c/butchers

One customer complaint changed my blade angle approach

Had a lady bring back a chuck roast last spring, said my cuts were too thick. I argued with her for ten minutes. Then I watched her try to slice it herself. She struggled because I left the grain wrong. Next day I tested a 30 degree bias on my next batch. Nobody said a word, but I sold out before noon. Now I angle every roast cut that way. Anyone else get schooled by a customer and actually improved their work?

Appreciation post: the old timer who taught me to read a carcass in Odessa

Back in 2014 I worked a counter at a shop in Odessa, Texas, and this retired rancher named Ray came in every Tuesday for his standing order. One day he watched me break down a chuck and just said, "Son, you're cutting against the grain of the muscle, not the bone." He spent 20 minutes showing me how the fat seams map out the natural separation points, and I've used that trick on every shoulder roast since. Has anyone else had a customer or regular who quietly corrected your technique in a way that stuck with you for years?

Saw a new guy ruin a whole ribeye rack with a band saw yesterday

Watched this kid at the shop line up the rack with the spine facing the wrong way and he clipped right through the eye muscle on three bones. I had to stop him and walk him through flipping it so the blade follows the rib, not the bone. It happens, we all messed up early, but he cost us about 60 bucks of prime product and I'm the one who had to explain it to the owner. How do you all train new folks on the band saw without making them feel like idiots, or do you just let them burn a few mistakes first?

Pork shoulders with the blade bone still in, do you sell them whole?

Last Saturday I had three guys in a row ask me to cut the bone out and tie the shoulder for them, but they all wanted it for different things, one was roasting, one was smoking, and one said his mom made some stew. I always thought the bone added flavor and helped hold the meat together, but now Im wondering if I should just offer both options upfront without waiting for the customer to ask. Do yall keep the blade bone in on your counter cuts or do you pull it and net them up?

Wet aging in the bag vs dry aging in the locker, my 30 day test

I run a small shop outside Nashville and got tired of guessing which method my customers really wanted. So last month I took two identical ribeye subprimals from the same steer and did 30 days in a Cryovac bag on one, and 30 days in my dry age locker on the other. The bag one lost almost no weight, maybe 2 percent, but the flavor stayed pretty flat and the texture was still soft, almost like a fresh cut. The locker one lost close to 18 percent by weight, which hurts on cost, but the crust was deep brown and the meat had that nutty, beefy punch you cant fake. I trimmed off about 3 pounds of pellicle from the dry aged one, which hurt but the flavor difference was night and day. My regulars who tried both side by side said the dry aged tasted like a steakhouse, the bag one tasted like a Tuesday. Has anyone else run this same comparison and found the trim waste worth it, or do you stick with wet aging for the margin?

Overheard a customer say our lamb is too gamey, got me thinking

Yesterday a woman at the counter told her friend our lamb chops taste like dirt, which stung since we dry age them 14 days in the cooler. I've been doing it that way for years because my old mentor swore it brings out the flavor, but now I'm wondering if most home cooks just want milder meat. Do you guys adjust your aging time based on your regular crowd, or stick to what you think is right?

Tried dry-aging a ribeye in my home fridge, came out tasting like a basement

I mean, I followed the salt and cheesecloth method I saw online, left it for 5 days in a spare fridge in my garage outside Austin, and the crust was fine but the meat had this musty, damp smell that just would not cook off. Anyone else wreck a decent cut trying this at home, or is it just me?

Tracing paper trick for checking silverskin on briskets

I started laying a sheet of tracing paper over my briskets after trimming, it really shows the silverskin patches that hide under the fat. Compared side by side with my uncle's shop in Pittsburgh, his crew skips this step and their final cook comes out noticeably chewier. Cost me about $8 for a roll at Michaels, lasts months. Has anyone else tried this, or do you just rely on feel? I swear the visual check cuts my trim time by a third.

I finally stopped using the band saw for breaking down primals

I used to think the band saw was the only way to get clean cuts on bone-in stuff. But after watching a guy at the 2023 NAMP convention in Kansas City break down a whole beef shortloin with just a scimitar and a wood mallet? Changed my whole approach. Faster, less waste, and I'm not constantly stopping to clean bone dust out of the machine. Anyone else ditch the saw for hand work on certain cuts?

Spent $300 on a vacuum sealer and I think it was a waste for most home butchers

Almost lost a whole shoulder to a dull boning knife last Saturday

I was breaking down a pork shoulder at the shop and my knife kept slipping off the silverskin, caught my thumb pretty good. I bled like crazy into the meat but luckily caught it before any got sold... anyone else had a close call with a dull blade that could've cost you product?

Setting up my new grinder plate gap took me 3 hours of trial and error

I got a new #12 grinder last week from a local shop near Portland. Thought I could eyeball the plate gap like my old one, but ended up with mushy burger and a stalled motor three times. Turns out the manual said 0.010 inches but I was reading it wrong the whole time. Now I keep a feeler gauge taped to the machine for next time. Anyone else have a tool they use that makes setup faster?

