/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>4287375
what is your advice on discount meat at supermarkets?

like the shit that they need to sell fast.

Your general opinion? Which cuts would be best to buy like that? anything I would need to look out for?

discount beef vs chicken vs pork?

I'm on a budget but enjoy beef and meat

My supermkt says they butcher in house. What cut should I ask them for to prove that? This is a big ass local store with tons of cred and their hamburg grind is good, but how do I know they are real butchers?

>>4287375
What's your ideal breakfast?

Also, what's a good substitute for prime ribs if I wanted to make roast beef?

>>4287404

Discount meats can be a deal, but they can also end you up with spoiled product depending on if it's discounted based on sell-by date. Before you consider buying product that is labeled with a near sell-by date, know the quality of people that are working behind the counter and the quality of meat that they have. Some stores will sell meat that they know will be spoiled on the sell by date (typically when its a store that repacks their product a second time to keep it on the shelves longer)

I would be leery if the store doesn't seem reputable... but if it seems like a store you can trust, I'd trust re-dated beef before I'd trust re-dated chicken as a general rule.

Always be on the lookout for signs of spoiling, texture of the meat, dryness of the meat, etc. Anything that looks off shouldn't be risked if the store is known for re-dating meats.

There's plenty of cuts you can find that would meet your desire for meats while still fitting most budgets.

>>4287404
>what is your advice on discount meat at supermarkets?
seconding. i stopped buying discount meat at my local market because it was spoiled quite often. is it true some places rinse and repack meat to sell it if the sell-by date passes?

how can i find good sausages? almost every place or brand of sausage i get, unless it's cheap processed sausage, has large chunks of gristle in it, and it's not appetizing.

Why does whole foods spray their meat with water? I've never noticed the other stores do this. It kind of skeeves me out. Are other places doing it and I just didn't notice?

>>4287433
Most of the places I have bought from are chain stores such as Safeway/Giant. I think they would be reputable, as I've never gotten sick from their discount meat. I would think they wouldn't want any bad press about selling spoiled meat.

Is it true that "grayish" beef isn't bad per say, but just losing some of its color?

I also usually cook discounted meat medium, aside from medium rare which I prefer.

>>4287428
Real butchers will know individual or small cuts that are uncommon to the typical household, but known for sub primal names. Look for some 'tricky' items when you go in. Ask about processing of the animal, ask about quarters, halves, how to prep a deer while in the field if you get one hunting, or questions like that. If they know about breaking down a carcass, harvesting meats from fresh kills, know about traditional butchering and know many names for cuts, there's a good chance they're legit.

There's a lot of people that learn about meat though that aren't necessarily butcher quality or of a true butchering trade. A lot of times "meat cutter" is synonymous with "butcher". There is a big difference in actuality though. Most people at the stores don't realize that though.

If you're interested in some neat cuts or oddities, let me know and I'll throw some your way.

>>4287429
I'm currently stuck on a BS diet that affords me *one* animal protein per day. I save my meat for dinner. I get stuck eating a Clif bar or some sort of cereal, bagel, or other whole-grain type product with an almond milk.

If I was afforded anything for breakfast, I would certainly use some old family recipes. Cooking bacon, eggs, and toast on the same griddle (no cleaning) is a delicious and indulging breakfast of protein if you're planning on working a long, hard day of manual labor. It's also good for clogging arteries and throwing your cholesterol through the roof though...

A good substitute for prime rib for a roast beef? Prime rib is a very special beef that isn't really a replaceable item. There won't be another roast that will match it. The next best one I can think of would be a thick porterhouse steak, if you're trying to keep it bone-in... A porterhouse is a combination of good bone for flavor and also fillet mignon on one side and new york strip on the other. You won't have that beautiful marbling and fat distribution like you would with a prime rib though...

>>4287461
Not the OP but i am interested in odd cuts

>>4287461
Thanks Butcher. So if there is no substitute, let's say neither the prime rib nor a thick porter house is available, what other common cuts are there that gives makes a good roast beef?

>>4287435

A truly good sausage is a piece of art... The best sausages you can find are typically from a local butcher shop where they've been making it family style for years. The seasonings aren't bland and generic like typical stores, and they're not overly potent like you will often find with a lesser product that tries to cover the quality of their meat with seasoning.

Where are you located (approximately)? I might have some input for a good place to get some from.

If you're really in a pinch... find a quality local store that only uses salt, pepper, and a little brown sugar for their mixture. Lightly seasoned is a lot better than heavily seasoned sausage.

A real trick with sausage is that most times the reason it was made into sausage is either because a large portion of pork is almost ready to turn, or because they have a lot of pork ends (scraps, essentially) left from yesterday's cutting or that day's cuts. Because of this, a lot of sausages end up being fatty, gristly, or lacking in meat quality and quantity... There are still places that do it right though.

>>4287436
Some places spray their product with water to help it look more moist and fresh. Once meat starts to dry it begins to denature from what you're used to seeing. We don't spray any of our product in my store, but I know the general concept is to keep it looking fresher for a longer period of time. It can lead to bacterial growth though, depending on the conditions and the quality of the water. Crazy stuff.

>>4287444
Browning beef (darkening beef) isn't necessarily bad. It's called the "bloom" of a beef when it is cut and turns a bright shade of red. The bloom doesn't last very long for meat (especially ground). If it's turning grayish or green it's typically not on our shelves though. Gray isn't something I like to see or sell. It can still be good, but it's definitely on the way out. Reddish-Brown won't hurt you though (typically)- still inspect it though.

is it worth it to special order cuts from a grocery store that does the actual butchering off site?
I'm trying to get some pigs feat cut into disks for ramen broth.

>>4287465
There's a lot of odd cuts that most people won't ask for in my neck of the woods.

Tri-tip steak, Cap Steak, Steakhouse Sirloin (all the same- they'll use one of the names at your location... but most won't know all the names).

Ask if they sell silverside, gooseneck, or Bottom Flat sometime if you're wondering if the staff is on their A-Game. They'll all the same thing- Bottom Round Roast (but in the whole piece).

Beef Fore-shank isn't a commonly used name, but it ends up being shank meat and beef knuckle bone when you cut it down.

Ask them about the hanger steak. That's always fun. Now that cooking channels are talking about them it might be more likely for them to know about it- but many will still not if they're not butchers.

Ask them what you'd use a Beef Shoulder Clod for and see what kind of answers they'll give you.

See if they know about inside and outside skirt steak/meat (uncommon in my area, perhaps not in yours though).

