WHOLE BEAST B U T C H E R Y The Complete Visual Guide to Beef, Lamb, and Pork RYAN FARR with Brigit Binns WHOLE BEAST B U T C H E R Y The Complete Visual Guide to Beef, Lamb, and Pork RYAN FARR with Brigit Binns • -- I SAN FRANCIBCO r:t''I.O~ ~:o'I.Cb ..•... •................ :o~ ••••• tifu \ wife. 10 roY beaU 1anner. d roY son. cesa\ee. a;. ag \ife ine \ can t lro withOut you. Text copyright © 2011 by Ryan Farr. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Farr, Ryan. Whole beast butchery I by Ryan Farr, Brigit Binns. Includes index. ISBN 978-1-4521-0190-3 1. Meat cuts. 2. Meat cutting. 3. Cooking (Meat) I. Binns, Brigit. II. Title. Designed by Vanessa Dina The author has no affiliation with any of the entities on pages 237 and 238 and is not paid to recommend or endorse the resources and businesses listed. Chronicle Books LLC 680 Second Street San Francisco, California 94107 V'VV'VV'V.chroniclebooks.co:rn. _------"'-----11 [ [I-__ ......... ~>!L Ack noVV" Ie dg:In e n ts ...r' "-"--_____ __. ~------------------------~ Attempting to thank on a couple of pages family, friends, 4505 employees past and present, your support, dedication, and colleagues who have helped me in my life is an impos and continual enthusiasm have helped us find our place in sible task_I am very fortunate for every laugh, tear, and the culinary world_T hank you immensely_ piece of bacon we have shared together_ Thank you all for Marc Leffler, you are a funny and talented man_ your support, guidance, and hungry bellies_ Thank you for your one-liners, laughter, and endless help Cesalee, you are an amazing mother, partner, and building the 4505 brand_ loving wife_ I am very proud of everything we have created C_H_E_F.5_s taff, all of you and all the students helped together and excited for what tomorrow brings_ me find my love for teaching and gave me the opportunity to Mom and Dad (Hulyn and Ron Farr), thank you for build our company_T hank you_ raising me with unconditional love and for your unwavering Huge thanks to all the ranchers and their families belief in me_ (I do know I was a little shitJl look forward to for the endless work raising amazing animals_ Mac Magruder, I raising my son with the same compassion, support, and love Don Watson, and Lee Hudson, thank you for the beautiful I, that you gave me_ steers, lambs, and pigs-without your wonderful animals, Lauren (Lauren Farrl. you have been my partner in none of this would be possible_ I: many crimes and many BBQ meals in KC_I am proud to be Lulu and Dexter and all the amazing staff, farmers, your big brother_ Bonapatche! and volunteers at the CUESA Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market, Mema and Pop (Carolyn and Hughie Habighorstl. your dedication to the community and to providing for others waking up before the sun rose to get a jump-start on break is an inspiration (and you are all great friends, as weilL fast is one of my favorite memories_ My love for food began Kent Schoberle, you do great work, sir_ Thank you for with the amazing people we met, the restaurants and diners your continuous dedication_ where we ate, and the places we traveled_ Thank you, to the talented staff of Chronicle Books: Grandma (Guyneth Farrl. as a child enjoying your Vanessa Dina, your dedication and ability to see the beauty cherry pies, buttery toast, and perfectly cooked eggs created of butchery while keeping the functionality clear in the I" memories of simple perfections_ Those moments were design is sheer talent Lorena Jones, thank you for humoring realizations that food is much more than just substance_ me and believing in me_ Your determination and boldness Thank you for showing me less is more_ And a deep thanks are paving the way and setting an example for so many_ for not locking me out of the house when I let all the rabbits Brigit! Your hard work and love for good food has free from their pens_ elevated our professional relationship into a friendship that Autrey, Hogan, and Leffler families, thank you for will last forever_ your love and your welcoming arms, for embracing us into Ed Anderson, your ability to capture the beauty of your family_ The endless good times and wonderful South every cut and technique has added an element to every ern hospitality are very dear to me_ picture that is rarely captured_ You truly have skills, sir_ Devin Autrey, you are truly an inspiration as a friend, Thank you_ man, and chef. You always followed your heart and your Thank you Carole Bidnick for your endless work stomach; your life has truly been a model for so many_ making all this happen_ Cole Mayfield, you are a very good friend and a To all the film and production crew, it was a pleasure talented chef. Your approach to life and food with the utmost working together_T hank you_ passion and love is commendable_ Your meticulous recipe Thank you to the Bay Area! Your beauty, bounty, and testing and tolerance of my BS for all these years have been personality are something very special and are the key invaluable_T hank you_ ingredients in 4505 Meats_ To everybody who has supported me since day one: lowe you the world, and I love you all! T A B L E o ! C O N T E N T S In trod uction p.S A. Eu tchery Frir.n.er p.1.8 Basic Guidelines 12 Tools 12 Techniques 13 How to Use the Recipe Formulas 15 Brining 16 General Sausage-Making Tips 17 ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... C:E:.AFTER ONE •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• , •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 00 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• BEEF RED-HOT BEEF SAUSAGE p.79 '0' '0' .................................. . p.18 ONION-BRAISED BEEF NECK p.82 ANCHO AND KAFFIR BEEF FLINTSTONE CHOP p.84 SPICE-CURED BEEF BRISKET p.86 BEEF TONGUE PASTRAMI p.88 ·. .