That $200 boning knife I bought from a fancy online shop bent on the third deer I broke down

Three deer in and the tip already curled on me. Has anyone else had luck with that brand or did I just learn a pricey lesson?

Overheard a guy at the meat counter say 'aging beef is just letting it rot' and I had to bite my tongue

Was at a barbecue place in Austin last Saturday waiting for my order. This dude next to me tells his buddy that dry aged beef is basically rotten meat. Buddy nods along. I wanted to explain that controlled humidity and temp for 30 days is nothing like leaving a roast in the fridge for a month. But I kept my mouth shut. Anyone else ever just let customers or strangers believe whatever they want about meat just to avoid a 20 minute argument?

Finally caved and bought a proper boning knife after years of cheap ones

I used to think spending more than $30 on a knife was a total waste. Last month I dropped $120 on a Victorinox curved boning knife and honestly I was wrong for years. The first time I broke down a pork shoulder it felt like cutting through butter compared to the dull blade I had been fighting. No more fighting tendons or slipping off bones and nearly stabbing myself. It paid for itself in the first week when I saved time on a 50-pound case of chickens. Has anyone else had that moment where spending real money on a tool actually saved you in the long run?”

Just realized I was trimming briskets all wrong

Old timer at the shop told me last month to leave more fat on the point end, said I was cutting off all the flavor. Tried it on three briskets since and the difference is night and day - anyone else ever get schooled by a veteran like that?

One insane Saturday at the shop last month

I had a guy come in wanting 20 pounds of beef liver for a single family cookout and then 20 minutes later a vegan walked in asking if we had any plant-based meat alternatives. Anyone else get customers like that back to back?

Grinding my own burger blend felt like overkill until I did it once

I always bought pre-ground chuck from the store, figured grinding my own was just extra work for no real difference. Last Tuesday I picked up a brisket end and some short rib trimmings, ran them through the grinder myself, and the texture and flavor on the patties was night and day. Anyone else get surprised by how much better homemade grind tastes even with basic cuts?

Had a customer last week ask me to butterfly a whole lamb

Guy comes in on a Tuesday afternoon, says he's throwing a party and wants a lamb butterflied for the grill. I've done it before but not in a while. Took me about 20 minutes with a boning knife and some patience. He watched the whole thing and asked if I could teach him. I told him sure, bring your own lamb next time and I'll walk you through it. Has anyone else had people ask to watch you work like that?

I used to trim all the fat off ribeyes until a customer told me I was ruining them.

Switched to leaving a 1/4 inch cap after a guy named Vince explained the fat renders down to flavor, now I sell way more at the counter and haven't looked back - anyone else get schooled by a customer on their own cuts?

Dropped $400 on a new band saw blade that's supposed to last forever, now I'm not so sure

Bought one of those fancy carbide tipped blades for my old Hobart back in March. Talked to the rep at the supply shop and he swore it would outlast three standard blades easy. First 200 pounds of pork shoulder went through fine. Then I hit a bone chip that must've been from a badly split spine and it chipped a tooth. Now it's got a nick that leaves a ragged edge on everything. $400 down the drain basically. Should I just go back to the $80 standard blades or is there a trick to keeping these things safe from bone fragments?

Knife guy at a farmers market in Portland fixed my edge angle for free

I was at the Saturday farmers market in Portland last month and this older guy had a little sharpening setup near the cheese stand. He asked to see my boning knife I use for breaking down chickens. He took one look and said I was grinding at 20 degrees instead of 15. He ran it over his stone for maybe 2 minutes and handed it back. That knife cuts through skin and fat like butter now. I never would have paid for that lesson but he just smiled and waved me off. Anyone else had a random stranger fix a basic technique you thought you had down?

Finally saw the difference dry-aging 21 days vs 28 days on a ribeye

I've been dry-aging at home for about a year now, mostly sticking to 21 days. Last month I tried a 28-day prime ribeye from Creekstone Farms and the difference was way bigger than I expected. The 28-day had a much deeper, nuttier flavor and the fat rendered softer. Has anyone else noticed a big jump between those two timeframes on different cuts?

That one Tuesday last month where everything went right

I had a full week of bad breaks last month - messed up a lamb order, my bandsaw blade snapped on a Tuesday morning, and the delivery truck showed up with a whole beef loin that was all beat up. But then on Thursday I got a perfect 250-pound steer from a local farm near me in Ohio, broke it down in under 3 hours with no waste, and two of my regular customers came in and bought up all the chuck roasts within 10 minutes. Has anyone else had a day where the stars just aligned and made you feel like you actually knew what you were doing?

Finally figured out how to keep my saw blade sharp longer

Been fighting with my bone saw getting dull after just a few sides of beef. Tried everything, different blades, different speeds. Then an old timer at the shop told me to stop using the saw to cut through the joints. Said to break them by hand first. Tried it last week on a full hind quarter and the blade is still cutting clean after 3 days. Anyone else do this or am I just late to the party?