c/butchers

11

barnes.shane•1h ago

Changed my tune on dry aging after a buddy talked some sense into me

I used to think dry aging at home was a waste of time and money. Then Mike, this old school butcher I work with, told me I was missing the point. He said it's not about fancy equipment, it's about controlling air flow and humidity in something as simple as a mini fridge. I tried it with a $20 rib primal from Costco, rigged up a little fan, and after 30 days I was shocked at how much better it tasted. He was totally right, the concentration of flavor is insane even with basic stuff. Has anyone else had luck with a makeshift setup like that?

22

grayperez•2d ago

It took me 3 years to realize I was trimming my ribeyes wrong

I always cut off that big fat cap on the outside thinking I was doing people a favor. Then a customer at the shop last Friday asked me to leave it on because they wanted to cook it like a steakhouse. I watched them sear it and it rendered perfectly. Felt pretty dumb honestly. Anyone else miss something basic for way too long?

11

olivia_morgan8•3d ago

Hot take: wet aging beats dry aging for most home butchers

I know everyone loves dry aging, but after trying both on 3 different cuts from my local shop in Austin, wet aging gives me way more consistent results. The dry aged stuff always loses too much weight and I end up trimming more than I'd like. I get a better yield and the flavor is still great for my home cooking. Anyone else find wet aging more practical for small batches?

9

thea143•3d ago

Overheard a new guy say he's never dry-aged beef, kinda blew my mind

So there's this kid who just started at the shop last week, maybe 19 years old. I'm breaking down a ribeye roll and he's watching me work, then out of nowhere he says he's never even tasted dry-aged beef in his life. Said his family always bought pre-packaged stuff from the grocery store and thought aged meat was just a marketing gimmick. I offered him a slice of a 35-day NY strip we had hanging in the cooler and his face changed completely when he chewed it. Made me realize how many people just never get exposed to the real stuff because of how meat is sold nowadays. Has anyone else run into customers or new hires who didn't know basic stuff like that?

16

logan648•4d ago

Tried dry aging beef in my home fridge for 35 days and it actually worked

I threw a prime rib roast in a regular fridge with a cheap usb fan running and some cheesecloth over it. The crust came out dark and funky but the inside was SO much more tender than anything I've bought at a store. Has anyone else tried this with a smaller cut like a steak without it drying out too much?

32

christopher952•4d ago

Bought a whole hog and learned the hard way about freezer space...

I paid $450 for a nice Berkshire hog from a local farm without measuring my chest freezer first... ended up having to give 40 pounds of it to my neighbor because it just wouldn't fit. Has anyone else ever bought too much meat at once and had to scramble for storage?

8

the_seth•6d ago

Walked into a custom slaughterhouse last week and saw the numbers behind grass-fed vs grain-fed beef. Blew my mind.

I always figured grass-fed beef was just a marketing thing, but this place had kill sheets showing actual yield differences. A grass-fed steer averaged 58% of live weight as carcass, while grain-fed hit 62%. That 4% drop doesnt sound huge until you realize theyre losing 40 pounds of saleable meat per animal. The guy running the place told me grass-fed also takes 6-8 months longer to finish, so you get less meat per animal and fewer animals per year. I asked him if the premium price makes up for it and he just laughed. Has anyone here worked with both types and seen the same spread in your numbers?

16

zarapalmer•6d ago

Heard a customer say 'blade tenderized is just fancy for bruised meat'

I was trimming a ribeye last Saturday when this older guy at the counter pointed at our pre-cut steaks and said that. It got me thinking because we do blade tenderize some tougher cuts at our shop in Portland. I looked into it more and found out it can push bacteria deeper into the meat if you aren't careful with temps. Has anyone else had customers push back on blade tenderized stuff, or do you just not mention it?

1

davidh88•7d ago

Hit 500 deer processed this season and I'm wondering if I'm pushing too hard

Some of the old guys say volume kills quality but I'm also making bank off the wild game crowd. You guys think there's a sweet spot for how many animals to take on in a season or is it just about managing your schedule better?

25

nora184•7d ago

24 years cutting beef before I caught my method was ruining primal yields

Was watching a new guy break down a ribeye roll and noticed he got 3 extra steaks from the same weight. Turned out my angle on the spinalis cut was wrong the whole time, been leaving money on the table every single carcass. Anyone else have that moment where a fresh set of eyes showed you something basic you'd been messing up?

6

kelly.parker•8d ago

My boning knife snapped mid-breakdown on a pork shoulder Tuesday

I was working through a case of shoulders around 3 PM and the blade just gave out right at the heel. Had to finish the cut with my backup knife that I hadn't sharpened in two weeks. Anyone else ever had a blade fail on them during a busy shift?

6

ninah10•22d ago

Vent: Took me 4 hours to break down one steer because my knife was dull

Everyone says to keep your knives sharp but I figured 'close enough' was fine. I spent almost 4 hours fighting through sinew and fat on a single 800-pound steer last Tuesday. My wrist was killing me and the final cuts looked like a dog chewed them. How often do you guys actually stop to sharpen mid-job?

