c/butchers

Bandsaw blade snapped mid-shift on a pork belly, watch your tension gauge

Was breaking down a 40 pound belly around 2pm yesterday and the 1 inch blade let go on the downstroke, threw a chunk of guide block across the cutting room. Took me 45 minutes to swap in a spare and recalibrate because the tracking wheel had shifted from the jolt. Anyone else had tension gauges lie to them after a full day of bone-in work, or should I just replace the tension spring outright?

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briancarter•1d ago

Bone saw blade angle changed my whole shoulder routine

Last month I watched a retired cutter in Kansas City break down a pork shoulder with the blade tipped way back, almost flat. Tried it on my next two shoulders and the joint work got way easier, less wrenching on my wrist. Anyone else ever get handed a tip like that from an old timer and feel dumb for not figuring it out sooner?

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daniel_lane30•1d ago

Tried dry aging a ribeye in my home fridge for 14 days, got a funky result

So I've been cutting meat for about 6 years now, mostly at a local shop in Spokane. I figured I knew enough to try dry aging a single ribeye at home. Wrapped it in cheesecloth, put it on a wire rack over a tray, set my fridge to the coldest setting. Checked it every couple days, surface looked fine until day 9, then this weird sour smell hit me. Tossed it on day 12 because the outside turned almost slimy in one spot. Turns out my fridge runs humid, and I didn't have a fan blowing on it. The shop has a dedicated aging cabinet with airflow control, so I guess I was asking for trouble. Has anyone else messed up a home dry age? How do you deal with humidity without buying a $2,000 setup?

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williams.kim•3d ago

Hit 10,000 pounds of sausage this week, expected more honestly

I tracked my output for a full year and just crossed 10,000 lbs of links at my shop in Omaha. I thought I was doing way less, so the number kind of annoyed me at first. Anyone else find that their actual count messes with their head more than the beef and pork lists do?

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dylanmurray•5d ago

The regular who taught me more about beef than my CUT-101 class

A retired butcher from Pittsburgh came in last Tuesday, saw me trimming a chuck roll all wrong, and spent 20 minutes showing me how to follow the seam fat instead of guessing. He said "you're fighting the muscle, kid, work with it" and pointed out three spots where I was leaving good meat on the table. Anyone else have an old-timer drop knowledge on them in an unexpected place, or was I just lucky?

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sage_ramirez42•9d ago

The primal cut obsession is ruining good chuck work

Everyone in my shop swears by breaking down primals, but after 12 years behind the counter I think it's overrated for everyday customers. Last Tuesday I trimmed a whole chuck roll for a lady who just wanted stew meat, and the standard saw work gave us double the waste. Anyone else notice that custom knife work on subprimals actually sells faster, or is my shop just weird?

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eric723•9d ago

Wet aging at home in a mini fridge, night and day difference

Used to just buy whole primals and slice them up the same week, thought that was as good as it got. Then about 4 months ago my buddy who runs a deli in Toledo let me borrow an old mini fridge he was going to toss. I set it to 34 degrees, put a cheap humidity meter inside, and tried wet aging a ribeye primal for 14 days in its cryovac. The texture was way more tender and the flavor had this deeper, beefier note that I never got from fresh cuts. Now I hold almost everything at least 10 days before breaking down, even my chuck rolls. That small fridge sits in the corner of my shop and it's probably the best $0 investment I've made in this trade. Has anyone else tried aging at home with a spare fridge, and what's your sweet spot for days?

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casey_harris•10d ago

New guy kept trimming the fat cap too thin on my briskets

Last week I let my part timer handle the trim on a 15 pounder and he shaved it down to almost nothing, thought he was doing me a favor. That cap is what keeps the flat from drying out over a 12 hour cook, he cost me a whole case of disappointment. Anyone else have to train someone on the touch of leaving about a quarter inch?

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elizabethhayes•11d ago

Struck gold at a random farmers market demo in Portland

Was killing time before a supply run and this old school butcher was breaking down a whole hog on a folding table. He used a curved boning knife to pop the hip joint in like 20 seconds, way cleaner than my usual method. Anyone else pick up tricks from just watching someone work in person?

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gavinlopez•12d ago

Finally figured out a trick to keep my c-clamps from sliding off those round stainless tables

I wiped a thin layer of rosin on the clamp pads after watching an old timer do it for 3 seconds at a job last month, and now my cuts don't shift even when I'm breaking down a whole pig on a slick surface, has anyone else tried something like that with their setup?

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faith684•14d ago

My pork chops went from dry to juicy after I started brining them overnight last month

I used to just season and grill them straight from the fridge, but this past July I tried a simple salt and sugar brine for 8 hours before cooking, and the texture difference was night and day. Has anyone else had luck with brining tougher cuts like shoulder steaks?

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perry.evan•14d ago

Tried wet aging vs dry aging a ribeye primal side by side last week

Got two choice ribeye primals from the same steer. Hung one in the cooler for 28 days dry and wet aged the other in a vacuum bag for the same time. The dry age lost almost 30% in trim weight. Wet age barely lost any. But the flavor difference was night and day. Dry age had that beefy nutty taste. Wet age just tasted like regular beef. Is the extra waste worth it to you guys?

