Watched a guy in Chicago break down a whole hog with a cleaver and a boning knife, nothing else

I was at a small shop on the South Side last fall, just watching their process. The head butcher used a 6-inch boning knife for the whole thing, even the spine, and a cleaver just for the trotters. He said his mentor told him 'if you need a saw, you're not in the meat right.' I came back to my own shop and tried it on a Berkshire last week, and it forced me to learn the joints way better. What's the most basic tool set you guys use for a full breakdown?

2 comments

2 Comments

brooke_webb15d ago

Honestly, that mentor's saying is kind of wild but it makes sense. It forces you to actually know the animal. So what did you do with the spine on that Berkshire, just work the knife in between each vertebra? Tbh I saw something similar at a county fair once, but it was with a lamb. This old guy had one of those real thin, flexible knives and just popped everything apart. It looked easy but I bet it's way harder than it seems. Makes you respect the skill for sure.

alex_taylor1015d ago

Yeah, it's like watching any real expert - they make the hard stuff look simple.