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Meat’s Meat and Man’s Gotta Eat!!

March 29, 2013

I hate to steal cheesy movie lines from the 80’s but as soon as I signed up for 4505 Meats whole steer class, farmer Vincent came to mind from one of my favorite slasher films Motel Hell. Another gem is “It takes all kinds of critters to make farmer Vincent’s fritters!” Well, we are butchering a whole steer and not humans during this class but man that was a good movie!

I’ve already participated in two other classes at 4505 Meats. The sausage making class and whole hog class. Both fun, both different in approach and both very informative. This class is the mother of all butchery classes. Eight hours breaking down an entire local grass-fed steer in to primal and sub primal cuts as well as sinew, bones and ground beef. We leave with about a hundred pounds of various cuts of beef. So far I’ve made Cincinnati Chili which was delicious and this weekend I am making a shoulder roast. The product is premium.

The class started at 7 a.m. After a myriad of liquid stimulants to get the fog cleared, we immediately started in on this beast. Kent Schoberle was again there to guide us through the class. His patience helps tremendously with us because even though I have broken down a steer before, many decades have passed since taking this class in culinary school and everything seemed very fresh and new.

We worked with many of the same tools that we used in the whole hog class but this time the hack saw was much busier than last class. The steer was partially broken down in about 130 lb. segments so we could actually work with it. Having to handle a 600 plus lb. animal would have probably not worked very well with the class. These sections were huge but manageable. It was very interesting seeing the final product after breaking down the primal cuts in to sub primal cuts like steaks, roast and ground beef. Even cutting mistakes were quickly remedied and nothing got wasted. All in all, it was a profound experience that I hope can add depth to how I approach proteins in my kitchen and the appreciation of this craft was definitely felt after the class. I am including pictures with descriptions below to give you an idea of what was involved in the class. Enjoy!!