Old timer at the shop changed how I hang carcasses

Had a guy named Frank, must be 70 years old, come into my shop in Detroit last week. He watched me struggling with a side of beef on the rail and just said "you're fighting the weight, not using it." Showed me how to let the carcass swing into position instead of muscling it. Has anyone else had some old school butcher show you a technique that made you feel like you been doing it wrong for 10 years?

3 comments

3 Comments

barbara42910d agoMost Upvoted

Heard @emmar75 mention Earl and it reminded me of a buddy who worked a temp gig at a Polish butcher shop in Chicago, said an old guy there taught him to use the weight of the cleaver instead of his arm, totally changed his pace. My friend was always sweating and cussing at the block until the old timer just stood there and showed him one swing, made it look effortless like magic or something. Funny how those old school guys drop decades of wisdom in one sentence while you're just trying not to slice your fingers off lol.

lucas97210d ago

Wait, is the secret to life just letting gravity do all the work? Because I've been out here fighting my mower and struggling with my screwdriver for years, thinking I had to muscle everything... Meanwhile some old guy is probably laughing at me from his porch while he whisks a cleaver through a pork shoulder like it's butter.

emmar7510d ago

Had a buddy who worked in a meat shop out in Ohio and he told me about this old timer named Earl who could break down a whole hog in like 20 minutes without breaking a sweat... My friend said he was always rushing and fighting the meat and Earl just told him "slow down, feel the bones, let the knife do the work." He said it was like a lightbulb went off and suddenly he wasn't worn out after an hour on the line. Funny how those old guys just know things from decades of doing it the hard way first.