Professional Whole Cow Butchery - Complete Breakdown & Tasting

Shadow/Head:** Top of fillet 2. **Center Cut:** Most prized area (premium restaurants use for big fat center-cut steaks) 3. **Fillet Tail:** Bottom, used as medallions **Lard Trimming:

Remove all sinew from top of fillet - Separate fat entirely **Professional Restaurant Practice:** - Buy whole fillets - Trim in-house - All tender trim → burgers **Fat Hierarchy (Burger Context):** - Cod fat/suet: Flavorless fat (rendering/pastries) - Aged rib cap: Flavored fat (30-40 day dry-age) - WHY: Mold development during aging → incredible flavor **Tasting:** - "Glides through" (cutting ease) - "So crazy how different to ribeye" - "Very predictable, know what you're getting" - "No surprises" - "No matter where fillet comes from, fillet is fillet" (unless Wagyu) - "My favorite" - "Easy, most pleasurable eating experience" **Consumer Psychology:** - 50% of customers: Tenderness > Flavor - UK market: Tenderness premium pricing - Won't get same depth of flavor as other cuts - Experience: Easy, pleasurable (not complex) --- **CUT 17: SIRLOIN (Including Wing Ribs) - UNDERRATED WINNER** **Etymology:** King James I story - Knighted the loin ("Sir Loin") after excellent steak **Structure:** - Wing ribs (free-wing ribs): Large sharing steaks (premium restaurant cuts) - Center sirloin: Most premium area - Edging technique: Top of each bone carefully separated **Center Cut Advantage:** - Both ends of sirloin "can be a bit ropey" - Center = "probably best part of sirloin" - Wing ribs removed = access to prime center section **Tasting:** - "This is going to be a beauty" - "Delicious" / "Absolutely fantastic" - "Best of both worlds" - **"I think might even be better than ribeye"** - shocking revelation - "News flash" - "Really good, wasn't expecting that" - Fat "delicious" - Meat "not a million miles away from tenderness of fillet" - "Cut halfway down sirloin" (wing ribs off = optimal section) **Professional Insight:** - "Everyone always underestimates sirloin and then boom" --- **CUT 18: SALMON CUT (Sirloin Sub-Cut)** - Side muscle that seams down from sirloin - Row restaurant: Served raw as carpaccio - Super tender - Very pale color (unusual) - Quite ready in normal color (variable) **Tasting:** - "Very dry" - "Not much flavor" - "Not as bad as others" - "Not worst we've had" - "What steak would be like if you just killed cow and cut steak off it" (no aging) - "Chain pub type steak" --- **CUT 19: TOP SIDE** - Leg section - Doesn't look dense - "Giving me shin flashbacks" **Tasting:** - "Not very nice" - Medium flavor "not terrible" but texture poor - "Pretty damn average" - Specific use: Cooked medium-to-medium-well, thinly sliced on sandwich --- **CUT 20: TOP RUMP** - Leg section - "Good for Sunday roast" context **Tasting:** - "Definitely got a chew" - "Pretty firm chew" - "Got good flavor though" - Strategy: "Little bites, cut up really thin" - "Sunday roast in pub in countryside, pint of beer, happy days, can't complain" --- **CUT 21: RUMP (Multiple Muscles Possible)** - Looks more tender than topside - Actually moist appearance - "Feeling pretty damn good" when cutting --- ### PROFESSIONAL PRINCIPLES (30 Total) **Muscle Work = Toughness + Flavor Character:** 1. More work muscle does = tougher texture 2. Hardworking muscles also = minerally, irony, "livery" flavor 3. NOT just texture issue - flavor changes dramatically by location 4. Amount of blood in muscle affects flavor intensity **Butchery Fundamentals:** 5. Ball joint identification crucial (starting point for many cuts) 6. Seam butchery = removing individual muscles along natural connective tissue 7. Bone cleaning precision matters for premium cuts (35% of total revenue) 8. Blade bone navigation: Score down side → go