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Butchery ....

post #1 of 7
8/12/05 at 4:53am
Thread Starter 
.... I know that as Chefs you learn to cut up various beasts and fowl but is the knowledge you learn in Chef school on par with a butcher's ability to dissect and pare up carcasses?
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post #2 of 7
8/12/05 at 1:49pm
ive stood by a master butcher/slaughterer in the field while he broke down a hog the size of a volkswagen starting with a bullet between the eyes. the man was poetry in motion. it only took him ten minutes!!!!! there is a definite art to it.
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post #3 of 7
8/12/05 at 2:36pm
To simply answer your question "no" professional butchers are trained and by pure repetition are generally more expeditious. With that said, most (not all) culinary schools have meat ID and fabrication as part of there freshman module "we do" and many meats are covered and basic sub-primal cuts are taught (beef, lamb, veal and pork) as well as many variates of poultry.For most of my 25+ years I have worked in environments that fabricated our own primal and sub-primal cuts, so I was able to learn how to butcher very rapidly and proficiently. And in the end it is a cost savings. I have one student who is a junior who decided to work at a high end new butcher shop for his internship just to be able to offer the skill to a future employer.
Baruch ben Rueven / Chanaבראד, ילד של ריימונד והאלאן
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post #4 of 7
8/12/05 at 6:27pm
Manually with a big hacksaw hanging on his belt or with machines? I've seen an old school guy do it manually. It's a sight to behold. They're like surgeons, well, sorta. :D

After you've cleaned 10,000 PSMO's like CC you could probably cut a piece to within 1/4 oz of what you want.
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post #5 of 7
8/12/05 at 7:05pm
I don't think we do enough... SYSCO is too ready to sell you "Center cut, chain-off, 8oz filets." The cost drops right through your bottom line. However, you can hire less-skilled staff and make up for their inexperience by purchasing fabricated products.

At a new restaurant in town that I am helping at, they employ a 'butcher' of sorts who is breaking down chickens into 'airline' (supreme) breasts, portion cutting fish, etc. I think that is more typical, in my experiences of late, of what places are looking for. Is it good to know how to break down a side of beef? Sure! Is it practical? Not always. I have seen students at NECI break down a venison. One venison. "One" venison does not make you a butcher. Is it good a experience? You bet. Does it give them insight as to what it is 'supposed to be'? Sure.

Like CC said, "do it, do it, do it" and then, and only then, are you qualified to work on somebody's inventory.

Invention, my dear friends, is ninety-three percent perspiration, six percent electricity, four percent evaporation, and two percent butterscotch ripple

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post #6 of 7
8/13/05 at 11:21am
kuan-this is where the term 'breaking' a carcass must have come from- the guy wrenched the bones apart by hand after a few deft cuts using the biggest sharpest knives ive ever seen. used a hand cranked crane thing on the side of his cube van to raise the carcass-we helped peel and catch. my buddy timed him at ten minutes from kill to quarter a two year old slaughter pig. no small beastie!
http://asuaf.org/~fstw1/Fat%20Pig%20...0fair%2003.jpg
web pic, not mine.
this is all mr. morgan does for a living and a good living it is too. practice makes perfect.
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post #7 of 7
9/7/05 at 12:53am
Thread Starter 
Hmmmm, thanx for the info everyone.
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