This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(April 2020) |
The Butcher | |
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Genre | Reality |
Presented by | Colby Donaldson |
Judges | David Budworth Roxanne Spruance Michael Sullivan |
Composers | Erik Blicker, Glenn Schloss |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 6 |
Production | |
Running time | 42 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | History |
Release | May 22 – June 26, 2019 |
The Butcher is an American competition reality series that airs on the History channel. In each episode, four butchers compete in a three-round elimination contest to test their butchering skills, with the overall winner receiving $10,000 and the day's championship title. The series is hosted by Colby Donaldson, with a three-judge panel consisting of David Budworth, Roxanne Spruance, and Michael Sullivan, experts in the practice of butchering. The series premiered on May 22, 2019, with a six-episode first season. The series shares a similar format to its sister-show Forged in Fire .
The set, referred to as "The Shop," consists of a large workroom equipped with a range of hand and power tools for preparing meat, including saws, slicers, grinders, sausage stuffers, and one bandsaw that must be shared among the contestants. A large refrigerated walk-in meat locker adjoins the Shop. Each butcher is provided with his/her own workstation and a presentation table for laying out finished cuts, and must bring his/her own knives and scabbards.
In the first round of a typical episode, the four butchers are each presented with a whole animal carcass, suspended from overhead hooks in the meat locker. They have a set amount of time to accomplish two tasks: First, they must break the carcass down into large primal cuts without taking it down from the hooks. Once each primal cut is removed, they must bring it out of the locker (or have stagehands bring it out if it is too heavy or unwieldy to move alone) and prepare as many retail-quality cuts as possible using their own knives and/or any other equipment in the Shop. In certain episodes, the butchers must follow additional restrictions on tools to be used during one or both portions of the round. Once time runs out, the judges inspect each butcher's cuts and reject any that are of inferior quality. The one who has produced the fewest acceptable cuts is eliminated. The series does not reference whether the contestants are given a list of retail cuts that are acceptable, but in each episode, one particular cut is highlighted, and any cuts that do not qualify as that cut are rejected even if they might be acceptable as a different type. [note 1]
For the second round, the three remaining butchers are each given a supply of meat and must prepare a set number of items that meet a specific weight/size/thickness target. They must estimate the desired measurement of their items by eye and feel without the use of any measuring instruments. One judge measures each item but does not tell the exact result to the butcher, only stating whether it is over, under, or on target. Off-target items are rejected and/or returned to the butcher for further trimming, depending on the rules of the particular episode, [note 2] while on-target items must pass a quality inspection. The first two butchers to produce the required number of on-target, acceptable-quality items will advance.
In the third round, the two remaining butchers are each presented with the carcass of an exotic animal. They are given a set length of time to skin the carcass (if presented with skin still on) and prepare as many salable meat products/cuts as possible, including sausages and ground meat if they choose. As in the first round, the judges inspect the butchers' cuts and reject any that are of poor quality; in addition, they may choose to cook and taste selected cuts as a further criterion. Dollar values are assigned to the acceptable cuts based on weight, quality, and creativity; the butcher who generates the higher total value from his/her carcass wins the day's championship and the $10,000 prize.
In the first round of one episode, each butcher was presented with five birds: a squab, pheasant, chicken, duck, and turkey. They were required to debone and eviscerate the birds, remove the duck liver in as intact a condition as possible, and then stuff one bird into the next in order by size. The result was described as a modern version of a rôti sans pareil ("roast without equal") or a more intricate version of a turducken. The butchers were judged on the quality of their final product and the condition of the duck liver.
For the third round of a different episode, the butchers were each given three small carcasses instead of a single large one - a python, iguana, and nutria - and had to skin and prepare cuts from all of them within the time limit.
Colby Donaldson became a household name as the popular runner-up on the second season of Survivor in 2001. He has since hosted History show competition shows Top Shot and the spinoff Top Guns .
David Budworth and Michael Sullivan are professional butchers and are presented as experts in the butchering industry. Budworth has worked at various chef and butcher positions for many years before starting his own company producing meat products. Sullivan has been butchering for over 30 years and currently runs a shop in San Francisco. He also teaches butchering classes.
Roxanne Spruance is a professional chef in New York City, having received a number of critical accolades. She has a Bachelor of Science in environmental biology/zoology and another in fisheries and wildlife. Her expertise in butchery is not as a professional butcher, but as an avid outdoorswoman; specifically hunting, and butchering/preparing the animals she hunts, as well as her experience preparing meat as a chef. Her education also contributes to her knowledge of animal biology.
The series shoots in California. Each round of competition is shot on a separate day. According to one contestant, the series provides top-of-the-line and safe equipment for the contestants. [1]
An on-screen announcement at the start of each episode states that all meat used in the competition is donated to animal rescue shelters afterward.
