Bone In Pork Loin. The Breakdown.

This is only one way of utilizing the Whole Loin, but keep in mind the methods are infinite.

Bone In Pork Loins. The end that's closer to you is cut at the
Shoulder/Boston Butt and stretches all the way down the hog - minus the Hams. Various cuts include Rib Eyes, Country Style Ribs, Baby Back Ribs, Loin (equal to Beef's NY Strip), Tenderloin and Sirloin. 

Chine the spine, you want to expose the 'Buttons' for the first four ribs. Being able to cut between the ribs with
your knife can save you a lot of time.

I like to start by cutting off the Sirloin / Top Butt with a knife, you'll get down to the bone. This allows
you to use your cleaver to get through the spine. Striking with a cleaver is certainly dangerous - Watch your Fingers!

This example has been perfectly cut! Get out you cleavers, but be safe.

On your left is the Sirloin primal and on your right is the rest of the Loin, starting with T-bone chops. 

Every shop has different specs on the thickness of the T-Bone Chops, I do mine at 1 1/4". You should be able to get
seven nice chops this way, with full tenderloins on each one. 

You'll have to trim and scrape for bone-dust before selling these.

Once you've got your Thick Cut Chops taken care of, go back and cut the Center Cut Chops. These are typically cut thinner but again, different folks have different needs. 

From left to right: Bone-in Rib - to be used for Country Style Ribs, Center Cut Chops, T-Bone chops
and the Sirloin Primal.

On the Left: the Country Style Ribs have been cut and bisected to lay flat. On the right: Boneless Sirloin Roast, Tenderloin Butt, Trimmings. 

Fire up the Grill!

Dry Aged 107 (Rib). The Breakdown, Which Will Be Revisited.

These long, thin bones would be the beginning of the hump on
a beef's back.

Another shot of the Rib

Chine the bones away to allow plenty of room
for your boning knife.

At first, work each bone separately.  

Once you get 3 or 4 bones deep, you can take a long 'swipe'
and take off the whole bone structure in one easy-to-toss
section.

Get a firm grip on the Cap with your hook.

Knife, Hook, Pull. Repeat. 

A swift pull with your hook (or your grip, for that matter)
will really help you out. Remember, its already dead, you're not going
to hurt it. On a Dry Aged piece like this, the layers of fat should
separate rather easily. 

Almost done!

Here's some more 'bubble gum' for you, this variety being
especially bad for your teeth. 

Face your cut and marvel at the quality!

This is about as quick as a Breakdown has ever gone. There's plenty of work in the Meat Department;

taking pictures being pretty low down the list. 

A Good Butcher Enjoys Being Watched.

That being said, Paula Forbes over at Eater Austin showed me some love by writing a quick introduction and plugged my blog! Help me show Eater some appreciation - http://austin.eater.com/archives/2011/02/11/austin-texas-butcher-blog.php

The Young Settlers' Luau, April 2010

First, you and your friends need to dig a hole that's about twice the size of the pig you'll be burying. Light a nice fire and let it burn for a few hours until you have a very nice bed of coals.

 Wait and wait, until it starts getting so hot that you can barely hold your hand over the hole. Start adding very solid river rocks of varying sizes.

After the pig was lowered in, I spread about 60# hickory chunks around the roll and place some heated river rocks on top of the animal. After the hardwood started to coal we began shoveling dirt back into the hole.

Add caption

There aren't any pictures from the preparation process, but the pig was brined for 2 days, rinsed, injected with bourbon and covered in sea salt and peppercorns. After seasoning the pig, I wrapped it in banana leaves and baling wire. 

 This is roughly 15 hours after we buried the pig. We could smell it when we woke up, so we started poking around and decided to dig it up.

Digging up the hot worth was a strange experience and the smell was outrageous. 

 We had connected 'lines' of wire to the top and bottom of both sides of the roll so we could life the pig out.

 Celebratory Whiskey.

We named this guy Boss Hog Outlaw.

The meat/carcass literally fell to pieces. It was a hot mess trying to separate meat from bones. The girls turned a hefty amount of the pork into the best Al Pastor I've ever had. A large Ziploc bag was filled about halfway and smothered in BBQ sauce for a hike and kayak trip later in the day.

Tongs and knives were abandoned shortly after this shot, the only way to separate the meat in a reasonable time was by hand - a thunderstorm was on the way!

The idea to bury the bones and refuse worked to our
benefit...

No mess and a sweet picture. 

Austin Texas Butcher Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Austin-Texas-Butcher/134967369904131?sk=wall

I am a Butcher. Ask me anything.

This is a post I made on reddit a while back, it was a lot of fun answering all the questions and talking to people who take meat seriously. Check it out!

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/copqt/iama_butcher_ama/

Shortloin - Dry Age. The Breakdown.

 18 days on the hook. Perfectly aged.

 The face-cut on a Dry Aged Shortloin is a tricky decision, if you cut too deep the loss is pricey - until you've mastered the task, taking baby steps is your best bet. Take small cuts until all of the outer crust has been removed.

 The piece on your right is what I'll use for T-bones, I'll cut the primal at 6 1/4" from the face cut, yeilding 5 1 1/4" steaks.
The piece on your left is what I use for New York Strips.

 Animals are split at the 4th and 5th rib for the Chuck primal and Rib primal and at the 12th and 13th for the  Shortloin. This is the 13th rib. I like to take this off before I bone out the Tenderloin and chime the cut.

 Removing the Tenderloin is pretty simple, stay as close to the bone as you can and peel away.

 Beautifully marbled. Displaying primals is an art in and of itself.

 Chine the spine at a slight angle, make sure you have a firm grip on the meat before you do this. The saw blade will want to pull the meat down into it and your fingers can easily follow.

 I call these buttons - an old manager of mine always talked about sewing these onto a shirt.

 Case Ready New Yorks

Porterhouse and T-bones














If you find yourself wondering "Is it a bad thing that I'm drooling?" The answer is no.