Do you know your Thor’s hammer from your tomahawk? Or your picanha from your flat iron?
They’re just some of the cuts today’s butchers have to know to keep up with the demands of social media-informed consumers.
As social media butchers and television programs such as Master Chef and My Kitchen Rules fuel meat curiosity, customers are demanding more creative cuts.
Thor’s hammer is known for its excellent marbling that is cooked slow and on low. (Supplied: Third Wave BBQ)
One cut doing the rounds is Thor’s hammer — a slow-cooked beef shin on the bone that’s typically either smoked or barbecued.
When cut sideways into veal steaks, the hammer meat is known a osso bucco. For best results, slow cooking is recommended.
Some of the newer cuts have come from meat-loving countries in South America.
Picanha is a prized staple in Brazilian churrasquerias, or steakhouses.
It’s cut from the top of the rump and is fall-apart tender as the fat layer on top and marbling within moistens the meat during barbecuing.
A bonus is it’s also relatively inexpensive.
The flat iron steak is another cut seeing a surge in popularity. It’s one your grandparents would know as top blade or chuck eye.
It’s versatile and good for the time-poor, best pan-seared and served as is, or thinly sliced as a filling for tacos or steak fajitas.
A tomahawk steak is a favourite cut for the big meat eaters. (Supplied)
The tomahawk, or battle axe, is essentially a rib eye with a difference. An extra-long 12 centimetres of rib bone is left on, which is French trimmed to give a clean finish.
It also weighs in as a serious cut, with one piece anywhere from 650 grams to 1.3 kilograms.
Without the handle, it’s known as the cowboy steak.
Making cuts of meat into ‘something eye-catching’
World champion butcher Brett Laws gets creative with his products. (Supplied: Brett Laws)
Sydney butcher Brett Laws has a strong social media following.
He turns his trade into an art, competing in international events that are the meat equivalent of the Olympics, where presentation is everything.
His creations are spectacular, like his take on a topside roast, inspired by a roll of sushi.
“The average person doesn’t buy topside roast anymore, so we were trying to invent something for the cut, something eye-catching,” he said.
Sushi-inspired topside roast made by world-champion Sydney butcher Brett Laws. (Supplied: Brett Laws)
The sushi-inspired roast proved popular in the Sydney butcher shop, and retailed for about $30.
His love-inspired love heart pork chop was a winner on Valentine’s Day or a stuffed lamb saddle for a special occasion … there’s a cut of meat for every occasion.
A stuffed lamb saddle, produced by Brett Laws. (Supplied: Brett Laws)
“Creativity in butchery competitions is a massive thing,” Mr Laws said.
“We’ve got a customer base that likes the creative cuts. They come in from Thursday to Sunday and they ask for these special things.”
Thinking about declaring your love with a stuffed pork cutlet? (Supplied: Brett Laws)
Social media has ‘changed’ how butchers get ideas
Brandon Kelly is a third-year apprentice in Tasmania. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)
Apprentice butcher Brandon Kelly is always chatting to customers.
And just like his customers, he keeps an eye on the latest butchery and cooking trends online.
“The internet’s your best friend and helps with cooking times and different things you may want to try,” he said.
“Just a bit of research and learning, and you know what you’re doing pretty easily.”
Industry veteran and butchering teacher Darren Scott said butchers needed to be creative.
“Social media has really changed the way the butchers get their ideas,” he said.
He encourages new recruits to keep up to date.
“Most of these apprentices would follow both Instagram and Facebook for various butchers across, not only Australia, but the world,” Mr Scott said.
Thor’s hammer is named for its impressive size and shape. (Supplied: Third Wave BBQ)
Trending meat cuts
Third-year apprentices Amy Pulford and Courtney Byrne were at TasTafe’s Hobart campus for a butchery course.
Customers are requesting more information about their meat. (Supplied: MLA)
“They [customers] want to know if it’s local, grass-fed, that sort of thing, they want certain brands,” Ms Pulford said.
“Most customers want a variety. They don’t want the same old same old every night.”
Female butchers carving out careers
About 20 per cent of the butchery trade these days are female and, according to the industry, that number is growing.
“It’s a very male-dominated industry but, you know, females are here to take over the world, I reckon,” Ms Pulford said.
“I love butchery. I enjoy it [and] can’t see myself doing anything else.”
She loves the creativity of it and at her Longford butchery in northern Tasmania receives requests for all kinds of cuts.
Amy Pulford and Courtney Bayne were in Hobart for three weeks of butchery lessons. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)
Courtney Byrne drifted into the butchering industry when her brother dropped out of an apprenticeship in Hobart.
“I like the different cuts, and working out the different ways to do them,” she said.
One of Courtney Byrne’s favourite cuts is beef Wellington, which uses the end of the eye fillet. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)