Teres Major is one of my favorite pieces to use for specialty items, actually. See if they know that one.

There's offal and other odd cuts too, but those are some different names that come to mind and some neat cuts.

>>4287480
Prime rib is sort of like a Porsche. You can modify another car to keep up with it, but it's not going to feel the same. You can get the Ferrari or Lamborghini (fillet mignon) if you want to pay the extra money, but there's really not another car that feels the same.

(sorry for the cheeseball example)

That being said, some of the cheapest roasts are actually very good for making a delicious roast beef. Are you trying to shave it/cut it into thin slices, or are you trying to have it rip apart like a pulled beef? I'll get back to you ASAP once I know.

>>4287375
Where is your skirt steak

>>4287499
If you're looking for specialty items, sometimes it's the only way to get them. I don't know too many places that pull in pigs feet to cut them up for customers that are local to me. If you have the opportunity to get them and you'd like them (and if the price isn't too bad), sometimes the only way to get them is to pay for that small extra fee for offsite (or onsite) butchering.

>>4287510
Here you are (individual chart with location)

>>4287508
I want something I can slice but either is way is fine.
Tell me about both if you have the time, so I can have 2 versions of roast beef so I can eat roast beef while I eat roast beef.

>>4287591
Sure thing.

When I do roasts I use a crock pot so it's ready to go when I get home. If you're looking forward to using a crock pot for some roasts, these are what I would recommend:


If you're trying to get something that will shred/rip apart, the chuck roast is your best bet. They don't look too appetizing to some folk because of the fat that they have (approximately 20% fat on average)-- but it's because of that fat that they allow a good flavor, and due to the natural stringlike connectivity of the muscles from that section of the animal, it will rip apart very well for you.

If you're trying to make a roast that will hold together a little better for slicing and you're on a budget, the rump roast and the bottom round. If they're on sale, the mock tender/chuck tender roast are pretty solid as well. They're a little lean though. Bolar roasts will also work for this as well.

>>4287481
sausageanon here. sorry, i got a little busy. it's not too easy to find a local butcher shop here. just bigger supermarkets. i'm in west palm beach, florida, and any input will be greatly appreciated. and i agree with you, i would take completely unseasoned sausage, as long as it was made with quality meat, and not full of gristle.

how come sometimes a piece of meat will have a dense consistent texture and then other times the same cut will be kind of stratified with a lot of membraney shit?

What's your favorite breed of cattle for individual steaks? Is it the same for roasts and primals for you?What's your favorite beef all around, any particulars on how it's fed, butchered, aged, etc. Or do you like it all, depending on mood?

The city I live in only has large supermarket butchers or tiny butcher shops in the less well-to-do neighborhoods that are often sketchy in quality. Are there any organizations or resources that I could look into along the lines of bringing artisan butchery into an area?

Hey Butcher!

newbie west-coast butcher wannabe here (again)

So, I snagged the weekly fax from one of our distributors. Wanna know anything?

Where to get nice fatty rib meat beef for yakiniku/korean bbq with out having to drive to the korean grocer?

>>4287670
Can depend a lot on how it's cut.

Something like a NY steak comes from a long piece called the Strip Loin. Prolly, I dunno, 10 steaks long. The end that was next to the rib-eye is usually a really nice steak, the end next to the sirloin usually has a big piece of gristle running though one end. Someone who's skilled knows how to trim each steak to minimize the gristle. Someone who hasn't been trained properly will just slice it up as is, and throw it all on a tray.

Can also depend on the animal as well. Even the same breed, raised on the same ranch, and you see significant variations from steer to steer.

>>4287719
Short rib.

Or ask for a boneless rib-eye steak sliced thin.

>>4287688
Rib, bone-in, lip-on (109/export) Select $5.34, Choice $5.45, Select Angus $5.50, Choice Angus (CAB) $5.99, Prime $9.60.

>>4287661
Working with Publix and Walmart is looks like from what I can see from your area. That's not going to help much, unfortunately.

If the store has a full service counter, try to have them grind a specific piece for you and turn it into sausage. Pork butts would work pretty well and so would pork shoulders. If you need a decent quantity some stores would be willing to make you a special batch (assuming they make their own sausage or have a full-service counter). I'm not too familiar with Publix, but I know Walmarts around here don't do much to help out the customers... Sorry I don't have much of a better solution for you than that though anon.

If you have any holidays or special occasions coming up, you could always try to get a grinder as a gift too. Then you can debone your favorite pork items and turn them into sausage on your own while also controlling the level of seasoning that goes into it. Sausage is a pain to learn, but it's not too complicated.

>>4287670
The pieces will vary by each individual animal. Typically farms or growing facilities will have similar cattle, but it's mostly due to genetics, lifestyle, and diet. Sometimes pieces aren't properly trimmed or they're just put out carelessly while leaving non-desired membranes, bones, etc with the piece they're selling. It's slopping work sometimes, and other times just the quality of cut that got sent to the store, unfortunately.

>>4287684
Favorite breed of cattle... I do enjoy Angus cattle on the whole. We've got local grass-fed, vegetarian diet, no hormone added Angus cattle nearby my house. It's pretty incredible. The price tag is too though... For regular use, just about any select or choice beef will do the trick. If it's for special occasions though, any Angus will do.

There's a lot of different types of cattle, but they're very difficult to tell apart unless it's a specialty steer that's known for certain qualities. (continued)

>>4287722
does higher grade meat have more consistent texture? I like to make stew with round instead of chuck since normal stew beef is really inconsistent in terms of fat distribution.

also I noticed that sometimes a piece of meat that looks nice in the package will be really ugly when you open it up and flip it over. is that shit on purpose?

>>4287684
>>4287765

Wagyu cattle is typically what people think of when they think premium beef... Angus is probably next in line, and then commoner cattle are used in the states typically... but if I said 2 different cows (similar in characteristics) and put their beef down on the table, it'd be unlikely to be able to tell the difference. Especially if it was cooked.

I'm very easy to get along with in terms of preferences for beef. I'll pick the exact type of cut I want for each meal though. Budget depending I'm quite flexible though to make sure I get a similar product if it doesn't fit the budget.

I don't know of any organizations or resources I could help you find though that could bring butchers into an area. It's really a dying trade though =(. Check the internet, there has to be something around to stimulate the education of butchering.

>>4287688
Good evening, friend. What's the going rate right now for your Painted Hills angus 0x1 strips right now?

>>4287722
Legit information. Thanks for the help.

