Victor Churchill: Basic Beef Butchery Class, Woollahra (10 June 2011)

132 Queen Street, Woollahra NSW 2025

http://www.victorchurchill.com.au

Butchering made easy

Thanks to Victor Churchill butchery for inviting me to attend their Basic Beef Butchery Class ($325 per person) which went for about 3 hours. The small and unsurprisingly all male class was led by Butcher Dave Ellis and Chef Laurent assisted. Dave taught where the popular cuts came from in a middle carcass including sirloin, fillet, rump, t-bone and ribs. We were shown how to prepare our own OP Rib which was worth $42.99 per kg. My Grass Fed Rib Eye Rack was worth $127.94 in the end which was quite a generous take home parcel. It was quite an entertaining and well-paced class and at the end we enjoyed some perfectly cooked meats with a glass of wine. It was quite a long time to be standing so I thought it would have been nice if the class ended with a sit down to relax at a table to enjoy the cooked meats with perhaps some roasted vegetables or salad. I'm not sure if I'd actually use my butchery skills again because I'm a bit of a lazy cook but it's certainly given me a insight into how much wastage there is when preparing dry age meat and hence why it costs more too. Chef Laurent did a great job in cooking the meat which was so tender and flavoursome. Definitely some of the best tasting meat I've ever had although I wish I could cook it at home just as good.

Other visits to Victor Churchill:

• 10 June 2011 - Basic Beef Butchery Class

• 12 Sept 2009 - Checking out the butchery

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: You'll learn how to break down the middle carcass into various popular cuts, Sampling some grass fed rib eye at the end of the class, Includes a Grass Fed Rib Eye Rack to take home

CONS: Clothes smelt like meat when I got home after the class, Be sure to eat before the class or you might go hungry like I did, Quite pricey so you'd want to be passionate about learning to cut up a carcass

MUST TRY: Remembering you can have your own private dinner party at Victor Churchill

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Apron included

A few safety tips about the very sharp knifes before the class — if you drop your knife don't try and grab it

Class in the shop

It's a little freaky when a little girl stares inquisitively through the window in the middle of a butchery class

Cutting up the carcass

Final cuts of meat (left to right)

1. Whole Rump

2. Trim that can only be used as dice or mince

3. Eye fillet steak

4. Sirloin steak

5. The Chateaubriand and tail portion of the Eye fillet

6. Striploin (sirloin)

There's a fair amount of wastage when preparing a dry aged cut of meat

OP Ribs for class

Butcher knifes, string and cutting boards

Class about to prepare their OP Rib

Bones trimmed — off cuts could be minced or used in a casserole

Can cut into four ribs

Can string tie as a rack

Younger animal on left than right when there's more visible blood in the bone area — meat would be more tender too I believe

My Grass Fed Rib Eye Rack was worth $127.94

Chef Laurent cooking come tasty samples

Grass Fed Rib Eye

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Sirloin

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Drying room

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