Learning Programme
Pork Breakdown
- Shoulder separation into boston butt and picnic, individual muscle removal for different applications, skin removal for chicharrones.
- Loin processing: tenderloin extraction, chop cutting with consistent thickness, belly removal and squaring for bacon or pancetta.
- Leg breakdown: ham removal, individual muscle separation, trotter preparation for stock.
Beef Breakdown
- Hanging and aging: wet versus dry aging, temperature and humidity control, trim loss percentages, crust removal techniques.
- Primal separation: removing chuck, rib, loin, round, and identifying lesser-known cuts like teres major and tri-tip.
- Fabricating steaks: consistent thickness, grain direction identification, fat cap trimming decisions.
Lamb and Offal
Lamb primal breakdown, frenching racks, tunnel-boning legs for stuffing, liver soaking methods, kidney preparation, sweetbread cleaning, and heart trimming for even cooking.
Utilisation and Stock
Brown stock from roasted bones, white stock techniques, collagen extraction for reduced sauces, fat rendering for cooking, and terrine construction from trim pieces.
Breaking down whole animals is increasingly rare in commercial kitchens, but it saves money and reduces waste significantly. This programme covers beef, pork, and lamb breakdown using seam butchery—following natural muscle separations rather than sawing through bone.
We start with pork because the primals are clearest. You will separate shoulder from loin, remove tenderloins, and break down legs into individual muscles. The shoulder alone contains at least seven distinct muscles with different cooking applications. Some need low-and-slow braising; others work for quick, hot cooking.
Beef breakdown addresses hanging methods and their impact on tenderness, dry-aging basics for crust development and flavour concentration, and how to separate chuck into flat iron steaks, denver steaks, and braising cuts. You will learn why ribeye cap commands premium prices and how to remove it intact.
Offal work includes liver preparation to remove bitterness, kidney trimming, heart butterflying for grilling, and tongue peeling after cooking. We also cover stock production from bones, rendering fat for cooking applications, and making terrines from trim.