>>4287719
>>4287750
Agreed. Boneless short ribs would work great. They're delicious.

>>4287782
In fairness to the stores, we get hit hard sometimes when we order stuff in too. We'll pull in the same PLU beef and from one skid to the next the quality can be great and then be crap, or it can be relatively consistent- even from the same supplier and same ordering numbers. It's terrible. Typically the beef is similar week to week though. Unless it's at a really good sale rate when the store pulls it in... then they'll typically have a 'special sale beef' pulled in (typically lower in quality).

What you want to do when you're looking at the meat when there's a fat cab is to poke around a little with the pad of your finger (or the tip if you need more leverage) and see how much give the fat has. That'll help you know how much fat cab is on the piece of beef so you don't get wrecked when you take it home to find there's 3/4 inch of fat along the exterior.

Some stores do indeed, however, tuck the fattiest parts of the meat down toward the bottom of the tray so you can't see it. It's a common marketing ploy. They also make steaks and roasts and roasts that aren't really what they say they are and put them on the shelves for top dollar.

The best example is in the only youtube video I ever got around the making. It shows the difference between a Bottom Round and Rump Roast. You get *one* Rump per Bottom Flat. However, often stores will turn the entire Bottom Flat into Rump Roasts. It's pretty lame and it's cheating the customer. The meat won't be quite the same in terms of characteristics, but most people would never know the difference...

The best thing to do would be to learn as much about your meat and the products as you can so you can tell the difference. Utilize your resources wisely; there's another cutter other than myself in this thread now. Between the two of us, I'm sure we can help you out anon.
(continued)

>>4287788
No Painted Hills on this price list. Those come direct. I'll see if I can snag a look at an invoice tomorrow.

0x1 == Sel $4.45, Cho $4.99, Sel Angus $4.70, CAB $5.69, Prime $9.05.

>>4287788
Ty much. I'm with you on Angus, and grass fed is amazing. I just had some grass fed ribeye last week.

I'll look into it more, then. I've found a few orgs, but, yeah, it really is dying out. Makes me sad.

>>4287815
>>4287782

In terms of texture being more consistent... The higher the grade of beef, the more marbling it should technically have. Fat is the building block of flavor and texture when you're talking about cooking. Bottom Round is what I recommend for making stew beef- so you've got a pretty solid choice there. Unless, of course, you want to use the old fashioned method with shank meat and shank bones for the flavor in the pot.

Chuck roasts have a lot of fat in them, but they're also great roasts. The fat is a little annoying to work around though for making beef cubes/stew beef. As I mentioned with the fat layering, you can check to see how stiff the fat is between muscle tissue on the chuck roasts as well. The stiffer it is, the more dense the fat is and the more annoying it'd be to clean out (if you're even interested in using them again).

A lot of people think that you just pick a piece of meat up from the shelf and walk home (or get it from the counter) and make dinner. It's crazy how complicated good cooking and good preparation of meats is though... isn't it? That's why good butchers are so important for a community instead of just dealing with Walmart and other wholesalers who just pull in product with no knowledge of the items and have no customer service to speak of (at least not near my house).

I'll continue to make these threads so long as I have time and there is interest in the field though anon. Ask however many questions you want and I'll try to help. If I miss something, just remind me and I'll get back to you as soon as possible every time.

>>4287817
Sounds good mate. No need to knock yourself out though if it's inconvenient. I'd just like to know how the pricing is compared to our suppliers on the East Coast. We get reamed sometimes for pieces that we could get cheaper from regular choice (and have a better product) than we end up paying sometimes for that darn Angus provider...

It'd be neat to know though.


>>4287822
The meat business is definitely an interesting field. Grass-fed beefs tend to be a little leaner due to their dieting, so sometimes marbling is a little low. However, the general consensus of the quality of the beef is higher than that of average beef.

As I mentioned in another post, feel free to ask any questions you'd like answered. I'll help as much as I can given my schedule allows the time to answer the questions. If all else fails, e-mail me (butcher.op@gmail.com) if you would like some charts and general information about nutrition of meat products, I can provide those as well.

I'm here for /ck/'s convenience and to help out when I can.

What is the cheapest beef I can buy? I don't care about texture or taste much, but I would like to be able to eat meat frequently. Thanks.

Liver is really tasty and full of vitamins

>>4287845
>It'd be neat to know though.
Posted the Angus (CAB) price here >>4287817 but next time I see a Painted Hills price I'll jot it down for ya.

>>4287857
Cheapest beef available is typically chuck roast, bottom round roast, shank meat, and rump roast. Sometimes you'll find something cheaper- but around here those chuck roasts and bottom rounds get to about $2.49/lb when they're on sale.

Shank meat doesn't always give you much meat to work with, but it does have some great bone for broth and flavor. The meat is edible too assuming you stew it or slow cook it. Shank meat is cheaper than the bottom round and chuck roast typically. It might be a specialty item where you live though; it's definitely not around these parts.

If you're alright with meat other than beef, chicken is probably the cheapest meat out there right now- and it's extremely versatile. Whole fryers can be broken down into individual parts relatively easily and it's cheap. Or you can buy individual parts and plan out your meals accordingly when they're on sale.

>>4287863
I saw the regular prices. I wasn't sure if Painted Hills was a specialty brand or if it was just associated with the CAB grouping.

Thanks again for your assistance. It'll be neat to see how it turns out. I'm going to try to snag an updated pricing log from the desk sometime this week too. My most recent one is ~Jan 13th right now. It's a darn shame.

Any idea why theres a run up on chicken wings?

Also, I am looking for some tips on tri-tip

>>4287894
>tri-tip
Basic dry-rub, slow-and-low BBQ.

>>4287894

Chicken wings are in high demand now due to their popularity for sporting events and parties. A generation or two back, they threw away the wings/gave them away since they were pretty much worthless. It's crazy how times have changed... 10 cents/lb is now 2.59/lb around here. I've heard it's worse in other locations. Aside from popularity and demand, I don't have a clue why the price is going up.

What do you need to know about the tri-tip? It's good for a lot of things. You can use the whole piece as a roast, you can use individual sections of it as tender and flavorful steaks, you can use it for stir-fry or tender tips (works great).

You can really do a lot with that piece. It's typically marginally expensive though; so depending on what you want to do with it you might consider another piece of beef.

I'd recommend using tri-tip as a steak and cooking to your preferred level of heating (probably medium or less) while garnishing it with your favorite herbs, spices, etc. You could also do dry-rub steaks with it. That's pretty good too. Cooking is such an open book though...

