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I've long wanted to learn butchery. I wouldn't want to do it for a living, but it seems a good way to become familiar with how we're all put together (by takin

by abruzzi 12y ago

I've long wanted to learn butchery. I wouldn't want to do it for a living, but it seems a good way to become familiar with how we're all put together (by taking an animal apart.)

ovi256 12y ago
I would recommend you start by butchering to pieces a whole chicken or rabbit. They're the closest you can easily get to an unbutchered animal, as they're available at most butcheries, supermarkets, etc. They would already be cleaned of feathers or pelt and emptied of viscera, so it would be a simple exercise of cutting into pieces, separating meat from bones, and so on - literal hacking. If someone who knows how to do it cannot show you, there are Youtube guides.
- semi-extrinsic 12y ago
  Speaking from personal experience: start with a chicken, but the first couple of times, do it completely without instruction/youtube/etc. Then look up proper technique, and 1) you are less likely to misinterpret advice, 2) you are more likely to disregard bad advice.
- dpeck 12y ago
  Agreed, and specifically I remember finding an Alton Brown Good Eats segment where he compares the chicken anatomy to a little two legged dinosaur model that most everyone saw in childhood while butchering. Easy way to visualize and "sticks" with you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ9OLPC-dkE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ9OLPC-dkE
- gus_massa 12y ago
  You can do part of this exercise while eating a roast chicken. For example, while you are eating a wing, count how many bones each part have and compare it with a (picture of a) human skeleton. Repeat this with a chicken leg and thigh. (Remember to count that thin bone as another bone.)
  - grogenaut 12y ago
    better yet, try and seperate the parts naturally and with minimal cutting / effort. Roast chickens can be picked apart pretty easily if you go at it right; you can also just smash through the bones with a knife. Try the former.
venomsnake 12y ago
Be my guest. This is a good start. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku5p1CcGn70 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku5p1CcGn70
- batbomb 12y ago
  Was just about to post this. Jacques is the man; If you learn this, everyone you know will be infinitely inpressed.

by abruzzi 12y ago

I've long wanted to learn butchery. I wouldn't want to do it for a living, but it seems a good way to become familiar with how we're all put together (by taking an animal apart.)

ovi256 12y ago

I would recommend you start by butchering to pieces a whole chicken or rabbit. They're the closest you can easily get to an unbutchered animal, as they're available at most butcheries, supermarkets, etc. They would already be cleaned of feathers or pelt and emptied of viscera, so it would be a simple exercise of cutting into pieces, separating meat from bones, and so on - literal hacking. If someone who knows how to do it cannot show you, there are Youtube guides.

semi-extrinsic 12y ago
Speaking from personal experience: start with a chicken, but the first couple of times, do it completely without instruction/youtube/etc. Then look up proper technique, and 1) you are less likely to misinterpret advice, 2) you are more likely to disregard bad advice.
dpeck 12y ago
Agreed, and specifically I remember finding an Alton Brown Good Eats segment where he compares the chicken anatomy to a little two legged dinosaur model that most everyone saw in childhood while butchering. Easy way to visualize and "sticks" with you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ9OLPC-dkE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ9OLPC-dkE
gus_massa 12y ago
You can do part of this exercise while eating a roast chicken. For example, while you are eating a wing, count how many bones each part have and compare it with a (picture of a) human skeleton. Repeat this with a chicken leg and thigh. (Remember to count that thin bone as another bone.)
- grogenaut 12y ago
  better yet, try and seperate the parts naturally and with minimal cutting / effort. Roast chickens can be picked apart pretty easily if you go at it right; you can also just smash through the bones with a knife. Try the former.

venomsnake 12y ago

Be my guest. This is a good start. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku5p1CcGn70 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku5p1CcGn70

batbomb 12y ago
Was just about to post this. Jacques is the man; If you learn this, everyone you know will be infinitely inpressed.