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... . CHAPTER T""\l\TO .......................................................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... . , LAMB MERGUEZ SAUSAGE p . e o p.133 ROASTED LEG OF LAMB WITH ROSEMARY PESTO p.136 BRAISED LAMB SHANKS WITH CURRY p.138 LAMB LOIN WRAPPED IN ITS BELLY p.140 LAMB LEG MUSCLES WRAPPED IN BACON p.142 CHAPTER THREE CHARRED SCALLION SAUSAGE PORK p.22j p . 1 4 4 PORK JOWL AND CLAMS p.230 PORK BELLY AND GARBANZO SOUP p.232 CRISPY PORK SHOULDER WITH SHANK p.234 .......................................................................................................................... / SMOKED PORK SIRLOIN Resources p.837 p.236 Index: p.839 - • I'm excited to share my love of butchering and pas Start by chatting with your local butchers. Go to the sion for whole-animal utilization. With this book farmers' markets and delicatessens. Find these you'll learn how to break down a whole animal and farmers and ranchers. Talk to them and make utilize the entire carcass. I am going to cover the friends. Buy local, and help small businesses and basic cuts and explain everything you need to get family farms grow. This is what it's all about. started. The great thing about whole-animal utilization Why Butcher Your Own Meat? is that there are many different ways to approach Butchering in this country has broken out of the breaking down the animal. In Whole Beast Butch restaurant kitchen and moved into the home. This ery, I show you some of my favorite techniques. trend is a result of several major changes in our Because I'm a classically trained chef, my view of society, including a stronger desire to live up to the animal is based on the end result. I look at how higher moral and ethical standards, concerns for every single piece of the animal can be used and the safety of our food supply, and a renewed spirit consumed without any waste. That's why my approach of self-reliance. Now that the "givens" of our daily is sometimes a little unconventional; it's my own lives are in jeopardy-our economic security, the point of view, and it reflects how I developed my dependability of our food supply, and the safety style. Once you have learned the basics, you can of our generous natural resources-raising our develop your own. My tutorials will help you reach own food affords us both a sense of security and that point by showing easy ways to break down a a tremendous feeling of accomplishment. Even if whole animal or a section, whether you're a home we can't raise our own animals, many of us want cook or a professional working in a restaurant. to know how the animals we consume were raised You can use all these techniques as a founda and what they were fed. tion for doing your own butchering, but don't think Home butchering is the logical next step for that means you can replace your local butcher. those who raise their own vegetables and chickens, Butchery and whole-animal utilization are arts that preserve the bounty of the land and field for off are often handed down from generation to genera season meals, and care deeply about what they tion and take years to master. Throughout my feed themselves and their families. When you decide career, I've been inspired by the men and women to butcher a whole animal or a part of one by your who have chosen this honorable profession. I would self, as I hope you will, you are almost always going never suggest that we don't need butchers-hey, we to be buying that animal locally. By doing so, you need a lot more butcher shops and opportunities are supporting a local business as well as your for butchers!-but by using this book, you can do community: If you buy a pig raised by your neighbor some of what they do. on his farm or from a rancher outside of town, We also need to support our local farmers he will have more money to spend, some of which and ranchers. There are probably more than a few might even come back to you. One thing is certain: sources of grass-fed animals in your hometown, That farmer or rancher can now raise more animals, but it might take some digging to find the family raise them well, and supply more concerned run ranches that produce them. Do the digging. consumers with better-quality meat-meat they can trust as well as enjoy. V'VHOL:&l BEAST l!!I'UTc:a::a:R.Y./8 Where Did It Come From? What Did It The wonderful thing about the animals we eat Eat? How Well Did It Live? is that virtually everything is edible. If you make a These are important questions that supermarket cut in the wrong place or your roast looks a little shoppers don't get to ask. The small-scale farmers sloppy, no worries; it'll still taste great. So, cut and ranchers with whom you will most likely be with confidence, plan your next move, and make striking a deal have herds that are smaller than straight cuts. As you come to understand the mus those of the national meat producers, which culature of each animal and the characteristics of means more attention and better conditions for each of its parts (Is it lean or well marbled? Is it a the animals during their lifetimes, as well as a hard-working muscle that requires slow-and-low more humane end. If an animal sacrifices its life cooking to retain tenderness?), you will come to for our table, we owe it this respect. Vote with your intuit the correct method for cooking your "mistakes" wallet! Many of us who eat meat have become dis and the various off-cuts that might have gone to illusioned with the factory-farming process in our waste. That's what whole-animal utilization is all country, yet we also intend to keep eating meat about. only now we want to eat meat responsibly and