If I missed the point of your question, please let me know and I'll alter a response to help you with whatever you wanted to know about the tri-tip.

>>4287915
Na you hit all the right points. thanks for all things btw

I'm headed to bed for the night /ck/- but don't let that deter you from leaving more questions. Thanks for the interest thus far /ck/, and I look forward to answering more of your questions tomorrow.

>>4287928
My pleasure anon. Please don't hesitate to ask more questions if you have any more. I'll be around as often for this thread (and others like it) whenever I have time and /ck/ has interest.

>>4287461
>how to prep a deer while in the field if you get one hunting,

While I have always agreed with you, The Butcher, based on my own limited experience, and your obvious knowledge of the field, I really have to ask you about this statement.

I've learned basic butchery from a couple of different professionals who've spent their working lives in the meat industry. I have not myself, every worked as a butcher, and have honestly forgotten most of what I learned, aside from the basic butchery I've put to use in restaurants.

I have not, however, had any experience that has made me believe that knowing how to break down or prep a deer you have hunted really has any relevance to professional butchery.

Sure, any butcher should be able to break down a skinned and gutted deer carcass, simply based on the fact that anatomy is often quite similar (yeah, slightly different bone structure and all that...).

But seriously, I don't understand how you can say knowing how to prep a freshly killed deer in the wild is relevant to how good of a butcher one is. Do you work somewhere that you are dealing with completely unprocessed carcasses? Most butchers I've ever encountered get their primal cuts from processing plants.

>yeah, sorry for the overly long and wordy question. feel free to answer as much or little as you'd like; I really just ended up going on a rant, so just ignore it , or give me a single sentence response, if you care to. I like your threads.

>>4287444
>Most of the places I have bought from are chain stores such as Safeway/Giant.

I know I'm off topic here, but where do you live? Safeway, as far as I know, is an American chain, and the only place I've seen a "Giant" is in France.

>>4287975

Disregard my last post. I just looked it up (as I should have done first), and immediately saw that Giant is the same thing as Stop & Shop where I currently live.

>>4287971
The reasoning behind my thought process for processing of animals is that an old school butcher (typically the type of butcher that is in a store) would know all about processing game and steer. Having the ability to do it in the field doesn't matter, but knowing how to remove the internals and field dress is something that a butcher should know how to do off the top of his head.

It's not necessarily to say that a butcher would *need* to do this to be a 'real butcher', but more rather the fact that its common knowledge to field dress an animal to prep it for slaughter/butchering back at your shop or your house.

I definitely deal with unprocessed carcasses on a daily basis during deer season, and I also work with small game on a relatively regular basis. I learned how to break down sub primals at the local store, but I learned how to take every animal from start to finish through secondary learning/first hand learning as well. A "butcher" is a person whom slaughters and processes fresh animals. A "meat cutter" is someone who takes boxed animal product and turns it into roasts and steaks. Someone that does in between work is whatever they prefer to be called.

I take no offense in your questioning, friend. I might not have worded it as elegantly as I should have; the text limit is a large drawback at times.

There certainly are butchers that are great that don't field dress, slaughter, etc. But the old school guys are typically the ones you want to find if you're looking for some serious information. A lot of modern butchers/meat cutters don't know the lesser cuts because they don't order them in, nor would they know how to get them off of a carcass.

It's a weird trade, but it's also one that is dying. The older of a butcher you can find, typically the better their chances of giving you very good or uncommon information from them. Some butchers won't work with deer- but it's a staple in my region. I guess I forget that sometimes.

What, generally speaking, are the cheapest cuts of lamb, or otherwise the cuts that get you the most bang for your buck? I'm going to be using them to make curry.

If Humans were made to eat meat we would have digestional tract of around 7ft long given our body size, in line with all the other omnivores and carnivores taking into account body size.

The Human digestional tract is 30ft long with acids made for breaking down fruits and vegetables.

Our early ancestors had a fruit and veg diet.

>>4288609
>Our early ancestors had a fruit and veg diet.
And yet chimpanzees regularly hunt, kill and eat other mammals and insects are one of their nutritional cornerstones.

>>4288600
In our area, lamb breast is relatively inexpensive. It has a good bit of bone for stock or flavoring, and it has enough meat to get a meal together. You can stuff them too, if that's your thing. Another cheap cut is lamb shank or lamb shoulder meats. Round bone is typically cheap too. You can use any of these to cut up and make many dishes. The bones all add to flavor, and the meat is decent quality. The shank meat is probably better for stewing or slow cooking... but you could still get away with it if you needed to in a pinch for your curry dishes.

If you're looking for something boneless, be ready to pay top dollar. Even lamb trimmings in my area cost ~$5 per pound. Sometimes you'll find a sale, but it's relatively uncommon due to the desire for lamb, and knowing that people will typically pay the prices they're asking due to demand and scarcity of product.

Anything else I can help with today?

>>4288600
Lamb is rank, it stinks.

>>4288609

That's if humans were meant to eat ONLY meat.

Likewise, if we were meant to eat ONLY fruits and vegetables then we'd have flatter molars, a much longer intestine, and either multiple "stomachs" like ruminants, or we would be coprophagic (eating our own feces). Strict herbivores are one or the other: cows are ruminants and chew their cud. rabbits and guinea pigs eat their own fecal matter.

Humans lack these adaptations; our body is clearly suited to an omnivorous diet since we lack the special adaptations of both strict carnivores and strict herbivores.

Hey, thanks for answering questions man, this is great.

I'm a big fan of ground turkey, but my usual brand, shadybrook farms, has just been really watery lately. I can just squeeze water out of it when I form it into patties. Do you know if Jennie-O is a better brand, or if I can have my grocer's butcher grind some on site for me and get more meat for less?

>>4288609
>>4288612
It is ok to have varying opinions on lifestyle, my fellow /ck/ users.

>>4288609
Humans are in a position through the centuries to eat just about whatever they please. Granted, the body has made many changes because of our dietary changes over the years. Excessive meats can lead to many health conditions, yes- but eating a serving or two of meat won't hurt you. Fish is certainly healthier for you (assuming low mercury content) than other meats; but beef, pork, poultry and other meats won't kill you either assuming you eat correct quantities and portions (also considering that there aren't excessive preservatives in the meats, nitrites, sulfites, etc).

There's no need to be upset with meat eaters though anon. If it's really that important to you, let us eat our meat, die out, and then we won't be of consequence to your preferred dieting routines. I don't mind people that eat vegetarian diets or vegan diets; so I fail to see why people whom prefer those diets dislike us.

