A Day In The Life Of A Butcher

Have you ever wondered about the daily routine of a butcher? Let us get to the meat of how a butcher’s day goes from carcass to chuck roast!

Every day starts with sanitation. Our butchers and facilities are held to the highest priorities. After checking all our cooling systems and water monitoring system, the butchers put on fresh white butcher coats, hair nets, and a full hands and arms washdown and sanitize. Afterwards, the head butcher and his team do a full wash and sanitize of their workspaces and equipment. Making sure every surface is cleaned and that the operating temperature is at 4 degrees Celsius.

Preparing the equipment: Any butcher will tell you how important having the right equipment, accessible and well maintained is. The wide selection of knives are inspected and sharpened, safety gear is donned and the proper large cutting tools are brought out for the job

Breaking Down The Carcass: Our beef carcasses are dry aged for 28 days in a cooler, once they are ready for cutting, our butchers will bring them into the cutting room with a rail, and break down the beef into its primal cuts. Making sure to carefully cut the beef for maximum yield and quality. 

Cutting: A butcher is much more than someone who just “cuts meat”. They have to have a key eye for how to best cut a primal into the optimal steaks. If a steer was too large, then they will have to take that into consideration when cutting steaks from its short loin (for example). Each steak has to match specific size and weight dimensions on a meticulously calibrated scare before it's packed, so every cut has to be precise. 

Packing: After the butcher has trimmed and cut every cut, the packing team takes over, carefully packing the meat into our cryo-vac bags and labeling each piece before putting them in the flash freezer. This is a key part of the process, because when this is done right, it keeps every cut butcher fresh in a freezer for up to 2 years!

Cleaning: Who knew there was this much cleaning? Once all the carcasses have been broken down for the day, the whole are must be sanitized and cleaned again to prepare for the next day of butchering

The next time you enjoy a perfectly cooked steak or savor a thoughtfully prepared cut of meat, take a moment to appreciate the skill and dedication of the unsung heroes behind the scenes! 🥩