The Butcher
Feb 21, 2008 general food
In a carnivorous world, a butcher is a necessary link in the food chain, carving a carcass of unsavory flesh into mouthwatering cuts.
Now that’s a tag line!
Not in the typical rotation of shows I watch, last night the episode of Modern Marvels on the History Channel was “The Butcher.” It was pretty interesting, and especially the last couple bits when they briefly spoke about custom slaughtering and then showed at length a mobile butcher in action.
After hauling his giant mobile butchering trailer out into the middle of nowhere and leveling it, the guy literally got on a tractor and shot a cow in the head with a rifle before they strung it up and pulled it in. He then proceeded to skin it and gut it before taking it back to his facility to age and butcher into the final cuts.
As gruesome as that may or may not sound to you, it’s the best possible scenario for an animal to be slaughtered humanely, and as I haven’t found anyone that can do this in Missouri, I’d been deeply curious as to how it worked.
I did get the impression that the mobile facility on the show is probably in the upper crust as surprisingly there was actually a USDA inspector present for the entire slaughter.
The butcher specifically stressed that he is fully USDA inspected so that the meat can be further sold down the line. This is not typically the case with custom slaughter because many of the people utilizing it have no further need to resell the meat as it is for their own consumption.
I’m sure they’ll show it again so be on the look out.
Another upcoming episode of food related interest (I thought to look since they had this one) is Harvesting which will air next Wednesday.
Tags: butcher, mobile butcher, mobile slaughterhouse, modern marvels, slaughter, USDA
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February 21st, 2008 at 5:58 pm
i also viewed this episode, but a few months ago. i thought it was super ultra awesome. too bad food netjerk dosen’t air stuff like that….
February 23rd, 2008 at 4:57 pm
[...] interesting, and especially the last couple bits when they briefly spoke about custom … credit : [...]
February 28th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
The butcher probably stressed the USDA Inspector fact because most people don’t realize that a butcher/slaughterhouse preparing meat for public sale and consumption is required to have a USDA Inspector onsite at all times during the slaughter.
In the case of “custom slaughter” or private slaughter where the butcher is preparing meat from a privately owned animal that is not intended for public sale or consumption, the USDA Inspector is not required.
February 29th, 2008 at 11:40 am
That’s why I mentioned it. There aren’t a lot of on-farm slaughters that are still salable under the USDA regulations.
If you’re ever in St. Louis let me know. I’ll make sure you get the good eats.
March 6th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
[...] In regards to their mobile ‘butcher shops’: Gordon Ramsay had a similar type of slaughter performed on the turkeys he and his children raised for Christmas Lunch on his BBC show “The F Word”. I found it interesting how the slaughter of the birds took place at his home in the garden. A quick electric shock and they birds were dead…feathers plucked and cleaned. and before you knew it….they were in the oven. Now that is fresh. See STLBites spot on “The Butcher”. [...]