Am I the only butcher who spent years trimming fat the hard way?

For about 5 years at the shop in Austin, I was cutting every steak with the fat cap still thick because I thought that's what customers wanted. Then a retired butcher from Chicago came in last month and pointed out my ribeyes had too much hard fat left on, said it chews like rubber. Anybody else have that moment where a simple tip from an old timer changed how you trim for the rest of your career?

2 comments

2 Comments

jessec3923d ago

Yeah but you're mixing up fat cap thickness with hard fat left on the ribeye cap, they're different things. The fat cap is that thick outer layer that definitely needs trimming, but the hard fat inside the eye is what makes it chewy.

rileyl9823d ago

Man, I've read this like three times and I'm still trying to figure out if you're agreeing with me or telling me I'm wrong lol. The fat cap thing always gets people heated though, I swear half the butchers I've talked to don't even agree on where to cut. Last week I bought a prime ribeye that had this rock hard chunk near the spinalis and I was so annoyed I almost brought it back to Costco. Honestly at this point I just trim the whole outer edge down to like a quarter inch and hope for the best, my smoker doesn't care about my beef drama.