Our early ancestors certainly had more to eat than just fruits and vegetables though. Look at the evolutionary track of weaponry, forms of cooking, and other tools that we have gathered, created, and used over the years to obtain the meat that we've been eating. In the early times I'm sure it was near impossible for them to catch the animals; so gathering was much more viable. Once they could kill the animals, however, we began to eat meat when we could.

Meat was a luxury item during earlier centuries because of its rarity... this is why they started to use early preservation methods (salted meats or smoked meats) to help keep food around for their people. Evolution is an amazing thing- but we're not really limited to a strictly vegetarian and vegan diet if humans don't want to. We will suffer whatever comes with that, but the body can survive on animal products in addition to fruits and vegetables.

are you still here OP?

I was wondering since years how much bacon you can get from a single pig and how much other meat in weight ?

>>4288618

Lamb is definitely not for everyone. It does have a peculiar scent to it, but the flavor is also unique to the lamb. It's a love or dislike meat, I fear.

>>4288628

I remember when Shadybrook first started showing up at my local store. It was a good product for a fair price. I haven't seen much of it lately (except for the holidays); as we typically grind our own turkey and have Jennie-O available for people who demand specific percentages to their turkey. Jennie-O is a lot about their packaging and the quality, but their prices are kind of high in my opinion. They also use breast meat for their grinds (if labeled as breast meat)... which also drives up the price. I find that breast meat dries easily while cooking though for many cooks; and I prefer to use the darker meat for grinds for this reason. Dark meats are more flavorful and have a tendency to be tender.

If you're going to get ground turkey at a local store, find out if there's stipulations to quantity first. Sometimes they have a 5lb limit for 'special order grinds'. If they typically have their own ground meats, ask if you can get turkey thighs ground up. I find that it's cheaper to buy store-ground than to buy from Jennie-O as a general rule.

Just make sure your store is one that you trust before you let them make your ground meats; as grinders can get very unsanitary very quickly...

>>4288649
Sweet, thanks so much man.

>>4288640

Typically when you butcher an animal, you lose approximately 25% to 30% of the weight to bone, skin, and the stomach weight/contents. From there, you can lose additional weight if the stomach ruptures or gets punctured (bile-ridden meat must be disposed of- unless you want to risk it).

Typically in our area, we only use the pork belly for bacon. Some areas will use back bacon- which will allow for more bacon production, but it's also more expensive because the bacon comes from a nicer section of the animal.

For us, you typically will get ~12-15 lb piece of pork belly. Then you smoke the product instead of dehydrating it; so you can expect similar weight in bacon from the animal once its transformed into bacon. If you use back bacon as well, you can expect a little more per animal.

The rest of the animal weight is then (obviously) other meats.

For a good average, take a pig's weight, take away 30% of the weight, and then subtract the bacon weight, and then you'll know what you'll get from the rest of the hog.

Granted, we might have smaller or larger hogs than what you've got in your local area... I think ours were close to 165-185lbs, but I haven't pulled one in for a bit.

If I missed something, please let me know.

**There should be charts around to let you know percentage yields somewhere online though for each section of the animal if you want exact specs.

>>4288672

Thanks for the elaborate answer OP, was exactly what I was looking for!

>>4288672
dear bucher, are you in NYC? if so can i apprentice under you?

>>4288637

The early Human diet was tropical fruit and veggies.

Scientific testing on teeth of early Humans has show fruit and veg was the diet of the day.

Meat production for Humans is not sustainable, The UN estimates we will soon need 3 earth sized planets for this practice alone.

>>4289315
no- u are a muslin

>>4289329
Oh god, not one of these clowns who tries to claim that vegetarianism is natural for humans.

>>4289329
>>fruit and veggies and meat
fixed that for you.

>>4289315
I'm not in NYC, but even if I was, a lot of my butchering happens during deer season. When I'm not processing deer and other things people bring to me, I'm working at a local store.

If I had my own shop, I'd be happy to take on some interested apprentices- it's a dying art that needs to be preserved. Sorry I can't help you anon.


Any questions for me tonight /ck/?

>>4289924
do you feel bad about all the poor dead aminals

>>4289934

Not particularly. Everything has to die at some time, and humans need to eat. If people aren't satisfied with just vegetables and fruits, they should be more than welcome to eat meat and animal products. In addition, we didn't thin out numbers of animals they would be rampant.

I do feel bad when they're not humanely killed or when people waste product that they could've used for something else. If the animal is dead, you can't bring it back. You might as well utilize every portion of the animal to make its death worthwhile. There is tanning to be done, bones for soup, meat for eating, non-edibles can be composted, etc.

I have a recipe for a sandwich that calls for cube steak. My local grocery store doesn't sell it. However, I looked it up and can conclude that cube steak is just super tenderized top round or top sirloin?

So, if I were to get some top round or top sirloin and tenderize it as best I can (I don't have a meat tenderizer, unfortunately) would that suffice? Or perhaps you can recommend something else that could work.

>>4290013

Typically for a cube steak we use top round or eye round pieces and send them through a tenderizing machine (similar to the image I'll attack) twice. You put a piece in, rotate it 180 degrees, and put it in opposite. It causes a 'cubed' look to the raised and lowered sections of the meat.

If you want to pound it out thin, you could try that. There will probably be a difference in uniformity compared to what you could find at a store, and there will definitely be a textural difference- but it should work out for you in the basic sense of making a cube steak. Back in the old days they didn't have the machines and just beat them up anyway... so it's not required to have a machine, but it's certainly a plus.

I'm not 100% sure what else you could do at home other than hammering it out (tenderizing hammer) or sending it though a machine. Good luck with your cube steaks anon.

Have you tried looking at another local grocery store? Perhaps you could have better luck?

>>4287975
im from MD, the Baltimore/DC area

I'm interested in becoming a butcher. Is it easy to become an "apprentice"?

I can't imagine many individuals would go after this line of work.

>>4290284
>I can't imagine many individuals would go after this line of work.

Generally those with a low IQ

>>4290325
Not really, there is plenty of skill and knowledge required to be a good butcher.

>>4290325

>>4290284

Step 1: Put on some period work wear from woolrich woolen mills and cone mills denim
Step 2: Wear some vintage style work boots (red wing if you're a pleb, otherwise oak street or alden)
Step 3: Grow some facial hair and get forearm tattoos
Step 4: Take butchering lessons
Step 5: Congrats you are a butcher!

