Customer said I was trimming fat too close to the muscle - took me a minute to see he was right

Had this older guy at the counter Saturday, been coming to our shop for years. He pointed at a pork loin I just trimmed and said 'you're chasing the silver skin too deep, you're leaving less meat than you should.' I got defensive at first but then he showed me his hand. 30 years as a slaughterhouse foreman. I tried his way on the next loin and I'll be damned if I didn't get an extra 3 portions out of it. Any of you guys ever get schooled by a customer on something you thought you had down?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamie_white1mo ago

Used to think I had trimming down to a science, but that kind of real-world feedback changes your whole approach (and saves a lot of meat, apparently). It's humbling, but I'd rather learn from a customer than keep wasting product.

charles_kelly431mo ago

Kinda wild how fast that 3 portions adds up.

kelly_west741mo ago

Read some old meat cutting manual from the 70s that said the same thing. Guess the old school methods really do work better sometimes.