How to cut oxtail parts ("tail bone," knuckle")?

[TdeV]

I miss oxtail. The stores around here have taken to selling one "knuckle" surrounded by ~2 inches of fat for some extraordinary price per pound. If one cut off all the fat, the meat would weigh half as much. Makes me so mad I refused to buy any.

 

Last Saturday was the farmers' market and a farmer listed oxtail on their offerings. I picked up the oxtail and peeled off a little of the covering paper so I could see the meat, i.e. how much fat was on the meat.

 

The farmer was offended that I was tearing the paper covering, and the bones looked primarily covered in meat (not fat) so I bought two of them wieghing about 2.4 lbs each.

 

It was frozen, so it's been sitting in the fridge. I just went to put the pieces in a sous vide bag, but the "knuckles" are not cut apart.

 

I've spent 20 minutes at it with only ONE successful cut. How do I find where to separate all the pieces of tail bone? 

 

P.S. If I can't figure out how to separate the "knuckle" bones, can I sous vide cook 12" parts of the tail in a large plastic bag, then separate them when they're cooked?

 

 

 

[rotuts]

@TdeV

 

Congratulations !

 

you certainly can SV w/o cutting up .

 

but 

 

the ' knuckle ' is a vertebral body .  each is connected to the other by a series of ligaments

 

most of those ligaments connect the projections of the bone .

 

then the inner bodies are connected tightly w more connective tissue.

 

an easy way to get smaller pieces is w a cleaver and a mallet , and pick a spot that seems softer , and bang away.

 

keep track of your fingers , for sure.

 

and do not use a knife , as you might ruin the blade.

 

very interested in what you do after that.  I havent had ox tail in ages .

 

very tasty meat , even if the tail is not from an Ox , 20 years old.

[TdeV]

Tails are about 28" long, @rotuts, so not a large animal.

[TdeV]

30 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@TdeV

 

Congratulations !

 

you certainly can SV w/o cutting up .

 

but 

 

the ' knuckle ' is a vertebral body .  each is connected to the other by a series of ligaments

 

most of those ligaments connect the projections of the bone .

 

then the inner bodies are connected tightly w more connective tissue.

 

an easy way to get smaller pieces is w a cleaver and a mallet , and pick a spot that seems softer , and bang away.

 

keep track of your fingers , for sure.

 

and do not use a knife , as you might ruin the blade.

 

very interested in what you do after that.  I havent had ox tail in ages .

 

very tasty meat , even if the tail is not from an Ox , 20 years old.

 

Would it be easier to cut if the oxtail were already cooked?

 

[blue_dolphin]

I’m of no real help here. The place I buy oxtails cuts them to order, at the desired thickness, from frozen (or close to it) on what looks like a big band saw. 
But I’m thinking you might get more specific cooking suggestions if you describe how you want to use these thawed tails currently in your possession. What oxtail dishes are you especially missing that you want to use them in?

 

Edited 8 hours ago by blue_dolphin
Missing word (log)

[weinoo]

2 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

The place I buy oxtails cuts them to order, at the desired thickness, from frozen (or close to it) on what looks like a big band saw. 

 

This is basically how it is always done here.  In the Asian markets, it may already have been cut up; in the Latin markets, it's whole, cut to order.

[TdeV]

In the Midwest, it's beef farmers . . .

[liuzhou]

Anytime I've seen butchers cutting oxtails, it has been with a band saw - both in Europe and Asia.