The Butcher

[van]

yeah, good luck.  How about going out on your own?

[PaleoPhil]

It's interesting that German reporters are interested in you. Do you have any idea why it would turn out to be Germans vs. others? I know Germany has a long history of interest in special diets like vegetarianism and natural living. I wonder if it might be more than just coincidence.

[sabertooth]

It's interesting that German reporters are interested in you. Do you have any idea why it would turn out to be Germans vs. others? I know Germany has a long history of interest in special diets like vegetarianism and natural living. I wonder if it might be more than just coincidence.

Well Phil, its a convoluted story. The network RTL is under constant pressure to produce interesting story's that have an edge, and there are some characters within the network who want to push the limits of what they are allowed to show. They did a report on vampires a while back, and the higher ups tried to censor the drinking of human blood on camera.

So when the producer saw my bloody teeth in the vice article, she got the idea that animal blood would be acceptable, and since a Raw meat eater story has yet to be covered, they decided to go with it.

[cherimoya_kid]

Good luck getting the new job, Saber. 

[ys]

I just got delivery of 220lb fore and hind quarters from Amish farms.  I paid $3.6/lb.

I think it was a little too young.  Not a lot of fat.  Unfortunately I have no space to hang it long term so I have to freeze it.  I took out as much as I can fit in my fridge to dry and the rest will go into freezer.

It took me about 1h - 1.25h to chop it up like this.  I'm getting a little faster every time.  The hardest part is memorizing location and position of the joints.

[sabertooth]

I participated in the butchering of 1200 birds, 50 hogs, 50 sheep, and 30 cows in three days. The butcher is back in business

This is where I need to be for sure. The plant is USDA inspected and I've spent the last two days with the inspector learning how to trim out the animals before putting them into the cooler. She has 20 years experience, is very meticulous and skilled at what she does. She has seen it all and now she is training me on what to look for as markers of health in the animals.

She doesn't know about my diet at all and when I was trimming out a lamb she ask me if I ever tried any. "Sure I like lamb" I said.

 Then she said to me and I quote
"I have even eaten it Raw".

If that isn't a sign from above.......................

[ys]

What do they do with organs?

USDA butcher let me take only liver, kidney, heart, and tongue.   And he put his stupid stamp on liver and heart, i had to cut stamped area out.
Did not allow me to take anything else, no lungs, no spleen, no head, nothing else.

[Inger]

Oh man ST.... priceless...! Please tell us, if you have time, what are the markers of health in an animal to look after! We have lambs too, slaughter them our self (my brothers do it) and chickens and I really have not much knowledge about these things.

I sometimes find weird stuff in the raw beef fat I eat... like some cysts? I wonder if they are not good to eat. I think I ate one tiny piece of something in my fat yesterday that tasted a bit weird.

[Haai]

I sometimes find weird stuff in the raw beef fat I eat... like some cysts? I wonder if they are not good to eat. I think I ate one tiny piece of something in my fat yesterday that tasted a bit weird.

I also sometimes see these cyst-like things in my beef fat. I am also not sure what they are. However, I noticed that in lamb legs there is always one in the same place every time, surrounded by fat. So I guess that particular one is not an abnormality. Maybe it is a gland of some sort, or a lymph node, I really don't know.

[ys]

I also think they are lymph nodes.

[LePatron7]

I've seen the same thing in my beef fat. It's red, and circular. I always thought it was an artery or something. The ducks in my area love the stuff. When I have parts of the beef fat I don't want I throw it out to them.

[sabertooth]

What do they do with organs?

USDA butcher let me take only liver, kidney, heart, and tongue.   And he put his stupid stamp on liver and heart, i had to cut stamped area out.
Did not allow me to take anything else, no lungs, no spleen, no head, nothing else.

They keep the liver, tongue kidney, and hearts, and throw everything else out into the scrap barrels, to be rendered into dog food, cosmetics, ect.

The nodules embedded in the fat are lymph nodes, at least that's what the inspector told me they were.

[sabertooth]

New question?

I went into the whole foods today and one of the managers recognized me from the article and told me how they would soon have an opening for a meat cutter. The whole store knows who I am, having been a regular for some time I have made friends with some of the people there. It would be a good work environment, and they offer meat cutters 14 dollars an hour.