>>4290331
>has never actually been to a butcher
How is the Wal-Mart meat section treating you?

>>4290284

It's actually not as easy to get into as it used to be. There are some trade schools available to teach you- but most of the butchers in my area learn from another butcher. Seeing that there's less and less of them in the area every year, it's better to learn sooner than later.

If you don't have any butchers in the area to shadow, look at charts online and learn as much as you can about the animals and look for a secondary learning source. Institutes, books, general meat cutters, etc. Anything you can dig up will help you get closer to learning how to become a butcher or a meat cutter (given your resources).

Not many people want to do it anymore, but it's also a field that's being run by butchers at plants that sell to wholesalers who sell to stores. To find an old school local butcher seems to be an abstract concept to many cities.

I have plenty of charts if you need access to some of those to help you in the mean time while you look for a secondary learning source if you'd like them. Just shoot me an e-mail and I'll send them your way (butcher.op@gmail.com). I can also answer questions a lot more thoroughly with e-mail since it doesn't have a 2,000 character limit. So if you have something special to ask, or the thread dies, feel free to send it to my e-mail address.

>>4290343

They don't allow Walmart here. I usually get my meats from Dickson's Farmstand, Eataly, or the Union Square Greenmarket (Flying Pig and Grazing Angus Acres are my favorites)

>>4290049
>>4290013

whoops... forgot your image. Sorry bud. Here it is.

>>4287788
0x1 == $8.14 (retails for $17.99)
Export == $8.34
Short Loin == $7.24
PSMO == $13.24

>>4288581

Thanks for the response, The Butcher. I know I'm a little late getting back to you, but I appreciate you answering my question so thoroughly.

While, from my limited experience, I definitely agree with your judgment of "old timers" in butchery, I think the only real misunderstanding was one of context. I've mostly lived and worked in urban areas, where hunters don't really bring whole carcasses to butchers to be processed.

While I admit, someone who can break down an entire animal and tell you what to do with each part is definitely someone you want as a friend/butcher, I can typically go to my butcher and ask for any particular cut of meat/offal and have it the next day.

As for the difference between a "butcher" and a "meat cutter", as you define them, I really don't have much to say. In other words, I agree with you that the craft of butchery is clearly dying out. But pretty much everyone I've encountered who was called a butcher made their living by breaking down cryovaced meat that came in boxes...

They still had a huge amount of knowledge and skill. They simply weren't in an area where there were hunters wanting someone else to process their deer (or what have you).

>>4290331
Actually where I work you wouldn't get away with hardly any of that.

Short hair (off the collar, above the ear) no facial hair (not even stubble) no visible tattoos (or piercings) khakis or black slacks, black leather non-slip shoes, store polo, butcher coat.

What's the lowdown on McDonalds Angus Beef

>>4287375
how do i explain to a foreign country what brisket is

>>4290284
It was dead easy for me to get a grocery store meat dept job.

5 min "interview", no experience needed, no background checks, or anything. Started two days later. Right now we'd hire pretty much anyone who could present themselves half-decently, and is willing to actually show up for work.

Had to work for three months doing prep work, cleaning, and serving customers. Then I started butcher training. I work directly with one guy who has 10 years experience, and two other guys in the shop have 20 and 30 years butchering. Although we don't do whole sides of beef, all three of them have done that.

>>4290933
Send 'em here?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisket
Seems pretty universal?

>>4290933
Open with schalom

>>4290945
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisket
in south america they literally do not cook hard pieces of meat

>>4290953
>In Mexican cuisine, brisket is known as suadero and it is commonly slowly cooked in a circular pan in taco stands all over the country.

>>4290962
>mexico
>south america

wat

are you really as retarded as to think mexican cuisine is related to south american cuisine at ALL?

>>4290966
If it isn't in the US they think it's south america, anon

You need to speak American when you try to communicate with one

Hey, Butcher.

I'm a big fan of rabbit, and when I was younger used to be a cheaper meat, but now it's priced pretty high per pound. It's like a luxury meat. where are you located and what do you pay for rabbit, and how do you recommend getting good rabbit and a good price outside your everyday supermarket?

>>4290966
It's south of America, right?

South America

Anyway, you're trying to tell me that every street corner in Mexico has a taco stand selling brisket, and a Brazilian (say) wouldn't even know what it is?

>>4290982
Mexicans and Brazilians are not as similar as you think

>>4290990
>Mexicans and Brazilians
What, bean eating little brown jobs, right? Smell bad. Talk funny. See 'em everywhere.

Anyway, how come a Google image search for Brazilian brisket gets thousands of results?

>>4291006
I have no idea

>>4290982
In Spanish speaking countries no one outside of Mexico eats Tacos.

What are the best ribs (as in 1st or 5th) to cut a steak from? Or a roast?

>>4290867
That's about the pricing for the CreekStone beef. It must be delicious.

>>4290893
I didn't mean to sound derogatory or to offend you with my definitions, friend. There are plenty of good cutters out there with honest, real world experience that are great guys and know their stuff. So don't let my previous comment take away from your thoughts about your local butchers. We're just in a position where I'm from that lets us experience more full breakdowns. I'm sure your sources are trustworthy and experienced.

>>4290932
I actually have no idea. I'm not very excited about the fast food realm.

>>4290933
Different countries call different cuts different things. They also cut differently depending on where you are. I'm not sure how I'd ask for it aside from looking at what their local charts look like and matching it up with what you know as the brisket.

>>4290936
Nice. Sounds like a good opportunity. Definitely not like my local area though. I hope your learning is fruitful, friend.

>>4290980
I'm on the east coast.
I don't pay for rabbit where I live, as it is also priced as a luxury meat (essentially) due to what I sum up to as the cooking channel's influence. If there weren't cooking shows, the price would be much lower. I would honestly go out and bag the rabbit myself if I'm in the mood for rabbit. Especially if you have the snares or weapons to get them already (or can get them easily). I haven't bought rabbit lately though for accurate pricing, sorry anon.

>>4291038

1st cut ribs and 2nd cut ribs are perceived as the best ribs from a ribeye. They're more expensive for that reason though. When you order a prime rib for the holidays, you can often get first cut (first 2 ribs, technically) and second cut (the next few ribs). If you get the first 5 ribs, you've got some darn good steaks or a darn good roast. Not to say that other ribs are bad, but those are typically perceived as the best. That's what I was taught when I was learning, at least.

>>4291558
The first ribs, as in the chuck/frontmost ribs?

>>4291801
I should've explained that the first time, sorry anon.

