Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Conventions Used in This Book 2
What You're Not to Read 2
Foolish Assumptions 3
How This Book is Organized 3
Part I: Time to Meet Your Meat! 3
Part II: Poultry, Rabbit, and Lamb Butchery 4
Part III: Pork Butchery 4
Part IV: Beef Butchery 4
Part V: Sausage-Making and Using the Whole Animal 4
Part VI: The Part of Tens 5
Icons Used in This Book 5
Where to Go from Here 5
Part I: Time to Meet Your Meat! 7
Chapter 1: The Butchery Room 9
Understanding the Importance of Ye Ol' Butcher Shoppe 10
Identifying what butchers do 11
Patronizing your local shop 14
Assuming the Role of Butcher in Your Own Home 14
Knowledge and equipment you need 15
The benefits of butchering your own meat 15
Preserving Traditions: Sausage-Making and Other Preservation Methods 17
Making sausage 17
Other preservation techniques 19
Promoting Healthy Food Systems 19
Chapter 2: Meat is Meat, Right? Wrong! 21
Knowing What You're Getting 21
You say tomato; I say porcupine - Playing the name game 22
Think cooking instead of cutting 22
Deciphering labels 24
Focusing on Flavor 26
The amount and kind of fat 26
The age of the animal 28
The meat's grade 28
Whether the meat is dry or wet aged 29
Ensuring you get the best flavor 30
Broadening Your Definition of Good 31
Chapter 3: Cuts and Terminology: The Basics of Butchery 33
Breaking It Down the Easy Way: Meat Maps 34
Making Heads or Tails of Butchery Terminology 36
Keeping track of body parts and positions 36
Understanding cut terminology 38
Breaking news: Bench (or table) or hanging 38
Sourcing the Freshest Cuts from the Supplier or Meat Counter 39
Finding a reputable supplier 39
Judging freshness at the meat counter 40
Identifying standard and specialty cuts 41
Substituting Cuts in Recipe Planning 41
Braising, slow cooking cuts 41
Grilling or quick-searing cuts 42
Roasting cuts 43
Chapter 4: Basic Knife Skills, Tools, and Techniques 45
Knives, Mallets, and More: Gathering Your Butchery Tools 46
The essential cutting implements 46
Other necessary items 48
Useful but nonessential items 49
Making Confident and Fluid Cuts: Basic Grips and Posture 49
Get a grip! Holding your knife properly 50
Maintaining good posture 52
Special Techniques Every Butcher Should Know 53
Denuding 53
Cutting steaks 54
Frenching 55
Butterflying 56
Cubing meats for braising 58
Being Safe While Using Sharp Pointy Metal Tools 58
Part II: Poultry, Rabbit, and Lamb Butchery 61
Chapter 5: Duck, Duck, Goose, Chickens: Starting with Poultry 63
A Word about Cutting Up Birds 64
Getting familiar with poultry musculature 65
Basic chicken-butchering tools and techniques 66
Pieces of Eight: Cutting Up a Fryer 67
Removing the head and feet 67
Removing the wings 68
Removing the legs 69
Cutting out the spine 70
Splitting the breast 72
Dividing the legs into two pieces 73
Finishing up 73
Cutting the Chicken into Five Equal Portions 74
Freeing the oysters 74
Removing the legs and spine 75
Sectioning the wing portions 76
Making Boneless, Skinless Chicken Pieces 77
Removing the skin 77
Cutting up the skinned chicken 78
Deboning the breast 78
Deboning the thigh and drumsticks 79
Impressing Your Neighbors: Boneless Chicken Halves 81
Chapter 6: What's Up, Doc? Rascally Rabbits! 85
Cutting Up Fryers and Roasters 85
Removing the offal and silver skin 86
Removing the back legs 87
Removing the front legs 88
Cutting through the ribs 88
Removing the pelvis 90
Sectioning the saddle 90
Portioning the loin 91
Finishing up the rack 92
Deboning the Rabbit 93
Removing the rib cage 94
Cutting out the skeleton 95
Removing the leg bones 96
Removing the arm bones 97
Chapter 7: Baaaaack to Basics: Lamb and Goat Butchery 99
Getting to Know Your Little Bovids 99
The lowdown on lamb 100
Getting (to know) your goat 100
Covering Lamb and Goat Butchery Basics 101
On the bench or on the hook? 101
The cuts 101
Dealing with the Neck/Shoulder 104
