This experience-actually not a farm at all, but a meat processing plant-is the last one in our 2019 sabbatical. After working with many livestock operations, Quality Cut Meats provided a valuable opportunity to experience additional aspects of meat production. The focus was on processing of animals, how to follow state and federal regulations, and retail marketing through a butcher shop. We were very fortunate to be connected to the owner, Jennifer, and her crew that shared their business practices and accumulated knowledge.
The Business
Quality Cut Meats (QCM) was started by Jennifer and her father in 2006. After a 15-year career cooking in restaurants, she became a ‘Master Meat Crafter’ after completing a program at the University of Wisconsin. She found the meat processing facility to be a great combination of food, people, and community. While the business is focused on slaughter and butchery, it also has a retail shop to sell its own products direct to customers. The business employs about 10 full-time workers and production runs Monday through Saturday.
The facility handles cows, pigs, sheep, buffalo, poultry, deer, and sometimes other specialty meats. The business is certified through the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). State or federal (USDA) certification allows Quality Cut Meats to provide animals and cuts of meat that can be sold to stores, restaurants, and other retail outlets. One certification is required for beef/pork/lamb and another separate one for poultry. Quality Cut Meats has both certifications, allowing customers with diversified animal farms to bring all their animals to one location.
Wisconsin is similar to most other states in having relatively few certified meat processors. This means that many farms must travel long distances to have their meat processed. This complicates work schedules and increases costs for meat producers. For example, one QCM customer, Door Karma Farms, drives 300 miles roundtrip to deliver their animals and another 300 to pick-up the finished products.
Not only are long distances an issue, but also the availability of time slots for farm animals to be slaughtered. This can be a problem for farmers who need the products on a specific day for restaurant or market sales. It also results in meat processors prioritizing farms with larger numbers of livestock. It doesn’t make financial sense to pay employees to set everything up and clean it all for a couple cows, when you could do the same for many more. Meat processing is definitely a bottleneck in the system that gets food to the store shelves.
On the good side for this business, it means they are usually as busy as they want to be. It has resulted in two expansions of the space since starting in 2006. Most larger meat processors end up running crews nearly 24 hours a day, stopping only for the mandated cleaning and sanitizing. QCM is a relatively small processor and, so far, hasn’t gone that route.
Quality Cut Meats processes both conventional and Certified Organic meats. Legally, everything must be cleaned and sanitized when switching from conventional to Organic processing to avoid cross-contamination. When they have Organic animals, they are always the first to be slaughtered and processed each day. That way, a full cleaning is not required since there is no danger that the Organic meat will contaminate the conventional meat. The whole production line is cleaned and sanitized at the end of each day, so they are ready for processing right away in the morning.
The Slaughter
Large animals (cows, pigs, sheep, etc.) are usually delivered to Quality Cut Meats the night before they are processed. The facility provides pens and water for the animals overnight. Poultry must be delivered by 6:45am on processing day, as they cannot be legally kept at the facility in poultry crates overnight.
The processing begins early and requires attention and skill from all the workers involved. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is required. This means rubber boots and coveralls that can be washed and sanitized, cut-proof protective gloves, and hardhats. Great attention to sanitation of clothing, tools, and surfaces is required. Adherence to all legal protocols regarding animal welfare and food safety is mandatory.
State meat inspectors are on-site for all slaughtering to assure that each step of the process meets all these standards. They also check the lymph nodes and organs of the animal for any signs of damage or disease that could result in human health concerns. It’s sort of a strange dance of state and private employees working together on slaughter day. Despite the fact that the inspector can require culling any animal, stopping to clean everything, or even shut down the facility the relationship seems mostly collegial from what I observed.
Large animals are first rendered unconscious using a ‘captive bolt gun’, according to humane slaughter regulations. Then, the animal is moved onto the kill floor. The animal is suspended above the kill floor on a hook and pulley system along the ceiling. All the working space must be kept cold to prevent pathogen development on the meat. First, the animal is bled by slitting the throat. In the next step the hooves, skin, and head are removed. The spinal cord and lymph nodes must be checked by the meat inspector at this time.
After that, the inside of the body cavity is exposed so the ‘guts’ (organs, fat, etc.) can be removed. Customers can choose which (if any) organs are kept. The heart and liver are reserved for review by the inspector. Once the animal has been eviscerated it is cut in half lengthwise along the spine. A spray of hot water is then used to keep the surface of the animal clean before it is moved into a walk-in cooler to age. A final review from the inspector is required before it can be moved into the cooler.
In the interest of efficient time use, the next animal is brought in as the first is being cleaned and moved into the cooler. This keeps a constant workflow that minimizes down time and maximizes the capabilities of paid labor. Once all of the animals have been moved into the cooler, sanitizing the workspace begins. All of the surfaces and tools are cleaned with very hot water and sanitized to kill pathogens. This, like almost everything gets written down on a checklist each day to satisfy state record keeping requirements.
