I think someone was singing 'Eye of the Tiger' |
Photos by Rebecca Scofield.
Working on his Shoulder Clod, leaving the Pork for last. |
I am very comfortable cutting Pork, and this particular piece is my favorite. I was thrilled when I learned this was one of the challenges. Bone In Pork Loin. |
Some good ol' Sausage production. These guys didn't stop to watch; These guys are MACHINES! |
Looks like some heckling between the Regional guys. Jim is the feller in plaid, Steve is beside him and Lloyd is down the way in the button-up shirt. |
Looks like this was right when I finished - all eyes on my block. |
A wily crowd! |
My Team Leader, Beau, and I after I was announced as the winner. I didn't get any of my own personal photos from the contest and I am waiting on the Marketing folks at work to share what they got with me, but for now I'll give a written description about how the contest went down. There were five contestants in the contest, one from the Austin-Gateway store, Little Rock, Arkansas store, Tulsa, Oklahoma, San Antonio and me (Lamar Store). We were each given two primals to work; Whole Bone In Pork Loin and Beef Shoulder Clod. The contest was judged on Speed, Craftsmanship, Profitability and Creativity. I really wish I would have taken some pictures of what I was left with, but I can tell you that I won all four categories although Shannon from Tulsa gave me a run for my money. On June 11th I'll be heading to Dallas for the regional competition. If I win in Dallas I'll be going to NYC for the National competition. Wouldn't that be nice? Also! I will be cutting a Whole Bone In Beef Round for the Dallas Competition, something I'm quite proficient at. Each contestant will receive one primal to practice on and one for the competition.. I'm going to use my practice primal as an opportunity to make another 'The Breakdown' post. My buddy Josh Verduzco (http://www.joshverduzco.com) will be photographing the event so you can expect the quality of the pictures to be lightyears ahead of what I've been posting. See you soon! Reece |
The original plan was to spit-roast the Lamb whole but because of the statewide fire-ban, we had to part out the animal and cook everything separately. |
To be honest, I wasn't upset in the slightest bit about the way we handled this animal, we were able to cook every cut and primal using all the of different methods available to us. |
Me and Kaysea took both Shoulders and Foreshanks and boned them out, cutting the meat into stew meat and I made a healthy and quite meaty stew. The broth was incredibly delicious and velvety. |