Slicing the Skirt Free 105
Removing the Flank 106
Two Tasks in One: Removing the Breast and Foreshank 107
Removing the foreshank 107
Removing the breast 108
Removing the Hindshanks 109
Using a saw to remove the hindshank 109
Using a boning knife to remove the hindshank 110
Removing the Shoulder 111
The Leg 112
Removing the legs from the loin 112
Sawing the legs in two 114
Working with the Rib 115
Separating the rib from the loin 115
Chining the rib 116
Cutting Denver ribs 118
Portioning the rib chops 118
The Loin 119
Part III: Pork Butchery 121
Chapter 8: Porky Pig: Understanding the Beast 123
Pork and Pigs: Getting to Know the Beast 124
Pork production 125
Weighty matters: Making sense of pork poundage 125
Pork's USDA identification categories 125
Fundamentals of Pork Butchery 126
Inspecting the carcass 126
Paying attention to safety issues 127
Getting Familiar with Pig Primals, Subprimals, and Retail Cuts 127
First and second cuts: Primals and subprimals 127
The retail cuts 129
Chapter 9: Pork: Cutting It Up 133
A Bit of Advice before You Begin 133
Removing the Head 134
Removing the Front Trotters (Feet) 136
Removing the trotters with your boning knife 136
Removing the trotters by sawing 137
Removing the Foreshanks 138
Splitting the Breast-plate 139
Dealing with the Shoulders 140
Removing the shoulders 140
Splitting the shoulders in two 142
Trim work: Cleaning up the shoulder 143
Removing the Hind Trotters 143
Sectioning the Legs from the Loin 144
Freeing the legs from the belly 144
Separating the loin from the legs 145
Sawing the legs in two 146
Removing the Pork Skirt Steaks 147
Cutting the Belly from the Loin 148
Chapter 10: Moving into Pork Subprimals 151
From the Shoulder: The Boston Butt and Pork Shoulder (Picnic) 152
Separating the Boston butt from the picnic 152
Making retails cuts from the picnic 156
Producing Retails Cuts from the Loin 158
Cutting center loin chops 158
Boneless loin roast and chops 161
Baby back ribs 164
Removing the tenderloin 165
Porterhouse or T-bone steaks 166
Getting Great Cuts from the Leg (or Ham) 167
Spareribs from the Pork Belly 169
Trimming Meat for Grind 170
Part IV: Beef Butchery 173
Chapter 11: What's Your Beef? Understanding the Cuts 175
The Lowdown on Beef Butchery 175
Muscles matter! Paying attention to beef musculature 176
Maximizing flavor and tenderness 177
Playing it safe 178
Dividing Up the Task: Primals, Subprimals, and Retail Cuts 178
Forequarter and hindquarter primals and subprimals 179
The retail cuts 180
Chapter 12: Beef: The Forequarter 185
Breaking the Forequarter: The Basics 185
Fashioning a hook and rail 186
Cutting on the rail 187
Removing the Outside Skirt (Rail) 189
Separating Out the Chuck, Arm, and Brisket from the Plate and Rib (Rail) 190
Step 1: Marking the chuck and rib 191
Step 2: Separating the rib from the chuck 192
Step 3: Scoring the brisket 193
Step 4: Removing the arm from the chuck 193
Step 5: Removing the brisket 195
Step 6: Removing the neck meat and atlas joint 196
Step 7: Removing the flat iron 197
Step 8: Removing the chuck 198
Squaring Up the Chuck Short Ribs (Rail) 199
Sectioning the Rib from the Plate (Rail) 201
Trimming the Brisket (Bench) 202
Trimming the Flat Iron (Bench) 203
Removing the Foreshank (Bench) 205
Cutting the foreshank from the arm 205
Osso bucco 206
The Arm/Shoulder Clod (Bench) 206
Removing the arm bone 207
Extracting the petite filet 208
Preparing a cross rib roast 209
Tying the arm roast 210
The Rib and Bone-in Ribeye Steaks (Bench) 210
Cutting bone-in rib eyes 210
Frenching the bone-in rib eye 211
Chuck Short Ribs (Bench) 212
Fabricating the chuck roll 212
Seaming out the mock tender 213
Removing the neck and spine 214
The last stages of the chuck 216
On the Bench: The Plate 217
Removing the inside skirt 217
Cutting the short ribs 217
Cleaning the breastbones 219
Chapter 13: Beef: The Hindquarter 221
Breaking the Hindquarter: The Basics 221
