week in July where everything went sideways at the cooler

We had a power flicker on a Tuesday and the walk-in hit 50 degrees before I noticed. Lost almost $800 worth of pork loins and a whole case of ribeyes. The smell was something I still can't shake... had to toss everything and scrub the floors for two days straight. Anyone else had a power issue ruin their whole week like that?

Switched to dry-aging in a fridge after years of doing it in a bag

I was at a shop in Austin last spring, this guy named Carl showed me his setup with a $200 mini fridge and a humidity controller. He pulled out a ribeye that had been in there 45 days, the smell was like mushrooms and butter, nothing funky. I had always used those expensive bags because I thought it was safer, but after tasting his I went home and converted a spare fridge that weekend. Has anyone else tried a budget dry-aging rig and had good luck with it?

Had to choose between dry aging beef in-house or sticking with pre-aged boxes from the supplier

We had a big decision at our shop a few months back. The owner wanted us to start dry aging our own primal cuts to stand out from the grocery stores. I was all for it at first until I saw the setup cost and the space it would take up in our walk-in. We only have one cooler and it's already packed with orders. The alternative was to keep using the pre-aged boxes from our supplier in Denver who does a 28 day dry age for us. I picked staying with the supplier because I could not afford to lose that much fridge space or risk wasting meat if something went wrong. So far it has been the right call. We get consistent product and I don't have to babysit a whole rack of beef for a month. Has anyone else here gone the DIY route and made it work in a small shop?

Vent: Just realized I've sharpened my main boning knife over 500 times in the last three years.

Had a customer at the shop ask for a 'vegan pork chop' and I just froze

I mean, I was working the counter at Miller's Meats in Springfield last Tuesday, and this guy comes in with a list. He points to the pork chops and asks if we have a vegan version. I just stood there for a solid ten seconds, idk, my brain just blue-screened. I finally had to explain the whole 'animal product' thing, and he got it, but now I always double-check what people actually want before I start cutting. Anyone else have a request that just made you stop and blink?

Appreciation post: my pork shoulder trim time went from 12 minutes to under 7

For about a month, I was really slow at squaring off pork shoulders for our case, taking a full 12 minutes each. I watched a video from a guy in Kansas City who kept his knife tip planted and used his whole arm, not just his wrist. After a week of practicing that, I'm down to about 6 and a half minutes per shoulder and the trim looks way cleaner. Anyone have other tips for speeding up on big cuts without getting sloppy?

Shoutout to the old school butcher in Cincinnati who showed me his boning knife technique

I was breaking down a side of beef last week and struggling with the silver skin on the sirloin. I switched from my usual push-cut method to a tip-pivot technique he showed me, using a 6-inch Victorinox boning knife, and it was way cleaner. The difference was keeping the tip anchored and rolling the blade through the tissue instead of forcing it. Anyone have a different method for tough connective tissue that saves time?

I always thought a boning knife was just for, well, boning

For years I'd use my 6-inch stiff boning knife to break down primals and then switch to a different knife for trimming silverskin and fat. Last week, a guy I work with in Seattle watched me and just said, 'You know that thing is way better for detail work if you use the tip, right?' He showed me how to use just the front inch of the blade to get under connective tissue on a top round, and it was a total game changer. I was done trimming in half the time. I feel like I wasted so much effort fighting with a bigger blade. Has anyone else had a basic tool use click for them way later than it should have?

Finally got a clean pull on a full beef tenderloin in under 8 minutes

I started using a paring knife to trace the silver skin first, instead of trying to go under it with my boning knife. Anyone else have a better way to handle that membrane?

Heads up on that new vacuum tumbler I bought last month

Spent about $2,500 on the 'ProVac 20' hoping it would speed up our brine injection for hams and bacon. It worked great for a week, then the seal on the main chamber blew out during a cycle. The company says it's a known issue with the first batch, but getting the part has taken three weeks and counting. Now I'm back to the old manual tumbler and falling behind on orders. Has anyone else had a problem with their vacuum gear lately, or found a brand that holds up better?

Hot take: I just spent 4 hours trying to get a clean split on a 14-bone prime rib rack because I was stubborn about my old saw.