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troy832•15d ago

Went back to the old school way of tying roasts last week

I started out 15 years ago using nothing but butcher's twine and a simple knot. Then I got a job at a big shop where everyone used those elastic nets for everything. Thought it was faster until I had a customer complain the net left marks on her prime rib. Last week I pulled out the twine again for a 12 lb sirloin and honestly it felt better. Anyone else ditch the modern tools and go back to basics?

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the_tessa•15d ago

I still hand-tie roasts, call me old school

Been seeing a lot of guys using those elastic netting rolls for boneless roasts. I tried it for about a month back in 2022 after Jake at the shop in Philly swore by it. But I switched back to cotton twine because the netting hides a bad tie job. You can't see if the meat is uneven until you slice it and it falls apart. Has anyone else found that the netting messes with how even the roast cooks?

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evan_wilson18•15d ago

Finally caught myself cross-contaminating after 8 years

I was breaking down a chuck roll last Tuesday and grabbing a worn out blade from the same bin I use for trimming brisket fat cap. It hit me like a ton of bricks when the owner walked by and asked why I wasn't using a sanitized bin for each subprimal. I had been using the same dirty board and knife for everything since I started at a shop in Denver back in 2016. Nobody ever corrected me because we were always in a rush during the morning prep rush. Now I keep three separate cutting stations with clearly marked handles. Anybody else have a moment where a simple habit got called out and suddenly made you feel like an amateur?

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the_charlie•16d ago

That demo at the NAMP convention in Kansas City changed my mind about dry-aging in the bag.

I saw a guy pull a 45-day ribeye out of a $30 Umai bag and it had better bark and less loss than any of my fancy dry-aging fridges, so who else has actually tried these at home without the expensive gear?

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dixon.spencer•19d ago

I used to trim all the fat off before grinding, now I keep some on

For like 2 years I was trimming everything down to lean meat for my burger grind. Then I watched a guy at a shop in Portland do a 80/20 mix and it blew my mind. Keeps the patties juicy and actually saves me about 30 minutes per batch. Anyone else make the switch to leaving some fat on?

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daniel_walker•19d ago

Took me 6 hours to debone a pig shoulder yesterday

Everyone says it's easy but I kept hitting the wrong seams and losing meat. Finally got it after watching a guy from Iowa break it down on YouTube 3 times. How long did it take you guys the first time you tried a full shoulder?

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ben_ross51•21d ago

Watching a master break down a steer at the Stockyards show changed my whole approach

I was at the Fort Worth Stockyards last fall, just watching the demonstrations. This old timer, must have been 70 years old, took a whole steer apart in under 30 minutes with maybe 4 knife strokes. I timed him. He used almost no sawing motion, just long precise cuts following the natural seams. It made me realize I was fighting the meat instead of working with it. Has anyone else picked up a technique from just watching someone work that totally changed how you break down a carcass?

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ben_ross51•21d ago

Hit 500 whole hog breakdowns last week and still learning

I hit 500 whole hog breakdowns last week here in Austin. That's 500 pigs I've broken down since I started tracking in 2018. What surprised me is how much the first 200 taught me about yield compared to the last 300 where I'm fighting for every extra pound of trim. Any of you guys hit a milestone that made you realize how much you still didn't know?

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hall.nina•22d ago

Heard a customer say sirloin is for stir fry and it got me thinking

Some lady at the counter yesterday told her friend sirloin is all she uses for stir fry because it's 'tender enough.' I wanted to say top round is half the price and works just as good if you cut it thin across the grain. Any other cuts you guys steer people toward to save them money?

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joseph_torres•26d ago

Customer said I was trimming fat too close to the muscle - took me a minute to see he was right

Had this older guy at the counter Saturday, been coming to our shop for years. He pointed at a pork loin I just trimmed and said 'you're chasing the silver skin too deep, you're leaving less meat than you should.' I got defensive at first but then he showed me his hand. 30 years as a slaughterhouse foreman. I tried his way on the next loin and I'll be damned if I didn't get an extra 3 portions out of it. Any of you guys ever get schooled by a customer on something you thought you had down?

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oliver_morgan•28d ago

Shoutout to the dry aging bag approach over the whole primal setup

I spent two years using a dedicated dry aging fridge with whole primals hanging in there. Big investment, lots of space, constant humidity battles. Last month a butcher buddy in Knoxville convinced me to try the UMAi dry aging bags on some ribeye subprimals instead. Night and day difference for my small shop. The bags let me use my existing reach-in cooler without any modifications. Plus I got way less waste because the pellicle formed more evenly on the bagged cuts versus the open hanging ones where the outer part got tough. Has anyone else made the switch and noticed the bags actually give you better yield on the final trim?

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dylanmurray•29d ago

TIL my band saw blade tension was way off for months

Been running my shop for 6 years and always thought a little wobble was normal on the AWM saw I bought used. Last week I finally had a blade snap during a pork shoulder break down and nearly took out my hand. How do you guys check tension without relying on the built in gauge that seems to lie to you?

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derekjenkins•1mo ago

I still think about the customer who asked me to trim all the fat off a ribeye and then complained it was tough.

At the shop in Portland about 5 years ago, a lady insisted I take every bit of marbling off a prime ribeye because she was scared of fat, and then she came back the next day mad that the steak was dry and chewy - has anyone else dealt with customers who don't understand fat equals flavor?

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