Removing the Elephant Ear (Rail) 223
Pulling the Cod Fat (Rail) 224
Dealing with the Flank 225
Removing the flank (rail) 225
Freeing the flank steak (bench) 226
Pulling the Tri-Tip (Rail) 227
Removing the Full Loin (Rail) 228
Removing and Portioning the Round (Rail) 230
Removing the knuckle from the round 230
Cutting the top sirloin free from the round 231
Removing the gooseneck (bottom round) 233
Cutting the Full Loin Down (Bench) 234
Removing the flank from the full loin 234
Seaming out the inside skirt 235
Seaming out the bottom sirloin flap (bavette steak) 236
Cutting the Tri-Tip Free (Bench) 237
Separating the Short Loin from the Sirloin (Bench) 238
Taking Care of the Top Sirloin (Bench) 239
Removing the head filet 239
Deboning the top sirloin 240
Cutting Steaks from the Short Loin (Bench) 241
Cutting bone-in steaks 242
Frenching the bone-in steaks 242
Producing Osso Bucco from the Hindshank (Bench) 243
Part V: Sausage-Making and Using the Whole Animal 245
Chapter 14: Setting Yourself Up for Sausage 247
Gathering the Right Equipment 247
Thinking about your sausage-making needs 248
Choosing a grinder 248
Looking at mixers 249
Have stuffer, will sausage 251
Other essentials 252
A word about casings 252
Picking from a Plethora of Sausages 254
Common sausage flavor combos 254
Types of sausages 255
Chapter 15: Sausage-Making Techniques 257
Getting in Touch with Your Inner Nerd: Sausage Science 257
Using quality ingredients 258
Getting the right amount of moisture 258
Achieving the right texture 259
Ensuring a good bind 259
Using the proper technique 260
Fermented sausages and guarding against botulism 261
Making Sausage: The Basic Steps 262
Gathering your ingredients 262
Preparing the meat for grinding 264
Chilling the meat before grinding and mixing 265
Grinding and mixing your sausage 265
Stuffing the sausage into the casing 268
Tying the knot: Linking and drying sausages 269
Hanging your links to dry 270
Storing Your Sausage 271
Chapter 16: Scrumptious Sausage Recipes 273
Chicken and Rabbit Sausage 274
Beef Sausage 280
Pork Sausage 285
Lamb and Goat Sausage 294
Chapter 17: Processing Techniques: The Good Kind 299
Whole-Muscle Curing 299
Following the general process 300
Identifying the equipment you need 301
Ensuring safe curing practices 302
Time for the cure 303
Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em 305
Gathering (or building) your equipment 305
Choosing your wood chips 306
Smoking tips 307
Making bacon 307
From Scraps to Elegant Dining: Pate, Terrines, and More 307
Making a meat paste: Pates 308
Creating scrumptious layers: Terrines 308
Upping the elegance factor: Galantines 309
Stocks and Sauces: It's All Gravy, Baby 309
The secrets to a solid stock 310
Whipping up a hearty sauce 311
Praise the Lard, Save the Fats 312
Part VI: The Part of Tens 313
Chapter 18: Top Ten Mistakes to Avoid When Butchering 315
Keeping a Messy Workspace 315
Letting Your Meat Get Warm 316
Not Following the Separation of Time or Space Rule 316
Not Watching Your Posture 316
Improperly Storing Your Meat 317
Letting Your Knives Get Dull 318
Wasting Perfectly Useful Scrap 318
Rushing through the Process 318
Being Careless or Distracted 319
Being Fearful 319
Chapter 19: Top Ten Grilling Cuts 321
Chicken - The Whole Thing, Every Last Part 321
Ribs, Any Kind 322
Hamburgers, That Glorious Staple 322
Show Me Some Leg, Lamb 323
Flat Steaks and Their Three-Dimensional Flavor 323
Pork Chops - Brine and Shine 324
Flat Iron, a Butchers' Discovery 324
Lamb Saratoga, a Treasure Seeker's Prize 324
Strip Steak, America's Sweetheart 325
The Rib Eye - There, I've Said It 325
Chapter 20: Ten Sssshhhhausage-Making Secrets 327
Keep It Cool 327
Keep It Clean 328
Keep Notes 328
Grind It Right 328
Get in the Mix 329
Test the Texture and Taste 329
Hone Your Stuffing Technique 330
Practice Linking Tricks 331
Store the Sausage Properly 331
Use Quality Seasonings 331
Index 333
