Cooking and culinary tips/recipes

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Leg nr 2

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Leg nr 2

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

For mincing, the hard way (pulse in food processor)

 

[Tumbleweed]

You going to debone No 2?

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

You going to debone No 2?

Done already... was Deboned when I took the picture

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Just cooked up a wee bit. Omfs it's good.

[DJR]

Done already... was Deboned when I took the picture

RM, I am seriously impressed. If you did it without anyone showing you how, then I'm even more impressed.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

RM, I am seriously impressed. If you did it without anyone showing you how, then I'm even more impressed.

Thanks Dawid!

 

I've now had a bit of it, and I can honestly say that it is delicious. Tender as the best steak I've ever had (and I cool a MEAN steak) and to think that this is 2 day old meat...

 

And Yep. All myself. First time. I've deboned a couple of joints here and there, but this was by far the most complex I've ever attempted.

 

It came as a full carcass, divided up in 6 bits... forequarters (leg and shoulder) hindquarters (full legs incl hip) and each full cage.

 

The legs were simple. Just followed the bone with a small, very sharp knife until it hit the knee joint, without hacking that meat around the bones. Then removed the femur and hip. It's actually very easy... Just time consuming if it's the first time. Left the lower leg bones in so it has a firm base to hang from if I decide to hang it.

 

The full cage though was a bit more difficult to break up into the belly (Deboned) a couple of racks, some spare ribs and the fillet. First one took a couple of hours. 2nd one was a matter of minutes. Luckily my bread knife is pretty flippin sharp, and saws through rib bones beautifully.

 

Front legs I left as a full leg & shoulder joint, cos there's not much point in losing all that bone when it'll impart so much flavour when it's cooking.

 

There's now a boar broth simmering on the stove, which I'll take off tomorrow morning.

 

I just need a mincer. Food processor was a bit of a fail for mincing. There's around 5kg that I'm going to mince. Cutoffs from the bottom of the leg, just where I squared it off, some belly, some random offcuts and some other sections I relegated to the stew / mince pile

 

I really look forward to working my way through this... my freezer is now full.

 

All I need is some curing salt.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Took a helluva lot longer than I thought it would, though...

[DJR]

Took a helluva lot longer than I thought it would, though...

My dad taught me to dress a carcass and the processing was always a family affair with everyone doing his bit. That way it was much quicker. Doing it alone is hard work. I never got to be very good at it, and now usually pay a butcher to do it for me (lazy, I know).

 

A few years ago a plastic surgeon friend decided to start doing his own butchering because he was unhappy with the way the shops did his meat. He really went the whole hog with a walk in cold room, saw, mincer, sausage maker, vacuum packer, the works. His wife is a chef and she was in charge of what and how she wanted the end product to be.

 

He does a whole carcass himself, with the same attention to detail he uses every day to earn his living. The end result was meat to marvel over. Well, anyone who ever attempted to do it himself, would have admired it!

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

My dad taught me to dress a carcass and the processing was always a family affair with everyone doing his bit. That way it was much quicker. Doing it alone is hard work. I never got to be very good at it, and now usually pay a butcher to do it for me (lazy, I know).

 

A few years ago a plastic surgeon friend decided to start doing his own butchering because he was unhappy with the way the shops did his meat. He really went the whole hog with a walk in cold room, saw, mincer, sausage maker, vacuum packer, the works. His wife is a chef and she was in charge of what and how she wanted the end product to be.

 

He does a whole carcass himself, with the same attention to detail he uses every day to earn his living. The end result was meat to marvel over. Well, anyone who ever attempted to do it himself, would have admired it!

That must be an amazing sight to behold. And it's definitely something I'll pass down.

 

I can only dream of a setup like that...

 

Definitely going to have to get a mincer/sausage maker & vacuum bagger. Especially if I do it on this scale for home use.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

One thing I'm missing is the neck. Would have loved to get some meat going from there.

[DJR]

That must be an amazing sight to behold. And it's definitely something I'll pass down.

 

I can only dream of a setup like that...

 

Definitely going to have to get a mincer/sausage maker & vacuum bagger. Especially if I do it on this scale for home use.

He dug out the cellar under his house to make it bigger and then built a room specially for that purpose. Tiled white, drainage so the whole place can be hosed down, rails with hooks, like a little butchery cum operation theatre. The walk in cooler has one double glazed glass wall, so you can see what is hanging there and it is set up to keep precisely between 2 and 5 degrees. That is the best temperature for ageing meat. The more constant you can keep the temperature the better. If you do it in your fridge, try not to open it too often or for too long while the process is happening. I keep mine in the fridge for about 5 to 7 days before I freeze it, but some keep it for 10 days or more. The important thing is that your "cold chain" must remain unbroken.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

He dug out the cellar under his house to make it bigger and then built a room specially for that purpose. Tiled white, drainage so the whole place can be hosed down, rails with hooks, like a little butchery cum operation theatre. The walk in cooler has one double glazed glass wall, so you can see what is hanging there and it is set up to keep precisely between 2 and 5 degrees. That is the best temperature for ageing meat. The more constant you can keep the temperature the better. If you do it in your fridge, try not to open it too often or for too long while the process is happening. I keep mine in the fridge for about 5 to 7 days before I freeze it, but some keep it for 10 days or more. The important thing is that your "cold chain" must remain unbroken.

Awesome...

 

Must be a helluva electrical bill!

 

With your ageing - beef and red meat, I presume?

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Oh and unfortunately the fat layer wasn't really intact. I have a feeling that they were in a bit of a rush to get home, so made a bit of a hack of it. I was wondering why the fat layer was cut and just plain missing in areas, and a fast deskinning would point to that...

 

That also unfortunately means that a proper ageing isn't really possible.

 

Edit: maybe next time I should ask for it skin on so I can get a proper fat layer

Edited August 10, 2015 by Renaissance Man

[Patensie]

A few years ago a plastic surgeon friend decided to start doing his own butchering because he was unhappy with the way the shops did his meat. He really went the whole hog with a walk in cold room, saw, mincer, sausage maker, vacuum packer, the works. His wife is a chef and she was in charge of what and how she wanted the end product to be.

 

I know that surgeon: Seen him "operate" on an impala in my mom's kitchen. That buck never looked better. Unreal.

 

RM: For 5kg mincing, a Kenwood Chef with a mincer attachment works great. Mine is a 25yr old unit my mom discarded. I refuse to buy minced meat. Normally get a good hunk of beef and mince that. 2 to 3 kgs at a time.

 

A dedicated boning knife also helps a lot (says the guy that sommer uses a pairing knife to debone stuff).