fully understand what we are consuming. To this end, A Whole Lot of Meat Whole Beast Butchery gives you the knowledge you Depending on the size of the animal and which need to exercise a degree of control over your own animal you choose, you are going to end up with nourishment, beyond the supermarket. anywhere from 40 pounds/18 kilograms of meat to more, much more. A whole, or even half, a Uncommon Cuts grass-fed steer is a very large amount of meat. In Because of the industrial nature of our national most cases, it is far more than one family can eat meat-processing industry, many of the cuts of or store-about 700 pounds'/317 kilograms' worth. meat-like neck, trotters, offal-that were familiar So I recommend that you plan ahead when you to our ancestors, who lived closer to the land, are set out to purchase a whole carcass or even large no longer staples on our tables. We have grown primal cuts. In fact, you may want to start with a lazy, used to buying Styrofoam packs of rib eye primal (say, on a steer, one of the forequarters; steaks, unaware of the many wonderful parts of or on a lamb, the saddle section). After you are the animal that suddenly become available for comfortable with the art of breaking down a primal experimentation and hearty enjoyment when you cut, you will be ready to move on to a whole lamb butcher at home. or pig, or half a steer. In any event, be sure to plan how you will store the meat before you begin It's All Edible sharpening your knife. Cutting up a whole animal may seem a little daunting at first, so to help you conquer your Freezing the Meat fear, this book will provide you with step-by-step I am not a huge fan of freezing meat, but for most instructions, as well as plenty of visual aids. home cooks it is unavoidable. That said, you can Remember, there's no such thing as a mistake take steps that will help keep your meat in optimal and no set rules of butchery, except for what your condition once you consider several factors, one stomach says. of which is fat content. Fat contains no water, so • - t , during the freezing process there is less crystal It Takes Four Families lization in fatty meat than in lean meat. Therefore, One approach that many home cooks are taking is I advise you to eat the lean cuts first, grilling or partnering with several other families to purchase roasting up your chops, loin, and tenderloin, and to and butcher a whole animal or, in the case of a freeze the chuck, shoulder, belly, and other fattier steer, half an animal. Because of the way animals cuts, plus the off-cuts that you will eventually turn are structured, I find that a division into four por into ground meat and/or sausage. (Don't grind the tions makes sense, as each family ends up with a meat before freezing, as the thawing process will more manageable amount of meat to eat and store. yield dry meat. Instead, freeze it in large pieces. Once you find three other like-minded families, buy When you're ready to make burgers, defrost the your animal and begin the process: Make sure that meat gently, cut it into chunks just slightly smaller you have adequate freezer and refrigerator space, than the opening of your grinder, and then grind plenty of butcher paper, markers for labeling, a it.! Another factor is size: bigger pieces of meat scale, and plenty of clean cutting boards and sharp survive freezing better than smaller pieces. A knives. For a steer, each family will take home pork shoulder will freeze and defrost in far better between 150 and 200 pounds/68 and 90 kilograms condition than a pork chop. But, in some cases, you of meat. Well managed, this amount of meat can will still have more meat than you and your family feed a family for a long time! can eat before it begins to go bad. If you need to preserve a large, lean cut such as a leg, I heartily Another Way to Approach Breaking advise you to cure it instead. For a leg of beef, Down a Whole Animal make bresaola. For a leg of pork (a.k.a. "fresh," If you aren't quite ready to take the plunge into or "green," haml, cure it first, and then either carving up a whole animal, there's another option smoke or dry it by hanging-then make your own (but you will still need to understand the structure of prosciutto, for instance. the animal and all the characteristics of the meat Be aware that in the process of freezing and from its different parts). Many communities cooking, meat will lose from 10 to 20 percent of its especially those in areas where there is a lot of weight. This weight loss, which is a combination hunting-have a game processor/private slaughter of water and fat, is the result of several factors: house. Hunters bring the deer they get to these freezing and defrosting, the rendering of fat, and processors, who break down the animal into portion the cooking process. So if your goal for a week sizes and roasts per the hunters' choice, often night dinner for four people is 5 or 6 ounces/140 to turning much of the animal into sausage prepared 170 grams of meat per person, you should freeze according to the processor's own time-honored the meat in 2-pound/1 kilogram portions. This recipe. These folks are a fine resource for the could be four rib eye steaks or enough chuck for family who would like to break gently into obtain four hamburgers. In any event, please don't freeze ing local meat. You could buy the animal from a meat for more than three to four months, or it local rancher or farmer, and then have the butcher will turn into something other than the beautiful process it for you. For most people, this is still a animal you started with. far better choice than buying meat from the super market. Remember, however, that you will have to tell the butcher how to process and portion the