A retired butcher showed me a trick with pork shoulder that changed how I break down whole hogs

I was working a side of pork at a shop near Portland last winter and an old guy named Frank who used to run a shop in the 70s watched me struggle with the seam fat on a shoulder. He walked over and said "you're fighting the grain, kid, let the knife follow the muscle memory" and then he showed me this angle where you slide the tip along the bone instead of cutting straight down. It took me maybe 20 minutes to get the hang of it but now I can break down a whole shoulder in under 10 minutes without losing any meat. Has anyone else picked up a weird tip from an older butcher that totally changed your technique?

2 comments

2 Comments

ray3242d ago

Learning to slide the tip along the bone is the real game changer. Most people try to muscle through instead of letting the blade find the way. That little angle adjustment saves so much time and meat in my experience.

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mary_kelly1d ago

Wait, you actually SLIDE the tip along the bone? @ray324 I always thought you just had to hack away near the joint! Does that really not mess up the blade?

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