Every whole domestic animal guide on the site, in one place. Six of them so far, all free, all written out step by step.
These are the long days. A quarter of beef will take you three to five hours the first time, and that is not a warning, just the honest number. It is also the best argument I know for learning seam butchery, because once you can follow a seam you stop sawing through things that were never meant to be sawn.
The Guides
- How to Butcher a Cow — fabricating a side or a quarter, and the most foundational of these skills.
- How to Butcher a Pig — the whole hog, and the animal where the least is wasted.
- How to Butcher a Whole Lamb — the most approachable large animal, and a good first whole carcass.
- How to Butcher a Whole Bison — the one large animal that punishes butchers for treating it like beef.
- Beef and Veal: What Actually Separates Them — same animal, which is the part most people do not realize.
- How to Butcher a Chicken — the single most valuable foundational skill here, and the cheapest to practise.
Where to Start
Chicken, without question. It costs almost nothing, it takes minutes rather than hours, and every move you learn on it — finding a joint, working a seam, keeping the blade against bone — is the same move you will make on an animal forty times its size.
After that, lamb. It is the smallest of the true carcass jobs, one person can handle it, and it teaches you the shape of the work before you commit a weekend to a side of beef.
Before You Start a Whole Carcass
Space and cold are the real constraints. Not skill. You need somewhere to hang or lay out the animal, somewhere cold to put the parts as they come off, and more of both than you think.
Time is most of what you are paying for. When a butcher does this for you, the hours are the bill. Doing it yourself is worth it for the cuts you cannot buy and the trim you would otherwise never see.
A dull knife is the dangerous one. It slips, and it makes you push. Sharpen more often than feels necessary.
The Other Guides
Once It Is Broken Down
Butchery gets you the cuts. Cooking them well is the other half, and sauce is where most home cooks gain the most ground fastest.
- The Five Mother Sauces: A Home Cook's Guide
- Soup and Chowder Recipes
- Cooking Tips and Culinary Insight
Who Is Writing This
I am Chef Alan. I have spent 35 years in professional kitchens, I have formal culinary education in New Hampshire, and I have been honored as a 6-Time 4-Diamond Chef. More about me here.
If a guide is missing something you needed, or a step did not make sense, tell me. Get in touch and I will fix it.
Cook Bolder, Serve Wiser, Eat Better.