Old timer at the shop told me to chill on trimming fat and he was dead right

I've been cutting for about 4 years now and I used to be real aggressive with trimming off fat cap. I thought customers wanted lean everything. This old butcher named Ray who's been at it since the 80s told me to back off and leave at least a quarter inch on most cuts. He said fat is flavor and people cooking at home need it to keep meat from drying out. Last month I finally listened and tried it on a batch of ribeyes we had marked down because they looked too fatty. Sold out in 2 hours and got 3 people asking specifically for more of those same cuts. Now I only trim heavy on stuff like sirloin or round cuts. Has anyone else had an old timer call them out on something dumb they were doing?

3 comments

3 Comments

nguyen.blake1mo agoMost Upvoted

You ever have a buddy who swears by trimming everything down to nothing? I got a friend who runs a little BBQ pop up, and he used to do the same thing. He'd cut all the fat off his brisket before smoking it 'cause he thought it looked cleaner. This old pitmaster at a competition told him he was basically throwing away the whole point of the cut. My friend tried it his way, left a good layer on, and said the meat came out way juicier and the bark actually stuck better. He told me the guy was dead right too, and now he won't touch a brisket without at least a quarter inch of fat left on it. Funny how those old timers just know from doing it wrong themselves at some point.

wyatt1351mo ago

Man that part about "throwing away the whole point of the cut" hit home. My buddy Dave used to do the exact same thing with pork shoulder, trim all the fat cap off before smoking it. He thought it was like, the proper way to do it or whatever. Then he took a class from this old school pitmaster in Kansas City who basically yelled at him for it. The guy made him leave a thick fat layer on a pork shoulder and told him to just smoke it like that. When it came out, Dave said the fat had rendered down into the meat and made everything so moist he couldn't believe he'd been wasting all that flavor for years. Now he's the same way, won't touch a pork shoulder without at least half an inch of fat on it. Those old guys definitely learned by messing up first.

paulw531mo ago

Wait, is your buddy leaving a quarter inch or a half inch on there? I kept seeing both numbers and it had me second guessing what I usually do. But yeah, you're spot on about the old timers knowing their stuff from trial and error. I've been smoking briskets for about 8 years now and I used to trim WAY too much off too, thinking it was making the meat more "presentable." Turns out a good fat cap is like a built in basting system and you're just cheating yourself by hacking it all off. I usually leave around a third of an inch myself but I might bump it up a bit after hearing this.