Talked to a old timer at the farmers market and he changed how I cut pork shoulder

I was breaking down a case of pork shoulders last Saturday and this guy in his 70s watched me for a minute, then said I was leaving too much silver skin on. He showed me his trick of angling the knife flatter and taking off just the thin layer, not digging into the meat. Has anyone else had a random stranger give you a tip that actually stuck?

2 comments

2 Comments

paulschmidt28d ago

Last Saturday at the meat counter I was trimming a brisket and this lady maybe 80 years old taps me on the shoulder and says I was manhandling the fat cap like I was mad at it. She showed me to just let the knife glide along the grain, not fight it. Felt kinda dumb but now I do it every time and my flats come out way better. Guess us young guys need all the help we can get.

the_henry28d ago

My buddy runs a food truck and had a similar thing happen with an old fisherman at the docks. He was filleting some redfish and this guy just comes up, tells him he's cutting against the grain wrong. Said he was making the meat all stringy and tough. Showed him to follow the lines in the meat, not fight them. My buddy was embarrassed but now he cuts every fish that way and says it's way better. Old people just know stuff we don't.