Butchery and Sausage–Making For Dummies

Learn to:

Shop for the best quality meat Develop knife skills and techniques Butcher whole animals and produce professional cuts Make your own delicious sausages

Expert tips and instructions to help you butcher your own meat and make homemade sausages!

Whether you′re interested in supporting local farms and butchering whole animals or purchasing large cuts of meat from the grocery store, Butchery & Sausage–Making For Dummies is for you. We show you how to make delectable and usable cuts for poultry, rabbit, beef, pork, lamb, and goat. With easy–to–follow instructions and illustrations, Butchery & Sausage–Making For Dummies offers helpful tips and guidance for home cooks and beginner butchers. We′ve also got great tips and recipes for making homemade sausages, plus curing and smoking techniques. Butchery & Sausage–Making For Dummies is an invaluable resource for those interested in getting back–to–basics with their meat.

Go shopping find out what kind of meat is available and what is right for you Sharpen your knives learn useful knife skills and figure out which tools you need to get started Learn the cuts explore traditional and specialty cuts, and how to substitute cuts in recipes Butcher like a pro use our expert tips and step–by–step instructions to butcher poultry, rabbit, beef, pork, lamb, and goat Get cooking try out our recipes for making delicious sausages from scratch

Open the book and find:

The benefits of butchering your own meat Suggested preparations for a variety of cuts The best tools for the job How to cure meat What to do with leftover trim and fat How to make precise cuts Tips for processing and smoking meat Ten sausage–making secrets

Introduction 1

Part I: Time to Meet Your Meat! 7

Chapter 1: The Butchery Room 9

Chapter 2: Meat Is Meat, Right? Wrong! 21

Chapter 3: Cuts and Terminology: The Basics of Butchery 33

Chapter 4: Basic Knife Skills, Tools, and Techniques 45

Part II: Poultry, Rabbit, and Lamb Butchery 61

Chapter 5: Duck, Duck, Goose, Chickens: Starting with Poultry 63

Chapter 6: What s Up, Doc? Rascally Rabbits! 85

Chapter 7: Baaaaack to Basics: Lamb and Goat Butchery 99

Part III: Pork Butchery 121

Chapter 8: Porky Pig: Understanding the Beast 123

Chapter 9: Pork: Cutting It Up 133

Chapter 10: Moving into Pork Subprimals 151

Part IV: Beef Butchery 173

Chapter 11: What s Your Beef? Understanding the Cuts 175

Chapter 12: Beef: The Forequarter 185

Chapter 13: Beef: The Hindquarter 221

Part V: Sausage–Making and Using the Whole Animal 245

Chapter 14: Setting Yourself Up for Sausage 247

Chapter 15: Sausage–Making Techniques 257

Chapter 16: Scrumptious Sausage Recipes 273

Chapter 17: Processing Techniques: The Good Kind 299

Part VI: The Part of Tens 313

Chapter 18: Top Ten Mistakes to Avoid When Butchering 315

Chapter 19: Top Ten Grilling Cuts 321

Chapter 20: Ten Sssshhhhausage–Making Secrets 327

Index 333

Tia Harrison is co–founder of The Butcher′s Guild, executive chef and co–owner of Sociale Restaurant, and co–owner of Avedano′s Meats, a neighborhood butcher shop that focuses on whole animal butchery. Tia is passionate about food, education, and reviving the dying art of butchering by hand in addition to supporting small farms and sustainable food systems.