Butcher. Specifically, production supervisor of a USDA cut and wrap facility. We do slaughter, curing and smoking as well as sausage making.

This is why there needs to be more information about the differences between butchers and meat cutters. Meat cutters (which I was for almost 7 years) open boxes and cut mostly pre-trimmed, subprimals into roasts and steaks. They mostly work with pre-ground products for burger and only the little bit of trim they produce from steaks and roasts is truly ground fresh in store. (I’m only commenting on things in the USA by the way, other countries can be very different.) These hardworking guys and gals make up the vast majority of what people mean when they say “butchers”. While the amount of knowledge they may have varies on the individual, they just don’t work with the same products or produce the same materials. Butchers (which I am now) on the other hand, work with primals, whole carcasses and even the living animals. Because they work at the beginning of the process, they often have access to all of the animal (in cases of plants where slaughtering is also done) or at least more bones, fat, offal and specialty cuts (like hanger steak ect.) then a meat cutter would. Often shops focused on retail direct to customers, do not have butchers, but meat cutters. If you are looking for fat (or anything else your local meat cutter can’t get for you) look for a USDA inspected butcher. Call and see if they can put some aside for you or even ask them which of their customers sell it. Especially, with smaller plants who do a lot of butchering for people that buy whole, 1/2, or 1/4 animals, there is usually a surplus of “by-products” like fat.

Jonathon live and work in central Michigan. We are a small startup USDA plant, but I’ve been in the industry almost 10 years. Everyone has convincing arguments about which team to join… Lol

Professional deer processor, full time whole animal butcher in central Michigan. About 8 years experience in the meat industry. Sausage and jerky making hobby.

I have done my share of cleaning cubers professionally. They can be a pain. The most important thing you can do is to clean it right away. Second, soak it. Use something with a degreasser or protein remover. Dawn dish soap will work well (use the original blue formula). Use a fair amount without water and let it sit 30 minutes or so. Then spray it with water and let it soak in the saop and hot water another 30 minutes. If possible use a hose with a little pressure, if you don’t have one on your sink, use a garden hose. You can scrub it with a brush at this point. Rinse and sanitize. As a side note for the slicer, make sure you don’t let it saok where someone may reach in not knowing the sharp blades are in there. They are difficult to clean, but this is the best way I’ve found.

Do you know what breed the hog was? Some breeds are known as lard breeds. They are bred more for the use of the lard rather then the meat. While processing these types of hogs, their fat is extremely greasy even in cool temps and does even begin to render at room temperature. I haven’t personally cured or tried to smoke any meat from lard hogs, but would not be surprised if this was your issue. Try and find out the breed and do a little research on it.

mars Eckkehard the German butcher in YouTube 👍🏻 has a video on it

Any suggestions on smoking fresh pork hocks? Brine or dry rub?

lamurscrappy thank you

Yes. Even small/medium size processors will use these long tubes. Generally, a vacuum stuffer portions the meat into the long tubes and either the bags are clipped manually or automatically, depending on the equipment used. Essentially, the suffer feeds directly to the clipper machine which clips and cuts the tube.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Looking for ideas on what brat flavors to offer for deer season. I would only like to offer 3 to 4 flavors maximum, including a traditional bratwurst. What blends pair well with venison?

Grimpuppy ok?

armyguy bearded-butcher-blend-seasoning. The Bearded Butchers have a YouTube video where they make snack sticks using their seasoning.

slowmoe We use dehydrated pineapple in the brats I make at work.

ND Mike Awesome! Thank you

Jonathon live and work in central Michigan. We are a small startup USDA plant, but I’ve been in the industry almost 10 years. Everyone has convincing arguments about which team to join… Lol

Surg haven’t pulled the trigger yet. I was going to go with the camp chef, but I’m concerned about winter. I’m in Michigan and smoke year round so I want to get something heavy with double wall insulation. At this point, I’m likely going to end up with a Traeger. The Ironwood or Timberline both offer good protection from the wind/cold

wdaly I have the Davy crockett. It’s small, but I smoke on it a lot. For big batches, I just use the smoker at work lol.