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 Tuesday at 12:50 AM 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.

[TdeV]

So, I don't have a band saw.

 

One of the packages of oxtail was properly cut. For the second, I did successfully separate one piece containing most of the small parts of the tail. Unbeknownst to me, that was my last successful cut.

 

Spice mixture from Bruce Aidells: onions, rehydrated mushrooms, lotta salt, some pepper, dried thyme and sage. Spice mixture shaken over oxtail. Oxtail broiled about 10 minutes per side (2) at 450ºF in regular oven.

 

I was able to jimmy the big part of the connected tail so it sorta fit into a 7 quart pot, along with the smaller part, and all the individual parts of the second tail.

 

More from Bruce Aidells: 2 cups each red wine/commercial beef stock, Brought to a boil, then turned low. 

 

I then moved the pot to the Anova steam combi oven and set the temp to 265ºF for 30 minutes and turned down to 240ºF, then after 60 more minutes, down to 225ºF. I'm going to pull it out 'round the 3 hour mark (total). Plan to refrigerate then, in a couple days, scoop off the fat.

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 09:50 PM by TdeV
Sequence corrected. (log)

[FlashJack]

On 9/17/2025 at 7:43 AM, TdeV said:

So, I don't have a band saw.

Nor do I but I'd dearly like one.

 

As a frustrated butcher manque I bought a meat saw:

Details here: https://www.mefe.com.au/handsaw-butcher-bone-meat-saw-19-482mm-cam-lock-stainless-steel-frame-with-needle-tip-blade-for-bone-ss-blade-for-softer-meats/

 

It comes with one blade for flesh and one for bone. Kind of frustrating and I've used it very little. Sawing through a joint that's sliding around the bench or board feels unsafe.

 

It might work well enough on oxtail if the tail was secured in a vise.

 

Is anyone aware of a small band saw that can clamp to a bench? Commercial band saws are expensive behemoths. There must be an alternative but I've never come across one. 

[TdeV]

DH has a special blade (used for food) for a battery operated jig saw he uses for cutting open bones (for stock). 

 

Like @FlashJack I'd worry about the oxtail sliding around on the table. I've no idea where our vice is, probably left it behind when we moved.

 

I'm going to complain to the farmers if I see them at the market this weekend. Will discuss what I discover.

[rotuts]

@TdeV

 

hold it with a ' tea towel '

 

I have older kitchen towels , that are clean , go through the washer repeatedly

 

but are not impressive to look at after years of use 

 

 

this sort .  I keep them forever 

 

hold w something like this

 

pay careful attention to where your finger tips are 

 

i.e. always behind or to the far side of the blade .

 

should work well.

[TdeV]

Thanks, @rotuts. Where do I get these towels (in quantity)?

[rotuts]

Amazon , of course 

 

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=utility+kitchen+towels&crid=3B9V6TG18CBBO&sprefix=%2Caps%2C70&ref=nb_sb_ss_recent_1_0_recent

 

there are dozens of offereing .  generic .

 

might not be much difference between them

 

aside from price // towel 

 

look at the weight of the towels , might be more important 

 

and none of them will bleed your trust fund dry .

 

nothing fancy about them .  as you wash themn , they get more absorbent 

 

but absorbency is not what you are buying them for really .

 

these are the towels used to grab hot trays out of the oven etc.

 

 

[FlashJack]

9 hours ago, TdeV said:

I've no idea where our vice is

Ah. A hidden vice. 🙂