In Episodes 40 and 41, Brandon does Hollywood!
In this two-part series, Brandon talks of his experiences competing against three other highly-skilled butchers on the History Channel’s premiere episode of its new show The Butcher. Hear Brandon describe the three different rounds of the competition: 1) splitting a pig using an old-school hog splitter, quartering it, and then butchering to a list; 2) cutting steaks, and eye-balling them to weight without a scale, and 3) in the final round of the show, “Meat the Monster”, butchering a mystery “beast” to maximize its retail value. Learn what it was like behind the scenes, the unexpected challenges the contestants faced, and how personal butchery preferences, philosophies, and practice (in addition to experience and skill) affected the outcome of the competition.
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Part 1 Show Notes:
- Brandon travels to L.A. to compete in The History Channel’s The Butcher, 3:19
- Pork shares now on sale!, 5:48
- Our Family Pig classes – Come join us!, 7:29
- Videos, podcasts, and Patreon, 15:48
- “To Kill a Pig Nicely”, 19:09
- Demo videos coming to YouTube!, 22:20
- Brandon’s experience competing in The History Channel’s The Butcher, 27:27
- Troubles with the bandsaws, 42:08
Part 2 Show Notes:
- “Off-shoot discussions” from the first competition
- The Golden Mean: how it applies to butchery, 1:02
- Why Brandon doesn’t stuff chops, 6:26
- Brandon’s recommendations for sausage stuffers, 8:40
- The second competition – “The Eye-Baller” (portioning), 12:56
- The third competition – “Meat the Monster” (butchering an alligator), 31:21
- Highlights from Brandon’s trip to California, 34:16
- New content and upgrades in Farmstead Meatsmith Membership, 42:15
- “Code of the Slaughterman”, 51:44
Links for Episode 40:
- The Ruby Brink (bar, butcher and kitchen), Vashon, WA: https://www.therubybrink.com/
- The History Channel’s The Butcher – Episode 1: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7943gg
- Burton Hill Farm (goat cheese, whey-fed pork, goat milk soap), Vashon, WA: https://www.burtonhillfarm.com/
- Andrew Plotsky – Farmrun (agrarian creative studio): http://farmrun.com/
- Stitchdown (flower farm and floristry): https://www.stitchdownfarm.com/
- BelaFazenda (cheese farm), Bofete, Brazil: https://www.belafazenda.com/
- Grassfed Homestead: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc2ka-aGChwIiX0mEXzfmoA
- Joel Salatin: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=joel+salatin
- Anatomy of Thrift videos: https://farmsteadmeatsmith.com/films/
Links for Episode 41:
- The History Channel’s The Butcher – Episode 1: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7943gg
- Brandon’s sausage stuffer recommendations:
- FDick (Cadillac of manual stuffers): https://www.dick.de/en/
- Sausage Maker: sausagemaker.com
- Legacy Jujitsu, Burbank, CA: http://legacybjj.com/
- Daniel Scepurek’s links:
- Maynard Davies books: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=maynard+davies&ref=nb_sb_noss_1