How to Butcher Striploin (file under always something new)

So I’ve learned how to butcher striploin now. When they come in the way about twenty to thirty pounds each one. Of course it was a bit crazy learning how to butcher one as it was not something I had ever done before. The steps are easy enough but you require a delicate hand and a good feel for the cut that is in front of you.

The steps to cutting a strip are as follows;

1) Remove the bag by cutting on the fat side of the strip so that you do not damage the meat. No problem if you damage the fat a bit but strip is expensive and you don’t want to hurt the meat. Nothing worse than making a dead cow cry.

2) Remove excess moisture by patting the strip dry.

3) Place the strip with the fat side down. Trim off excess fat paying careful attention not to rip the chain. (The chain is a piece of meat that runs along the back side underneath some fat. It is especially tender and moist and tastes awesome.)

4) Flip strip to put the fat side up. Trim the line of fat opposite to the chain.

5) Trim off any other excess fat.

6) Portion.

Sounds easy enough right. Sure the steps are relatively easy but it requires a great attention to detail. Good feel. Good sight and a sure hand. I got nineteen portions out of the first strip that I cut. I was making them into eight ounce portions. The first portion that you cut is your indicator of the relative size that you will be portioning. Of the nineteen I cut I was able to get twelve bang on. Four were off by less that half an ounce. Two were off by more than an ounce and one was way off. But that became Head Chef’s dinner so it worked out pretty good.

Robert Heinlein once said; “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.”

I’m so close to being a human. How about you? Dream big and inspired.

A la prochaine

SDM