Meatcutting Week 9: New tasks

As promised, along with less beef to produce at this time of the year, Jeff had me working on several new items this week. I was excited, but also very anxious (see last post). I want to be proficient at all aspects of our shop as fast as possible, but now that I am completely comfortable with breaking down hind quarters, I found myself wanting to cling to that task. It is what I know and it has officially become my comfort zone.

Here are the things I started to learn this week:

*Prepping the front quarter for the saw. The front quarter contains the chuck, ribs (my favorite steak resides here), brisket, skirt, neck, etc. This is much easier than breaking down the hind quarter, but it will take a week or two to become comfortable with it.

*Using the saw. We had several "hamburger cows" to break down on Thursday. Hamburger cows are beefs that are being processed into ground beef only. They are usually older animals that have tougher muscle tissue. They can be old females or old bulls. The older females are usually very fatty, while the bulls are very lean. The better cuts of meat on these animals would not be tender, therefore, the best way to utilize them is to grind everything. However, we are able to salvage the tenderloin in some animals.

That said, these hamburger cows present a perfect opportunity for me to practice some saw work. We went ahead and broke the beefs down like usual, and I was able to use the saw to cut some steaks and roasts, and break down each quarter further. If I made mistakes, it did not matter, because in the end, all was going to be fed into the grinder. It made perfect sense, and I appreciated the opportunity to try the saw.

*Hogs! On Wednesday, we processed 9 hogs. I had tried a few of them weeks ago, but sort of forgot how to do it. Unfortunately, we do not do hogs very often, so it will be hard to get into a routine, but I think I will learn it eventually. They are much easier than beefs. Basically, each half of the hog is cut into 3 parts: the shoulder, the ribs/loin/belly and the ham. There is more to it, but those are the basics. It is a little tougher to trim the fat from hogs. It is a softer and more flexible material. Knife skills are tested with this task.

*Installing insulation. Friday we had no meatcutting work to do, so we went to phase 2 of our walk-in freezer project. I also had to conquer a small portion of my fear of heights. Only 1/4 of the ceiling has planks installed for storage and to walk on above the room. the rest of the ceiling is just beams right now. We plan to install a "floor" to walk on above the room, but now we just have the one side to walk on. I had to measure, cut and install foam insulation to fit between the beams across the entire ceiling. I was frozen while trying to prepare to do the work, but after verifying that the small portion of floor would hold my weight, I got semi-comfortable. The fear kept me working very slowly and safely, but we got all but 4 open areas insulated by the end of the day. Phase 3 will have us installing plywood over the insulation, creating the "walls" and ceiling of the freezer. After the plywood is installed, it will be covered with FRP panels.

I am hearing rumors that I will be working with Dale, our mobile slaughter guru, sometime over the next several weeks. I am excited.