butchering 1: Familiarity with the skeletal structure is vital to good butchering. We begin with the neck...
butchering 2: To remove the neck make a square cut to the back bone just below the fold of the shoulder and neck...
butchering 3: ... and then saw off the neck. Clean all bone dust from both surfaces. Any blood meat should be removed from under the neck at this stage as this will be discoloured and deteriorate quickly if left on the neck.
butchering 4: Shoulder block removal. The shoulder blocks are removed from the main part of the carcass by opening the seam indicated by the arrow on the picture and following the shape of the blade bone
butchering 5: Gently pull away the fore leg and the seam opens allowing better access. Care should be taken not to cut into under lying muscles.
butchering 6: follow down the gap between the solid tissue...
butchering 7: The blade bone is the pale shape directly under the fingers of left hand
butchering 8: working down behind the blade bone...
butchering 9: Once completed the process is repeated on the other side of the carcass
butchering 10: the shoulders are now off (here we show where the off-side shoulder was and the small amount of muscle necessary to cut). the next task is to make an incision between the 5th and 6th rib, and saw through the sternum bone
butchering 11: Make a square cut to the backbone and then saw through the backbone keeping the saw in line with the ribs. Take care to only saw through bone and not into the under lying muscles on the opposite side of the carcass.
butchering 12: Follow the saw cut with a steak knife following the rib to remove the pair of forequarters by sawing through the sternum on the other side of the carcass.
Make sure that all bone dust is removed from both surfaces
butchering 13: slightly more detail of previous photograph. The first part of the butchering process is almost complete...
butchering 14: splitting the aitch bone. Using a steak knife cut exactly in the centre of the 2 haunches onto the pelvic bone, exert some pressure on the knife and in a young animal the aitch bones will divide through the cartilage, on older animals a saw will be needed to part the 2 haunches. Make sure that if a saw is used all bone dust is removed from both surfaces. Now the first part of the process is complete the carcass can be removed to a cutting table for the second part.