9

mitchell.nancy•22d ago

Spent $80 on a boning knife that chipped on the third deer this season

I figured spending a little more would get me something that held an edge better. It was a brand I'd seen some guys at the shop recommend online. But after breaking down maybe 5 deer total I noticed a chip near the tip. Emailed the company and they said it was user error, wouldn't do anything about it. Went back to my old $40 Victorinox and it's still going strong after two years. Anybody else have a fancy knife let them down like that?

3

lisa_bennett•24d ago

Watched a whole brisket trim differently after one visit to a Texas shop

Drove down to Lockhart last month. Watched a guy at Kreuz Market trim a packer brisket in like 4 minutes flat. He left a solid quarter inch of fat cap. No weird angles. No ugly jagged edges. I had been taking off way too much fat for like 2 years. Came home and tried it their way. The bark set up nicer and the flat didn't dry out. Any of you guys change your trimming style after seeing another butcher work?

5

the_joseph•25d ago

Found out beef looses like 30% weight during dry aging

Was reading a book called The Art of Beef and it said a 1000lb hanging carcass can drop to 700lbs after a 30 day dry age. Thats a ton of moisture loss I never really factored into my pricing. How do you guys account for that when quoting customers?

16

noah415•25d ago

The old timer at the auction lot changed how I trim brisket

I always trimmed briskets the way I saw on YouTube, taking all the fat down to a quarter inch. Last week at the stockyard auction in Omaha, a retired butcher named Walt pulled me aside. He said I was throwing away flavor and that the fat cap on the point side should stay closer to half an inch. He showed me on a choice packer he bought, and the marbling ran way deeper than I thought. Tried his method on a prime brisket yesterday and the flat didn't dry out like usual. Any of you old school guys cut fat different than the online tutorials say?

16

johnb95•26d ago

Hit 500 whole chickens cut in one week, feels like a weird milestone

I'm on the fence about whether hitting a number like that means I'm getting efficient or if I'm just rushing too much. Last Tuesday I broke down 112 birds before lunch and my wrist was screaming by 3pm. Do you guys track your volume numbers or just go by feel for when you're pushing it?

5

christopher952•26d ago

Swapped to a curved boning knife six months ago and I'm never going back to straight blades

Been breaking down carcasses for about 8 years now. Always used a standard straight boning knife because that's just what everyone had. Then this guy from a shop in Portland came through town and let me try his curved 6-inch. Felt weird at first but after one shift I could feel the difference on the rib bones. It just follows the curve naturally instead of me fighting to get the angle right. Anyone else made a switch like this or am I late to the party?

8

ivanlewis•27d ago

Was surprised to learn brisket yield drops 8% after 3 days in the cryovac

I was reading through some old Meat Science journal articles last week and found a study that really caught me off guard. It said that whole packer briskets lose about 8% of their weight just from purge after being in cryovac for 72 hours. That's nearly a pound on a 12 pound packer. I always figured the moisture loss was minimal until you opened the bag. Does anyone else account for this when pricing out their primals, or am I overthinking the numbers here?

22

the_kai•28d ago

Visited a butcher shop in Portland last month that only dry ages in-house

They had a whole room set to 34 degrees with fans running, and the flavor on their ribeyes was unreal compared to the wet aged stuff I get from my supplier. Has anyone here built their own dry aging setup or is it not worth the hassle for a small shop?

14

patricia_singh81•29d ago

Hit 500 pounds of trim in a single week and it messed with my head

I've always been a 'just grind it up for burger' guy when it came to scrap and trim. Never paid much attention to how much I was throwing in the grinder. Then last Thursday I weighed my bin before starting and it was 92 pounds for the day alone. By Saturday I'd hit 500 even for the week. That number made me realize I've been giving away perfectly good profit for years. Has anyone else actually tracked their trim weight and been shocked at the number?

23

taylorm89•29d ago

I changed my whole boning method after an old timer called me out

Guy at the local shop I buy from told me I was leaving way too much meat on the blade bone and showed me how to cut tighter along the cartilage. Been getting an extra 2-3 pounds per primal since then, anybody else get a random tip that totally changed their yield?

11

lisa_hill23•1mo ago

Just lost a whole week's worth of custom dry-aged ribeyes

So last Tuesday I had a guy order 12 ribeyes for a family reunion, all dry-aged 45 days. I trimmed them up beautiful, wrapped them perfect, put them in the walk-in. Then the new kid accidentally set the temp to 55 instead of 34 on Friday night. I came in Saturday morning and they all had that slimy smell. Had to toss every single one, about $480 worth of product. Has anyone else had a rookie mistake cost them a big order like that?

16

miles_perez•1mo ago

Tried dry-aging a ribeye in my home fridge for 30 days

Threw a $120 prime ribeye in the back of my fridge with no fancy bag, just a wire rack and patience. It came out with a flavor that beat anything from my shop's locker, but the crust was a nightmare to trim off. Anyone else go cheap on dry-aging gear and still pull it off?

25

lily_schmidt53•1mo ago

Broke my favorite boning knife on a pork shoulder yesterday

Was trimming a case of shoulders for sausage and my old 6-inch flex boning knife snapped right at the handle. Had to finish the last 20 pounds with my chef's knife which was a total pain. Anyone got a brand of boning knife that actually holds up to heavy use?