First cut is typically known as the ribs closer to the loin. It is smaller than the chuck end. The actual rib #'s are 10-12 (though in our area, only 11 and 12 are what people consider 'first cut').

Some people find the chuck end to be tastier due to the larger amount of fat that ends up being near that end, but in terms of quality of beef, I would really rate the end closer to the loin to be higher quality.

Sup Butcher, I'd like to hear anything on your mind regarding "Dry Aged Beef". 1st time ordering... still waiting out another 2 weeks for boneless ribeyes - I wanna get at least 3 on it. Wonder if I should have gotten porterhouses instead.

Anyway, was hoping you'd have some tips from your picture of which cut would make the most experience out of spending $30/lb!!

>>4291901
Newbie west coast butcher here.

We dry age rib-eyes and NY strips in my shop. I'll detail how it works, but it's nothing you can replicate at home.

The piece you start with has to be specially ordered, it's cut differently at the processing plant. It has extra layers of fat, and extra bones. You can't use a normal cut, and certainly not a piece that's already cut into steaks.

It goes into the dry age cabinet. A special cooler with airflow, and really cold. Just shy of freezing. No cover or wrap over the meat. Stays in there a month.

Comes out looking really dried out, dark, and gnarly. The ends look literally like jerky gone bad. Then you need to trim away all the bad bits to get to the good meat underneath. That's why you need to order special pieces, so you can cut away the extra fat and bones, and still be left with something. The outside is totally ruined, wouldn't feed it to a dog.

That's one reason it's so expensive. We have to pay top dollar for the whole piece, then throw away maybe half of it.

It also loses a lot of moisture, because it sits out in the free air. The actual steaks are maybe 75% of the size they would be without dry aging. That's another reason for the high price.

And that's the main reason they are so damn good. The moisture loss concentrates the flavor.

>>4292207
(continued)

Simply holding meat in a normal fridge for a few weeks isn't dry ageing.

Most of the meat we sell is older then people realize. I regularly open boxes that have a packing date a month or two old. If it's wrapped and boxed in the regular cooler for 30 days, nothing happens. It might get a bit more tender because the fibers break down, but that's about it.

You want to age it in a separate cabinet. It smells absolutely rank in there, you would not want that in your home fridge. All your other food would taste like spoiled blue cheese. Plus, all the moisture from the other foods is going to prevent the meat from drying out. And you have a much higher chance of something nasty growing on the meat.

Unless it has the open airflow you don't get the moisture loss that's the magical part of the dry ageing process. Unless you have extra meat to cut away you just end up with a spoiled and/or dried out piece of meat.

Even if you ended up doing all this properly at home, you still end up with the same waste we do, and it'll still cost you $30 a pound.

>>4291901
>>4292207

The west coast butcher is completely legit. It's crazy how special the conditions need to be for a proper dry-aged beef.


Given the cost of the meat, the time involved in aging it, and the general loss that occurs when you dry age meats; their price actually isn't too bad. It looks like a complete rip off, but that's just the way the money goes for aged meats.

Any steak that is dry aged will give you rewards of flavor and tenderness. What you want to do is find the cheapest high quality cut in your area for your best experience. Porterhouses are basically New York Strips and Fillet Mignons with bone between them. If those are your favorite steaks, it's better for you than the ribeye. If Ribeye is your favorite, you're going to pay the price either way; might as well get your favorite steak.

You can find dry aged slightly cheaper depending on your region, but it can also be more expensive.

If you're dedicated to making dry aged meats for the rest of your life, you should try to find a job in a department where you can get meats at a discount (while working) and then get your own dry aging setup. It's expensive, but if you're doing it for a long time and learn the techniques, you can save money in the long run.

>>4287765
Wal Mart meat market worker here, figured I'd go ahead and confirm this. Our people are barely trained and all of our meat comes in prepackaged (Wal Mart shut down it's meat cutting program altogether when a butcher block in Texas tried to unionize at least a decade ago).
Unless the associate in question has personal experience, you're not going to get much help, we're all a bunch of glorified stockers.

>>4292392
If you're interested in learning more about the products you're stocking and the store won't help, feel free to ask anything you'd like. I'm here to help people regardless of their experience. Even if it's just for your own cooking, it's definitely not a bad to field to learn about.

Dry-Age asker here. Butcher and West Coast Butcher, you are Gods amongst men.

I'm in Los Angeles and I went through hell and high water to find a butcher that dry-ages steak here. What really happened was the local butcher asked me what steak I wanted, I replied Rib-Eye (which is my favorite cut for sweetness and juiciness). He went into the back of the store and proceeded to take the entire quarter rib anatomy of the cow from the dry age fridge and plunked it down in front of me. Holy shit I could even make out the shape of the carcass. That's nothing new for you butchers, but for a normal supermarket user like me, it was mad awesome. Like having sex with Megan Fox.

Anyway, he asked me where he should cut my steak and like an idiot I didn't know what to answer. I guess my question would be even for Dry-Aged Rib-Eye steak, what part of the rib should I be getting? More fat for more taste (is this true)? Or leaner meat for $30/lb? Your preference for dry-aged meat, please.

>>4292621
It is pretty awesome to see/work with a fresh carcass. I'm still happy when I'm working with them.

If you're looking for 'the best' cut, many would argue that first cut is the best (the end close to the loin of the animal). That'd give you 3 steaks, but typically first cut is the most expensive. If you're looking for larger steaks, get them closer to the middle. If you want big ass steaks, get the ones closest to chuck.

In honesty, with a piece of meat as good as you're going to be getting, any spot will be delicious though- so don't worry if you're not 100% sure what you want when you order it. Just know that the section you pick is going to be shrinking up a good bit when you're selecting the section of the ribeye you want to turn into your dinner so you plan your plate and steak accordingly.

Any more questions tonight /ck/?

>>4292207
>I'll detail how it works, but it's nothing you can replicate at home.
I disagree. You can get similar results from wrapping steak in a couple layers of cheesecloth and putting it on a cooling rack (like you'd use for baking) on the top shelf of your refrigerator for a few days; the cloth slowly wicks out moisture and the fact that you have even airflow over all of the sides and that it's right next to a fan blowing out cold air produces surprisingly decent results.

>>4293298
I think that the butcher from the west coast was trying to say that restaurant/professional grade aged beefs cannot be achieved in the home. It's an incredibly tedious process to make sure that everything is in place and to make sure that you're not going to accidentally spoil your beef due to excessive bacterial and fungal growth- which is made much, much easier by using a dry aging system like a shop would have for meats.