I am only making 9 where I am at now, and would only be likely to get up to 11 per hour for the first year. The work is also extremely demanding and physically hard labor for relatively low pay.

The problem is I would like to learn more at the plant before moving on. I have the opportunity to become an expert slaughterer, inspector, and meat cutter where I am at now, but If I stay,  I may miss out on the opportunity to make a living wage at a much better job.

Should I stay or should I go? 

[TylerDurden]

Go, money is everything, sadly.

[jessica]

I worked for whole foods for 5 years.  You do make good money, but the corporate shenanigans that go on behind the scenes were pretty intense and way too much for me to handle.

It really depends on who you work with though.  A lot of people really make working at WF their whole lives, many relationships and high school hierarchical type antics, but your store and department may be a little different then that.  You make the most profit share in the meat department, you could easily make more then $14 an hour, plus they offer some really good health bene's that you may be able to use for things like massage. 

I don't know, I'd stay with the local guys and just work up to a better paying job and forgo having to delve into the anus of big corperations.

[Projectile Vomit]

...and forgo having to delve into the anus of big corperations.

I love that statement. I think that's worthy of becoming a T-shirt... Sorry to sidetrack the thread.

[cherimoya_kid]

You can always work a side job for extra money, Saber.  If you like the people you are working with, and you are getting valuable work experience, I'd stay there.

[jessica]

Opps yeah, I forgot to add that I really think you should stay where you can get the best education.  That way, if things were to pan out and you had your own farm, perhaps you could also do the butchering yourself.  Just think of the experience as added value.  The only thing you will learn at WFM is customer service, how to negotiate the corporate sphere, and truly how easy it is to become complacent when you think you are being well compensated.   

[sabertooth]

I don't know, I'd stay with the local guys and just work up to a better paying job and forgo having to delve into the anus of big corporations.

I just delved into the anus of 2000 chickens and 100 turkeys, using an ass vac to detach the rectum. A valuable experience indeed.

There is so much to consider when making this decision.

I have this desire to learn everything about the meat business, so that one day I may be able to run my own business, supplying the skyrocketing demand for paleo quality food.

I desperately need a higher paying job right now, so I am tempted to take the job at whole foods, and put away my dreams for more money today.
Though I can see how the corporate work environment can be a trap that will prevent me from personal growth. Not to mention with all those troublesome Whole foods Girls around I might get caught up in some kind of drama.

I can stay where I am at and do some side work on my own, but then I will have very little personal time or freedom?

Damn this is a tough decision.

[van]

My guess is that you're a hard worker, that you deliver on what they pay you and more.  Have you thought about simply asking for what you want where you're at?    Chances are your boss couldn't replace you or the level of work that you offer them.

[jessica]

I just delved into the anus of 2000 chickens and 100 turkeys, using an ass vac to detach the rectum. A valuable experience indeed.

haha, all in one day? those butt sucking machines must really make the process go quickly.  do you use one of those defeathering machines as well?  it took about 6 hours to clean 6 chickens and two turkeys by dunking them in hot water and then defeathering by hand as well as cleaning by hand.  we also collected a ton of the feathers for use for some native American ceremonial garb so it was kind of more tedious.

do you think that you might just take some time to make the decision?  i would be hesitant to jump right into the whole foods thing, like i said, the wage is just what makes you complacent with not really educating yourself of becoming self sustaining.  always know that there will be many more opportunities, just think of all the change you have experienced recently!  saying yes or no is never a permanent finalization on opportunities.

[cherimoya_kid]

Saber, could you work part-time at Whole Foods, just to make a little extra cash?  You could always go full-time later.

[Iguana]

it took about 6 hours to clean 6 chickens and two turkeys by dunking them in hot water and then defeathering by hand as well as cleaning by hand. 

To eat them raw, we don't do it that way : we skin them off and the feathers come out along with the skin.

[jessica]

To eat them raw, we don't do it that way : we skin them off and the feathers come out along with the skin.

unfortunately my work and life aren't exactly congruent.  but I do get free raw organs.

[goodsamaritan]

Check out this chicken plucking machine.

The Chicken Plucker Machine