A retired butcher in St. Louis made me question my whole approach to breaking down hogs

I was at a pork seminar last month and an old-timer named Earl watched me work a shoulder for about 5 minutes. He said I was fighting the natural seams and making extra work for myself. He showed me how he follows the connective tissue lines with just his knife tip and the whole thing practically falls apart. It hit me that I've been hacking through muscle groups instead of separating them cleanly for the last 12 years. Has anyone else had a moment where an older pro made you rethink something you thought you had down solid?

2 comments

2 Comments

james_campbell1210d ago

Man, reading this just gave me chills. Earl's been holding out on the rest of us for 12 years of your life, that's wild. I had a similar thing happen with a retired fisherman in Maine who showed me how to fillet a striper with one continuous cut. Made me feel like I'd been doing it wrong my whole career. It's crazy how these old timers have these little secrets that just turn everything on its head. Your mileage may vary, but I bet if you practiced that shoulder seam method for a week straight you'd never go back to the old way.

william_torres9d ago

Hold up @james_campbell12, Earl didn't hold out on me for 12 years. I never met the guy before that seminar. He just showed me what I'd been missing.