While you may get some results from using your method, a few days in a refrigerator won't equal 15-30 days in a professional climate for dry aging.

I think you have a point though; it's a relatively controlled temperature (which is key) and it's a somewhat constant humidity (depending on what you do in your fridge and how often it's open). Cheesecloth has a multitude of good uses- I'm glad that you've found another one for it.

If you have luck with it, I give you props- as it is easy to ruin meat by improperly preparing it or improperly storing/aging it. But I still think that the dry aging process that we're talking about is what the other anon was trying to mimic.

>>4293309
It produces an effect shockingly similar to the typical aging method if a quality steak is used; you should try it. It's still not quite as good as a "properly" aged steak but it's damn close and you pay a fraction of what you would at a restaurant or ordered from a specialty supplier.

>>4293563

If you believe it to work as well as you do, I will add it to my cooking experimentation list anon. Thank you for your conceptual advice and experience.

Granted for the pricing aspect, I pay 10% over stocking price if I buy a moderately sized piece of beef, so it's not too bad for me to buy the piece, age it myself, and take home the piece when I'm ready to trim and cook.

However, I am interested in the culinary arts in addition to my trade- so again I thank you for your concept and I will try it out sometime when I get the chance.

-The Butcher

>>4292207
sounds like the man who invents a way to take water out of meat without spoiling it would make a lot of money?

>>4293723
Not really; it has to be done a very particular and careful way. Otherwise you just end up with half-rotten biltong.

>>4293735
that's what I meant - taking it out before it spoils
I don't imagine the enzymatic degradation bit takes that long
so if you could just rot them faster (higher temp) and dry them pretty much instantly...

>>4287375
How do I go about marrying a butcher and/or Deli owner?

Also, do you eat offal?

>>4293723
>>4293784


It's not about taking the water out of the meat, it's about allowing the enzymes of the beef to continually break down and cause tenderness to increase. --It's a lot more complicated than just a dehydration technique.

Higher temps would allow different types of bacteria and fungi to grow that could cause onset spoiling. There's a reason that dry aging has such a specific set of requirements and tasks to do it properly. Also, remember- we're not drying out the meat, we're allowing natural breakdown of the product. While the outside shrivels and dries, the inside stays juicy and tender; if you just dehydrated the beef (took the water out) you'd just have beef jerky. They do have machines for this.

While you can have delicious meat in less time, the longer you allow the meat to age, the more concentrated all of the flavors get, the more tender it is, and the more weight your lose from the steak. That's why some people age their steaks for a week, some for two weeks, and some for a month. It all depends on where you're getting your meats.

>>4293792
Your guess is as good as mine for that instance. I don't have a 'guide to deli owners and butcher' sitting around.

Offal is such a particular item. I don't have as much experience cooking with it as I should given my opportunity to use it all the time. However, I also had a bad experience with offal growing up, so I haven't had much since. While I could eat it, it's not on my preferred recipe list. Perhaps I should give it another chance though.

Do you have any good recipes for offal?

Is it true if you marry a butcher you'll never go hungry?

Love the idea at least :)

>>4294009
If you marry a butcher that does good business and has a steady stream of customers you'll never go hungry. That term was coined when butchers the only source of legged meat (typically) that cities/towns had access to. Unless they wanted to hunt on their own, they had to go to the butcher. For this reason, they had a monopoly- they made a lot of money and were highly respected people of their local area. They were known for their quality service, their honesty, and their never-ending assistance when people needed something and didn't know what they really needed.

In modern society, butchers are overlooked for the most part because they're not really seen much anymore. They're also ridiculed by people for 'killing innocent animals', or for 'having a filthy job' - something much less common in earlier years.

The saying also came from the fact that a butcher would know how to turn just about any animal into something cookable; so the wife would always have something to cook every night when her husband came home from work.

Interesting times and a great concept- but it doesn't always work like that anymore.

Male butchers are more common to look for, but I rarely see a female butcher. But when I do, she's typically fairly butch and rough around the edges (not that there's anything wrong with that). For a man to find a 'BFB' (Beautiful Female Butcher) as we call it around the shop, is an incredible oddity. The only woman we've had work in our department at any time over the past 10 years is currently a woman with the following characteristics: short, stocky, muscular, aggressive and she swears like a sailor. She's awesome, but definitely not a dream girl for the average male.

Any more questions tonight /ck/?

>>4295750
Naw, I'm out. . . .

Last bump from me if there's no questions. I hope those of you who have asked questions so far have been satisfied with your answers. For anyone else, I'll still be answering questions until this thread dies.

Thanks for your continued interest in my threads.
-The Butcher

There's a really hot butcher girl at my local butcher, she just started working last fall. What right does she have to be so hot, and at the bucher? I can't even go in there now, I just want to buy meat, not stammer and wonder if I'm making too much eye contact, or not enough. She saw me slink past the door one time, I was checking if she was there and I ran off when I saw it was her. Now I can't go back when she's there.

Hey OP, I think somebody asked you in previous threads, but have you ever thought about doing Youtube videos?

I lived in Hong Kong for a while and notice that while there are a lot of wetmarkets and hence a lot of butchers, they generally process the side of beef or pork in a very different fashion than from their Western counterparts and would like a good comparison but can't really do that without a reference video or pictures.

>>4298049
I don't have any female butchers like that where Im working, but I know there are some attractive women (surprisingly) that are in the butchering field. Crazy, isn't it?

>>4299801
If I do videos, they would have to be of just sub primal breakdowns. I don't have any animals coming in to me for a long while (probably until next deer season... I'm out of the loop right now).

There's a huge difference between our butchering cuts and many different continents. It's interesting if you look at their charts. They used disk-looking shapes for cutting in certain areas... It's neat, but I don't know how it works (I've only learned our local styles).

I have a singular youtube video up on how to turn a Bottom Flat into Bottom Round Roasts and the Rump. I talk about the look of the meat (for sales) and how stores try to cheat you out of some of your money by making "secondary" rump roasts (they're really bottom round roasts) and charge you the regular rate for them.

Here's the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aTp-6JWTdY

My voice is probably annoying to some and I might say some stupid things; but you'll get the general idea of the piece.

My cutting style in this video is jagged compared to the average butcher's long-stroke cutting... but it's one of the ways I was taught. If you'd rather see long stride cutting, I could do that next time I put a video up.

If I'm able, I'll try to put a few more on. I thought about putting up a whole fryer breakdown on there for all the cooks of /ck/... but I need to get the time to do it.