Learning to Butcher at Home

[dcarch]

For large bones, I frequently freeze them, wrap them in plastic and cut them to pieces on my table saw.

It goes very easy and quick.

For marrow and soup bones.

dcarch

[rotuts]

BTW dcarch, Ive been thinking about using my band saw in a similar way, never did as I don't know how Id clean the 'tires'

[Paul Bacino]

Um.. The tenderloins?

[rotuts]

the saw's innards:

[Shalmanese]

I found the biggest difference with whole animal butchery is that you're not restricted to the standard American cuts. The way meat is cut at the grocery store is optimized for ease of disassembly, not best taste. Instead, I've been drawn more towards European style seam butchery where you pull out whole muscles that cook evenly. It's resulted in some wonderful muscles that I never would have normally got to experience.

[OliverB]

I did this once with a whole lamb. Was fun, but I won't repeat it. Trying to saw through the spine and ribs with a hand saw was a pain (I gave up) but it was fun to try once. I took a couple butchery classes a couple years ago, which got me inspired. I probably should have gotten a pig instead, the lamb left me with lots of odd small parts that aren't really that useful. I guess I could have used my table saw, but the idea of cleaning it afterward is not appealing.

The fact that you can cut European cuts is the most appealing to me here.

The place I occasionally get a Berkshire from also skins it, they don't have the big scalding tank to scrape off the hair and even if, it's a lot of work with these hairy beasts. I was disappointed not to have the skin on some cuts, but shaving the beast would have made me even less happy, LOL

[Rico]

*Kidneys, not livers. I'm dumb.

Shalmanese - That was one of my biggest takeaways from the process. The easiest cuts to butcher were, naturally I suppose, the ones that require less fighting with the meat and more working with the natural lines where the muscles and muscle groups separate. I tried to keep the cuts as identifiable in American terms as I could this time around just because it's what I'm familiar with and have a better idea if I'm doing it properly, but in the future will definitely explore how other countries and cultures break them down.

Rotuts - Love both those books, and yes, the more conspiratorial side of me suspects their purposes in removing them were nefarious - to use them in some wonderful way for themselves (eyes shifting suspiciously) ...

Oliver - When you saw small parts, do you mean bits of scrap, or actual 'cuts' that were just to small to serve any practical purpose. And looking at the alternative of shaving or skinning the animal myself, yes, having them skin it is definitely preferable! Sometimes all I need is a little perspective ...

Yeah, definitely worth it to have them halve the animal (or acquire a band saw).

dcarch, to that point, would a table saw work in halving the carcass through the spine?

Edited November 14, 2013 by Rico (log)

[dcarch]

--------------- dcarch, to that point, would a table saw work in halving the carcass through the spine?

Yes, very easy with a carbide blade.

Or do this, my way of halving a big frozen turkey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdqR9ZV-8_4

dcarch

Edited November 14, 2013 by dcarch (log)

[rotuts]

The Table Saw is a dangerous instrument. fiddle with it and you might miss a few fingers.

ever been to a Woodworkng Show? lots of missing fingers. believe it.

a band saw, on the other hand is a very forgiving tool, relatively.

A 5 HP Powermatic 10 " and a Pig would not get along.

the industry uses bandsaws. dont know about their Tires.

[rotuts]

a reciprocating saw would work. safer. there might be one in your neighborhood. Home Depo might rent one.

[Martin Fisher]

Home butchery is the only way to go.

Bummer it's skinless and trotterless.

At that price, I'd request everything.

Scalding and scraping with a bell scraper isn't a big deal really.

Funny thing about seam butchery..I was practicing it for 30 years before I knew that there was something special about it.....it's the way my family has always done it.

[Rico]

Yes! A sawsall! I have one in the garage. It is sitting there unaware that its life and purpose are about to completely change.

Martin - What are some of the most abused cuts in the American style that would be better used into cuts via seam? Like, I would imagine the tenderloin is the tenderloin, the loin the loin, no matter what system. Are the differences mainly in the shoulder/ham areas?

[Martin Fisher]

Yes, definitely in the shoulder and ham area.

10 or 20 tiny "hams" prepared in various ways is sometimes more desirable and more appealing than one big one.

[rotuts]

get the blades that are long w no paint !

