Artisan butchers are different.
They work on a relatively small scale and stay on top of the latest trends in food.
But it's techniques and ideals that set Artisan butchers apart from the rest.
They use traditional methods to make sure none of the animal is wasted. It's all about nose-to-tail eating. And a socially conscious approach to their craft.
As well as a deep understanding of meat.. quality... and source.
In short, they transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. Producing cuts of meat that are hard to find in butcher shops and impossible to find in supermarkets.
And they're open to new ideas... because every country has a different way to butcher meat. It's a case of different cultures, different cuts. And the trend in America – and the UK – is to rediscover these old European cuts and make use of them.
Butchers and Meat Cutters
You'll find butchers at work in butchers shops and sometimes in supermarkets. But meat cutters work in a cutting plant.
A meat cutter is more of a production line worker.
Most cutting plants hire people, then teach them how to perform one or two cutting skills.
So, they're highly skilled, but only in one area. Maybe they just remove Sirloins or Rumps, but they don't really cut anything else. In essence, they work on an “assembly line”, complete with all modern techniques and equipment.
The emphasis is on productivity and high volume targets.
They handle huge quantities of meat quickly and efficiently. To give you an idea, some American cutting plants process more than 20,000 pigs a day.
The managers in a meat cutting plant understand efficiency, yield and waste. It's not, by any means, Artisan – but it's certainly a high level of skill, and probably more than most modern butchers.
Because most butchers today buy pre-trimmed cuts in vacuum packs – and that doesn't take much skill.
Mostly just slicing – or trimming off some steak for you.