It was for a big catering order in Denver. My go-to band saw blade felt a little dull, but I thought 'it's fine, I've done this a thousand times.' Ended up with ragged cuts, wasted trim, and had to stop, drive to the supply house for a new blade, and start over. The whole job took twice as long as it should have. When do you guys usually swap blades? Is there a telltale sign you look for, or do you just change them on a set schedule?

Looking through my grandpa's old meat market ledger from 1962, I was shocked to see he sold a whole side of beef for $85.

Found it in a box of his stuff, and it makes you realize how much the whole cost structure of this trade has shifted, so what's the biggest price change you've seen in your time cutting?

Showerthought: a customer's offhand remark about my sausage

A guy at my counter last week said my breakfast links were 'honest,' which made me pause. I realized he meant the grind was consistent and the seasoning wasn't hiding anything. Do you ever get feedback that makes you rethink a basic part of your process?

Spent $800 on a new band saw blade, and I'm not sure it was worth it.

I got a fancy new 1.25 inch wide, 3 tpi blade for breaking down whole hogs, hoping it would be faster and cleaner. It does cut straighter, but it feels slower on the bone and I'm going through more blades than my old setup. Do you think a wider blade is actually better for primal cuts, or is it just more hype?

A customer in Boise told me my pork shoulder trim was too aggressive

He pointed out I was leaving almost no fat cap, which he needed for his pulled pork recipe. I started leaving a quarter inch of fat on all my shoulders after that, and the feedback has been great. What's a piece of customer advice that actually improved your work?

PSA: My uncle told me to always cut with the grain on a brisket and I finally tried it the other way

Honestly, my uncle Frank, who ran a shop in Omaha for thirty years, drilled it into my head to always slice brisket with the grain to keep it together. I did that for my first five years behind the block. Tbh, last month I was prepping a whole packer for a customer's party and decided to try slicing against the grain on the flat, just to see. Ngl, the difference was night and day. The slices were just as neat, but when you pulled a piece, it came apart so easily and was way more tender. I served it to the customer and they called me the next day saying it was the best brisket they'd ever had. I feel a bit silly for sticking to the old rule for so long without testing it myself. Has anyone else had a similar experience with a piece of advice that turned out to be backwards for them?

A customer at my shop in Spokane asked me why we don't sell more offal

This guy, named Mark, came in yesterday and was really interested in the lamb hearts and kidneys. He said he grew up eating that stuff and it's a shame more places don't push it. It got me thinking... we only ever put out liver and maybe some tongue. What's the best way you've found to get people to try the less common bits? I've got a freezer full of good stuff going to waste.

Always thought that dry aging beef was too much hassle for a small shop like mine.

My buddy in Kansas City runs a bigger place and kept telling me to try it. Said I was leaving money on the table. Finally set up a small fridge unit about three months ago. Did a 28-day rib section. The flavor difference was huge, and I sold it for almost double the price per pound. Customers asked for more. Now I have two sections going. Anyone else start small with dry aging and see a good return?

Shoutout to the $250 boning knife I almost didn't buy

I was cutting up a whole hog last week and my old knife just couldn't get through the shoulder cleanly. The new one (a Forschner, if you care) went through the joints like they were butter, no sawing needed. It felt like I saved an hour of work and a ton of frustration on that one job. Anyone have a favorite blade for breaking down bigger animals?

Warning: My old boss told me to always cut against the grain on a brisket flat

He said it would make it more tender, no matter what. I did that for a year at the shop in Tacoma. Every single brisket flat I sliced was tough and chewy. I finally tried cutting with the grain for the long muscle, then turning it to slice across, and it was like a different piece of meat. Has anyone else been given bad slicing advice that just made things worse?

My band saw blade snapped during a prime rib order

I was at my shop in Tacoma breaking down a 109 rib for a big holiday order. The blade just popped with a loud bang halfway through the bone. I had to finish the cut by hand with a breaking knife, which took an extra 20 minutes and threw my whole morning off. Has anyone else had a blade go at the worst possible time, and what's your backup plan?