Knives out!

It’s time to sharpen your scimitar.

For two days, Sacramento will be the red-blooded center of the carnivore universe. The biannual World Butchers’ Challenge (WBC) — aka the “Olympics of Meat” — is coming to Golden 1 Center on Sept. 2 and 3 for a competition like no other. Exhibiting innovation as well as speed, teams will demonstrate the art of butchery while racing the clock.

“We’ll have 16 countries competing all at the same time,” says U.S. team captain Danny Johnson, owner of Taylor’s Market in Sacramento. “It’s like 16 butcher shops on the floor of Golden 1 — and every one of them will be different. We all have our own style.”

This is meat cutting as a spectator event. In the Sept. 3 main competition, each team of six butchers has three hours and 15 minutes to break down a side of beef, a side of pork, a whole lamb, and five chickens, then create a themed retail display including a variety of specialty cuts and three kinds of gourmet sausage.

“It’s intense,” Johnson says. “This is an educational forum for us. Butchery is thriving right now. This is an excellent opportunity to see it in action.”

What better occasion to hone your own butchery skills? Johnson and Paul Carras, the team’s vice captain and also a Taylor’s Market butcher, offer their advice to help home cooks tackle meat and poultry with confidence.

Meet Our Meat Stars

As an owner and butcher, Danny Johnson has been a fixture at Taylor’s Market since 1987. He and his wife, Kathy, have been sole owners of the market since 2007 and have built Taylor’s reputation as a destination butcher shop, particularly for local lamb.

“I wanted to be a butcher all my life,” says Johnson, who grew up in Loomis and got his initial training at the (now closed) Oregon Meat Cutting School in Cottage Grove. “It’s not something I fell into.”

Captain of the U.S. WBC team since its inception in 2017, Johnson will be responsible for the contest lamb.

“It’s the hardest because it’s precise,” he says. “There’s no room for error.”

He explains that with beef or pork, the butcher can grind up mistakes into hamburger or sausage — not so with lamb.

A Sacramento native, Paul Carras began his butchery career at Taylor’s Market as a “clean-up kid” in 1996. Then when he turned 18, he finally got a knife.

“I started off slow; nothing but calf’s liver, so I could learn to cut straight,” Carras says. “There’s so much involved in being a butcher! Danny took me under his wing, and I fell in love with the art of butchery.”

Carras’ favorite cut of meat to eat? “My go-to cut: double-thick, bone-in rib eye steak,” he says. “It has tons of flavor, it’s easy to cook, and is enough for two people. It serves my wife and me easily.”

After cutting meat all day, Johnson prefers eating something super simple. “I’m a cheeseburger guy,” he says. His burger of choice: ground chuck topped with Cheddar.

Start With Sharp Knives

Butchers don’t need a lot of cutlery. But a keen edge makes all the difference.

“[Having] a dull knife is the biggest mistake there is,” Johnson says. “You have to have a sharp tool. It makes me crazy. You can tell when someone has a dull knife. Instead of a smooth cut, it’s shingled, like they were sawing instead of slicing.”

Johnson only sharpens his knives every six months, but he “steels” them often so they keep their edges. A steel is a rod-shaped metal tool that, with a few strokes against it, hones a knife blade so it stays sharp. (It’s not designed to sharpen a dull blade.)

Both Johnson and Carras use only two knives for their work: a 10-inch scimitar (or cimeter) and a six-inch, semi-flexible boning knife. The scimitar is a classic curved butcher knife that’s excellent for cutting meat and fat without it sticking to the blade. The boning knife gets into tighter spaces.

“When boning, keep your knife right on the bone as much as possible,” Carras says. “You waste less.”

A good set of blades will last decades. Polypropylene or synthetic handles help cut down on bacteria growth.

Speaking of bacteria, keep meat cold (under 41 degrees F); don’t leave it out at room temperature, Carras says. Sanitize work surfaces. Keep your hands clean.

Another critical warning, from Johnson: Never catch a falling knife. “Let it drop!”

Study Meat Anatomy

Knowing how the leg bone is connected to the hip bone can go a long way in guiding smart cuts.

Familiarize yourself with butcher charts of the animal. Each side of meat is divided into “primal cuts,” such as rib, loin, and sirloin. For beef, chuck comes from the shoulder; round comes from the hip and hind leg. The more tender cuts are in between them.

Some names are misleading. A pork butt roast actually comes from the shoulder. Sirloin tip roast is from the round, not the sirloin.

Practice On Chicken

Carras can cut a whole chicken into eight pieces in 40 seconds, but for you at home, take your time.

“Whole birds are your best value,” Johnson says. “With practice, anyone can learn to cut up a chicken. It’s all joints.”

He explains his method: “Pop off the wings. Flip the chicken over. Look for the seams and take off legs. Tilt up the bird and pop the back off. You’re left with the whole breast — and options.” Your choices are leaving it whole, cutting it in half, or boning it.

Tackle Top Sirloin

Whole beef top sirloin weighs about 16 pounds, trimmed. It can be cut into roasts, steaks, and kebabs. Boneless, it separates into two parts: the cap and the top sirloin itself.

One of the easiest large cuts to break down at home is top sirloin.

“Look for the seam at the top,” Johnson says. “Then slice right down.”

Also called the coulotte or picanha, the cap can be cut up into baseball steaks, which are center cuts of top sirloin so named for their round shape, or cubed for kebabs. Trim off the sinew; tough, fibrous tissue (also known as silver skin); and excess fat.

Next, cut off the small muscle (called the “mouse”) on top of the top sirloin; use it sliced thinly to make stroganoff or pepper steak.

The remaining top sirloin can be sliced against the grain into one-inch or 2.5-inch-thick steaks, often referred to as “American-style Chateaubriand.” Or it can be portioned into a mix of steaks and roasts.

Butchers’ Secrets

Beef chuck eye steak is one of Johnson’s favorite butcher cuts. “It breaks right off next to the prime rib; it’s the best value.”

Every butcher has favorite secret bargain cuts. According to Carras, “Lamb neck is special and very affordable. Braise it in red wine.”

For details and tickets to the World Butchers’ Challenge, visit Worldbutcherschallenge.com. 

Taylor’s Market
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