Why I finally stopped breaking down primals the same way every time

I’ve been cutting beef primals for like 6 years now, always did the same rib section method my first trainer showed me. Last month a customer at the shop in Portland asked for a specific Denver steak cut, and I realized I had no clue how to get it clean. The old timer who works next to me saw me struggling and just laughed, then showed me how to follow the intermuscular fat lines instead of forcing my knife through the seam. That was my ‘oh, duh’ moment. I had been fighting the meat for years because I was too stubborn to adjust my technique. Now I take 3 extra seconds to look at each primal before I start cutting. Has anyone else had to unlearn a bad habit after watching someone with more experience do it the easy way?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_reese5d ago

Saw a video on this once from a chef who said most butchers overcomplicate things by forcing cuts instead of letting the seams do the work. Took me a while to get it through my head too.

beth_stone5d ago

Oh wow, that intermuscular fat line thing is such a game changer once you actually see it... I had the exact same moment when I switched from breaking down whole chickens the old way to just finding the natural joints instead of hacking through bone. It's like the meat is trying to tell you where to cut if you just slow down enough to listen.

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