Edited November 14, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[dcarch]

get the blades that are long w no paint !

They do sell long blades with carbide tips.

dcarch

[Rico]

So, as promised, the head cheese. I did it in a pressure cooker, seasoned only with salt and pepper (a healthy portion of both), and let it cook at about 11 psi for 90 minutes before turning off the heat. It took another hour for it to cool down to where I could open it. Again, I'll apologize for the lack of photos. This process can get your hands really, really fatty. And collagen-y.

Before boiling

I added some of the skin that the butcher missed. It was a fatty affair, as the end result ended up showing. The pressure cooker, though, performed amazingly - almost too much so. The entire skull was about to disintegrate by the time I pulled it out. A careful scan for teeth in the meat was necessary before stuffing. Another 20 minutes and the entire thing may just have been too soft and squishy. That to say, the stock was super gelatinous.

(A quick note: While stuffing head cheese, I'll bet the professionals never have to run though the house calling their wives yelling, "I know I promised you wouldn't have to see it, but I need you to cut a piece of string and tie this for me!" In a tone well beyond desperation, all while trying to close the garage door with your foot so your dog doesn't go counter surf on the table where you've got the pig's head.

You know why that never happens to professionals? Because they're professionals. And they've got two thumbs - that's the fourth thing on my 32-year-and-running list that outlines what sucks about having only one hand:

1. Can't cross monkey bars

2. Can't juggle

3. Can't ever give two thumbs up, so people always think you're only moderately excited about something.

4. Can't seal the top of the casing for head cheese by yourself.)

Anyway, I used 90 mm collagen casings, since that's what I had on hand. Kept it in the fridge overnight and ended up with this:

I like it. The texture is a little overcooked, a little closer to pate than head cheese (you can feel a little resistance to the meaty bit, but I'd like a touch more), but considering it's my first go-round with head cheese, I'm pretty pleased. I might cold smoke it this weekend, just for four or five hours. Then crusty bread.

Edited November 15, 2013 by Rico (log)

[rotuts]

Yar : Cold Smoke !

Bravo. keep notes on these project, you will be doing them again!

very impressed here !

[catdaddy]

So, as promised, the head cheese. I did it in a pressure cooker, seasoned only with salt and pepper (a healthy portion of both), and let it cook at about 11 psi for 90 minutes before turning off the heat. It took another hour for it to cool down to where I could open it. Again, I'll apologize for the lack of photos. This process can get your hands really, really fatty. And collagen-y.

Before boiling

1461742_621592864565698_1551440568_n.jpg

I added some of the skin that the butcher missed. It was a fatty affair, as the end result ended up showing. The pressure cooker, though, performed amazingly - almost too much so. The entire skull was about to disintegrate by the time I pulled it out. A careful scan for teeth in the meat was necessary before stuffing. Another 20 minutes and the entire thing may just have been too soft and squishy. That to say, the stock was super gelatinous.

(A quick note: While stuffing head cheese, I'll bet the professionals never have to run though the house calling their wives yelling, "I know I promised you wouldn't have to see it, but I need you to cut a piece of string and tie this for me!" In a tone well beyond desperation, all while trying to close the garage door with your foot so your dog doesn't go counter surf on the table where you've got the pig's head.

You know why that never happens to professionals? Because they're professionals. And they've got two thumbs - that's the fourth thing on my 32-year-and-running list that outlines what sucks about having only one hand:

1. Can't cross monkey bars

2. Can't juggle

3. Can't ever give two thumbs up, so people always think you're only moderately excited about something.

4. Can't seal the top of the casing for head cheese by yourself.)

Anyway, I used 90 mm collagen casings, since that's what I had on hand. Kept it in the fridge overnight and ended up with this:

1424425_621816821209969_848405429_n.jpg

I like it. The texture is a little overcooked, a little closer to pate than head cheese (you can feel a little resistance to the meaty bit, but I'd like a touch more), but considering it's my first go-round with head cheese, I'm pretty pleased. I might cold smoke it this weekend, just for four or five hours. Then crusty bread.

This looks fantastic. And kudos for jumping off into the deep-end.

[rotuts]

would you go into a bit more detail:

was the head whole when you put in into the PC ?

did you after the PC simply scrape off all the 'bits' that were attached to the skull making that your filling?

again a bazillion Kudos your way !