underneath 9. Saw technique: Across ribs to separate sections 10. Deboning creates "Flintstone bones" (massive leg bones) **Fat Distribution & Quality:** 11. First steak with fat = first good steak (Glen Steak observation) 12. Cod fat/suet = flavorless (rendering, pastries only) 13. Aged fat (rib cap 30-40 days) = incredible flavor (mold development) 14. Fat position affects dry-aging (goose skirt sits on top = well-aged) 15. Interior fat seams (bavette) = superior to exterior only (flank) **Cut-Specific Techniques:** 16. Over-trimming necessary for medium-rare testing (would leave more sinew for braising) 17. Gristle in feather blade: Braised = becomes jelly, Steaked = must remove 18. Flat iron requires butterflying to remove center gristle seam 19. Fillet lard trimming: Remove ALL sinew from top surface **Temperature/Doneness Context:** 20. Medium-rare inappropriate for: Shin, neck, brisket, Jacob's ladder, leg of mutton, Denver 21. Medium-rare reveals true quality of premium cuts 22. Braising cuts become premium when cooked properly (Jacob's ladder example) 23. Salammoncut can be served raw (carpaccio) due to tenderness **Market & Restaurant Economics:** 24. Small loin/fillet section = 35% of total animal revenue 25. Proper butchering crucial for margin (rest of animal must make up remaining 65%) 26. Market rate: £6-7/kg live weight = ~£900 for half side 27. Underutilized cuts now popular: Brisket (BBQ culture surge) **Tasting Methodology:** 28. Consistent cooking (charcoal, medium-rare, rested) = fair comparison 29. Visual cues: Pale color (salmon cut) often indicates less flavor 30. Dense appearance correlates with quality (opposite of topside "not dense") **Discovery:** 31. "Glen Steak" (brisket flank) - unnamed traditional cut, discovered on-site 32. "Goose Skirt" - butcher slang, secret winner comparable to flat iron 33. Sirloin center > Ribeye (controversial but valid when optimally cut) --- ### FINAL HIERARCHY (Medium-Rare Grilled) **TIER 1 - EXCELLENT:** - Flat Iron (best shoulder cut) - Goose Skirt (secret winner) - Ribeye (classic gold standard) - Sirloin Center (potentially > ribeye) - Fillet (tenderness king) - Bavette (superior flank) **TIER 2 - GOOD:** - Glen Steak (discovery, melting tender) - Flank Skirt (good chew, good flavor) - Chuck Eye (eye portion tender) **TIER 3 - ACCEPTABLE:** - Clod (better than shin) - Top Rump (Sunday roast quality) - Rib Cap (context: burger use) **TIER 4 - POOR (Medium-Rare):** - Brisket (wrong application) - Jacob's Ladder (needs braising) - Salmon Cut (dry, flavorless) - Top Side (shin flashback) **TIER 5 - INEDIBLE (Medium-Rare):** - Fore Shin (bordering inedible) - Neck (livery, tough) - Leg of Mutton (Gandhi's flip-flop) - Denver (wishy-washy) - Bowler (slimy, weird) --- ### KEY INSIGHTS **Revelation 1:** Texture is no-brainer (work = tough), BUT flavor also changes dramatically - Hardworking muscles: Minerally, irony, livery - NOT just "tough but same flavor" - completely different taste profiles **Revelation 2:** Fat position matters for aging - Goose skirt sits on top → excellent dry-age exposure - Interior fat (bavette) vs exterior (flank) = texture difference **Revelation 3:** Center cuts supreme - Sirloin: Both ends "ropey," center exceptional - Chuck eye: Eye portion good, exterior tough - Fillet: Center cut most prized **Revelation 4:** Underestimation problem - "Everyone always underestimates sirloin and then boom" - Cultural bias toward ribeye/fillet misses exceptional alternatives - Flat iron built restaurant empires for good reason **Restaurant Philosophy:** 35% of revenue from small premium section (loin/fillet) means rest of animal must be utilized perfectly to capture remaining 65% margin - proper butchery = business viability.

"Glides through"