Episode | Airdate | Title | Challenges | Results | |||||
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1st round | 2nd round | 3rd round | 1st place | 2nd place | 3rd place | 4th place | |||
1 | May 22, 2019 | "Meat the Monster" | Pig using hogsplitter | Steaks by weight | Alligator | Dan | Brianna | Brandon | Joey |
2 | May 29, 2019 | "The Invader" | Beef without power saws | Bacon by weight, slicing one order by machine and the others by hand | Python, nutria & iguana | Matt | Tyler | Chris | Tiffany |
3 | Jun 5, 2019 | "A Poultry Sum" | Bison with tomahawks | Sausages by length | Ostrich | Sean Kelly | Johnny Escobedo | Randy Radley | Penny Barend |
4 | Jun 12, 2019 | "Opah" | Roast without equal | Hamburger patties by weight | Opah | James | Alan | McCullough Kelly-Willis | Chris |
5 | Jun 19, 2019 | "Raising the Steaks" | Axis deer with flint knife | Steaks by thickness | Wild boar | Chris | Seth | Cindy | Armand |
6 | Jun 26, 2019 | "The Beast" | Lamb with kopis | Beef stew meat, pork chops, chuck roast (all by weight) | Elk | Tim | Eagle | Jules | Lothar |
A beefsteak, often called just steak, is a flat cut of beef with parallel faces, usually cut perpendicular to the muscle fibers. In common restaurant service a single serving has a raw mass ranging from 120 to 600 grams. Beef steaks are usually grilled, pan-fried, or broiled. The more tender cuts from the loin and rib are cooked quickly, using dry heat, and served whole. Less tender cuts from the chuck or round are cooked with moist heat or are mechanically tenderized.
The T-bone and porterhouse are steaks of beef cut from the short loin. Both steaks include a T-shaped lumbar vertebra with sections of abdominal internal oblique muscle on each side. Porterhouse steaks are cut from the rear end of the short loin and thus include more tenderloin steak, along with a large strip steak. T-bone steaks are cut closer to the front, and contain a smaller section of tenderloin. The smaller portion of a T-bone, when sold alone, is known as a filet mignon, especially if cut from the small forward end of the tenderloin.
In the United States, FFA competitions are judging contests organized by the U.S. National FFA Organization, in which High School students compete based on their knowledge of a particular subject, usually for their school teams. The contests are organized by FFA advisors and local experts. The competitions determine which team and individuals have the best aptitude for evaluating a particular animal or item as compared to an "official". The official placings and answers are set by an expert in the discipline. Officials are often from agricultural universities or USDA employees.
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments. A butcher may be employed by supermarkets, grocery stores, butcher shops and fish markets, slaughter houses, or may be self-employed.
Skirt steak is the US name for a cut of beef steak from the plate. It is long, flat, and prized for its flavor rather than tenderness. It is distinct from hanger steak (US), called skirt or onglet in Britain, a generally similar adjacent cut also from the plate.
Pork ribs are a cut of pork popular in Western and Asian cuisines. The ribcage of a domestic pig, meat and bones together, is cut into usable pieces, prepared by smoking, grilling, or baking – usually with a sauce, often barbecue – and then served.
A hanger steak (US), also known as butcher's steak, hanging tenderloin, skirt (UK), or onglet, is a cut of beef steak prized for its flavor and tenderness. This cut is taken from the plate, which is the upper belly of the animal. In the past it was among several cuts of beef sometimes known as "butcher's steak", because butchers would often keep it for themselves rather than offer it for sale. This is because the general populace believed this to be a crude cut of meat, although it is actually one of the most flavoursome.
The loins, or lumbus, are the sides between the lower ribs and pelvis, and the lower part of the back. The term is used to describe the anatomy of humans and quadrupeds, such as horses, pigs, or cattle. The anatomical reference also applies to particular cuts of meat, including tenderloin or sirloin steak.
Marbled meat is meat, especially red meat, that contains various amounts of intramuscular fat, giving it an appearance similar to marble.
During butchering, beef is first divided into primal cuts, pieces of meat initially separated from the carcass. These are basic sections from which steaks and other subdivisions are cut. Since the animal's legs and neck muscles do the most work, they are the toughest; the meat becomes more tender as distance from hoof and horn increases.
Short ribs are a cut of beef taken from the brisket, chuck, plate, or rib areas of beef cattle. They consist of a short portion of the rib bone and the surrounding meat, which varies in thickness. There are two major types of cuts: the "flanken", which is cut across the bone and leaves the bone just 1 to 2 inches or less in length, and the "English", which is cut parallel to the bone and leaves the bone up to 6 inches (15 cm) in length. English cut short ribs may be served individually, or three or four may be served connected to one another. Short ribs are popular in many international cuisines.
A rib steak is a beefsteak sliced from the rib primal of a beef animal, with rib bone attached. In the United States, the term rib eye steak is used for a rib steak with the bone removed; however, in some areas, and outside the US, the terms are often used interchangeably. The "rib eye" or "ribeye" was originally, the central portion of the rib steak, without the bone, resembling an eye. The rib steak can also be prepared as a tomahawk steak which requires the butcher to leave the rib bone intact, french trim the bone and leave it at least five inches long. The tomahawk steak resembles the Native American tomahawk axe from which it gets its name.
Flap steak, or flap meat is a beef steak cut from the obliquus internus abdominis muscle of the bottom sirloin. It is generally very thin, fibrous and chewy, but flavorful, and often confused with both skirt steak and hanger steak.
A primal cut or cut of meat is a piece of meat initially separated from the carcass of an animal during butchering. Examples of primals include the round, loin, rib, and chuck for beef or the ham, loin, Boston butt, and picnic for pork.
Meat on the bone or bone-in meat is meat that is sold with some or all of the bones included in the cut or portion, i.e. meat that has not been filleted. The phrase "on the bone" can also be applied to specific types of meat, most commonly ham on the bone, and to fish. Meat or fish on the bone may be cooked and served with the bones still included or the bones may be removed at some stage in the preparation.
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