Edited November 15, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[dcarch]

I have a feeling you are not going to be a vegetarian soon. :-)

You should have asked for the blood also. Good for many recipes.

dcarch

[OliverB]

that looks tasty!

as for the small parts, the lamb I got was "undocumented", meaning one lady had gotten pregnant but they didn't know who the daddy was and somehow could not sell it into the "free" market for that reason. It was not very big, milk fed only. I tried to saw through the spine with a hack saw to get ribs, but gave up quickly, I guess a real bone saw would be beneficial. Your post and my new book "In Charcuterie" will probably make me buy one of those now. Thinking of half a pork, maybe a whole one if not too big. I really enjoyed the butchery I did in the past and there are lots of good things in that new book I'd like to try.

What I could cut/saw from the middle of the animal was not very meaty with the tools I had.

[Rico]

Thanks for the kind words, all. And dcarch, your premonition is likely correct Also, I'll be asking for the blood next time. Learned a lot about what to request and such this time around.

Rotuts - it was the whole head, and I hardly even had to scrape meat off at the end; it just fell off. I did have to double-check for teeth, as a couple fell out during the cooking (the bone did get really, really soft).

As luck would have it, a buddy of mine went hunting and took down a deer last weekend. He was generous enough to give me a hindquarter. I cut it into two fairly sizeable 'roasts' (no more than four pounds or so each) and had about another pound that will be destined for some sausage. It's a gamey one, to be sure, so I'll be mixing the venison in with pork for the sausages. 100 percent of this stuff in a sausage would be too much, even with really heavy seasoning.

[Koen Lebegge]

So, as promised, the head cheese. I did it in a pressure cooker, seasoned only with salt and pepper (a healthy portion of both), and let it cook at about 11 psi for 90 minutes before turning off the heat. It took another hour for it to cool down to where I could open it. Again, I'll apologize for the lack of photos. This process can get your hands really, really fatty. And collagen-y.

Before boiling

1461742_621592864565698_1551440568_n.jpg

I added some of the skin that the butcher missed. It was a fatty affair, as the end result ended up showing. The pressure cooker, though, performed amazingly - almost too much so. The entire skull was about to disintegrate by the time I pulled it out. A careful scan for teeth in the meat was necessary before stuffing. Another 20 minutes and the entire thing may just have been too soft and squishy. That to say, the stock was super gelatinous.

(A quick note: While stuffing head cheese, I'll bet the professionals never have to run though the house calling their wives yelling, "I know I promised you wouldn't have to see it, but I need you to cut a piece of string and tie this for me!" In a tone well beyond desperation, all while trying to close the garage door with your foot so your dog doesn't go counter surf on the table where you've got the pig's head.

You know why that never happens to professionals? Because they're professionals. And they've got two thumbs - that's the fourth thing on my 32-year-and-running list that outlines what sucks about having only one hand:

1. Can't cross monkey bars

2. Can't juggle

3. Can't ever give two thumbs up, so people always think you're only moderately excited about something.

4. Can't seal the top of the casing for head cheese by yourself.)

Anyway, I used 90 mm collagen casings, since that's what I had on hand. Kept it in the fridge overnight and ended up with this:

1424425_621816821209969_848405429_n.jpg

I like it. The texture is a little overcooked, a little closer to pate than head cheese (you can feel a little resistance to the meaty bit, but I'd like a touch more), but considering it's my first go-round with head cheese, I'm pretty pleased. I might cold smoke it this weekend, just for four or five hours. Then crusty bread.

for the case you don't have a casing at hand: I used to work at a butcher (in Europe), and we always used earthware pots, covering the headcheese with molten gelatine (microwave).

[Prawncrackers]

Brawn people, brawn, there's a perfectly good English word for it. There's absolutely no need to transliterate the French. That's like saying four-twenties instead of eighty!

I've been talking down half and whole pigs for few years now but I'm always stuck for ideas when it comes to the back leg. Sometimes I take a couple of tranches off it for Chinese stir fries. But more often than not I've been grinding them up for salami. What does everyone else do with them apart from curing them for hams?

[Martin Fisher]

Good deal on the deer!

My favorite use for ground deer is in making venison Swedish meatballs (rådjursköttbullar)...oh, man.....I have cravings for them!