Butcher Classes in Chicago..?

Hey LTH -

Can anyone point me in the direction of a great Hands On Butcher class in the Chicago area?

I'm not talk'n about sitting at a table while sipping Pinot and watching someone else cut up a rack of lamb. I'm talking A to Z butchering here. I wanna walk into class and have whole chickens, lambs, goats, fish... even cows... and have someone teach me all the cutting techniques and walk out with a cooler full of fresh meat.

I know the obvious thing to do would be to sign up at Washburn or CHIC... The thing is I don't have the cash or the time to do all of that. I'd love to, believe me... but I just can't. Any ideas..?

~GS

Offer yourself as apprentice to a butcher.

Occupational Outlook Handbook wrote:Most butchers and meat, poultry, and fish cutters acquire their skills on the job through formal and informal training programs. The length of training varies significantly in this occupation, with simple cutting operations requiring a few days to learn, while more complex tasks, like eviscerating, generally require about a month to learn. The training period for a highly skilled butcher at the retail level may be a 1 or 2 years.

I can show you the ropes on butchering pigs if you want to go along on my next vacation.

So you want to butcher a hog? My website has a powerpoint presentation you can download and view. The whole process is demonstrated in living color.

HI,

I realize this may be of absolutely no help, though it may instigate a search or trigger someone's memory. In the last 70's early 80's, they had classes in Madison, WI on European butchering methods and cuts. It was something like $150 to $200 for the class, which to this day I regret never taking.

Regards,

LAZ,

I may be wrong but I would strongly suspect that MOST butchers do very little carcass processing (other than places like Lake Geneva Meats which does a LOT of contract butchering or some of the local meat packers).

When I was in the business, my meat purveyors were processing approximately 95% of their cuts from boxed meats from the major processors (read IBP, Monfort, etc. or from Brazil or Argentina).

I do know that there were a number of very small processors in Eastern Market (Detroit) that brought in carcass beef and pork.

jlawrence01 wrote:I may be wrong but I would strongly suspect that MOST butchers do very little carcass processing (other than places like Lake Geneva Meats which does a LOT of contract butchering or some of the local meat packers).

You're probably right. You'd have to go to a couple of places -- a processor to learn how to break down the animal into primal cuts, and then a retail butcher for the individual cuts.

The best bet may be to take Bruce up on his offer, invest in what other videos and books available, and practice.

I taught myself to cut up chickens from a book, so I imagine that an autodidact could master larger animals.

Terrific slideshow, Bruce.

Bruce wrote:I can show you the ropes on butchering pigs if you want to go along on my next vacation.
So you want to butcher a hog? My website has a powerpoint presentation you can download and view. The whole process is demonstrated in living color.

Bruce,

I viewed your PowerPoint presentation and believe it or not, I’m still interested. I’d love to jump right in and get hands on like you did. My wife’s not so sure about it (she had something more like Cathy2’s European butchering methods in mind) but give me some more details when you have a sec. Maybe I can convince her that it’s not as crazy as it looks.

LAZ, Cathy2 & jlawrence01: Thanks for the info and tips... One other question if I may. If I go the apprentice route, which butcher shops would you recommend?

~ GS

Twenty five years ago, I would send you to a number of my relatives/ friends for a week-end as they were **always** looking for some help in butchering hogs or chickens.

Unfortunately, I do not know of anyone who does their own butchering as most of the old guys are in their 70s or 80s (or have passed) and don't want to piddle around with hanging a side of beef. My in-laws raised a steer as they were canning beef last year but sent it to a processor.

You are going to have to visit a few processors and get to know the people. Many will be hesitant because of insurance liability issues. Meat processing ranks up there with mining in terms of the danger. (The knives that cut up meat do wonders with fingers ... speaking from experience.)