All of the waste is moved outside to large dumpsters that are picked up by Sanimax, a large waste management company. This includes the hooves, intestines, some bones, any meat or fat that gets trimmed off at the inspector’s request. Sanimax uses this waste in the production of fats, oils, and pet food ingredients not for human consumption.
Poultry processing takes place on a separate production line and on different days. A full crew can process about 800 chickens each day. Poultry processing rules have changed recently because of increased concern about foodborne illness from poultry. Currently, the entire poultry line must be stopped and sanitized every hour. This takes about 10 minutes; reducing the actual work completed in a 10 hour workday by 1.5 hours.
The poultry-usually chickens-are placed upside-down into kill cones and killed using a knife that gives an electric charge. After bleeding out, they are scalded to loosen the feathers before being mechanically plucked. Once plucking is complete, the chicken is hung on a slowly rotating production line. From here, the carcass can be eviscerated, inspected, and cleaned. At the end of the line the birds are chilled and moved into the cooler.
The Butchery
The cooler keeps all the animals chilled to temps between 32-40F. Some meats like beef (10-14 days) lamb (7-14 days) and pork (7 days) are hung in the cooler. This process helps to tenderize the meat resulting in more depth of flavor. However, the carcass is also drying out and losing water weight, which means potentially losing pounds of sellable product. Customers have the option to request shorter or longer hanging times.
Beef
Each half steer is cut into fore and hind quarter pieces between the 7th and 8th vertebrae and above the 5th rib. These are the ‘primals’ or the major pieces of the animal. They are further cut into ‘sub-primals’ using a combination of hacksaw and electric Sawzall. From there, cuts and roasts are produced using a bandsaw and finer work is done by hand with very sharp boning knives to get the specific steaks each customer requests.
Customer preferences are based on the retail markets they have for their meat and can vary widely from one customer to the next. The requests are made by filling in answers on one-page form that the employees refer back to regularly. Another choice QCM customers must make is whether they want their meat wrapped in butcher paper or vacuum packed. Although vac-packing takes longer and requires investment in an expensive vacuum sealing machine, it is still becoming more common and many retail customers prefer it.
One day we were working with steers that were more than 30 months old (usually they are in the 15-18 month range). This is more common in the winter, as well as with grass-fed animals. At this age the spinal cord of the animal can’t be severed during processing. This means that NY strip steaks and Filet Mignons are taken, instead of Porterhouse or T-bone steaks, both of which include some spine. In addition to steaks and roasts, ground beef is available and can even be formed into burger patties for an additional cost.
To do all the necessary cutting, the knives are sharpened with an industrial electric stone at the beginning of the day, and then only a sharpening steel is used while actually cutting in order to save time. Learning where to cut and how to follow the natural contours of the meat is an important butchery skill. Every time you hit bone or tendon the knife is dulled. The more you do this the more sharpening is required and the less time you are spending cutting meat.
Pork
Overall, the pork processing is similar to beef, though the weight of the carcass is significantly less. One major difference is that many Quality Cut Meats customers get their pork trim (small bits of meat, fat, etc.) turned into sausage rather than just ground meat. The addition of some seasoning to the mix of fat and meat is a simple and effective way to make use of more of the animal. In order for QCM to make a profit, it is necessary to maximize the value of all the available products, not just the prime cuts.
I was surprised to see how much seemingly good muscle (i.e. meat) ends up in the grind/stew-meat pile. Sometimes pieces that could sell for more money individually even. It all depends on the customer’s needs. If they can’t sell roasts, there’s no need for roasts, and that will all end up as stew meat or ground meat. Overall, the processing of the meat seems like a lot of labor. Most days, there were 4 workers cutting and de-boning, 1 vac-packing and 2 making burger patties/sausage and packaging them.
After being a part of this, it is no mystery why meat costs more than many other groceries.
Deer
It was the tail end of deer hunting season when I was at QCM and they were processing lots of deer. Deer processing is an additional service that made for an even busier work schedule than usual. I learned that on a skinned, gutted deer first the hooves are removed, then the hind and foreleg on sides is removed (cut around the hip joint like a chicken leg), then the fat layer is removed in order to get the backstrap and tenderloin steaks, the two most prized cuts on the deer. The roasts come from the butt and the steaks from the thigh (inside) both off of the hind legs. They also made venison jerky.
Poultry
The majority of customers wanted their poultry as whole birds. Cutting up and vac-packing is definitely an option, but only appropriate for certain markets. That process is the same we experienced in Virginia last month and is described in the previous blog entry from Free Union Grass Farm.
The Butcher Shop
The retail shop is not the focus of this business, however it does provide an important way to engage with customers and show off the available products. Most of the meat that is processed at Quality Cut Meats goes back to the customer (farmer) who brought it in. QCM must purchase animals from a farmer in order to provide products for the butcher shop.
They have a large smoker that makes lots of tasty things for the storefront. I got to eat some cheddar and jalapeno snack sticks straight out of the smoker! Delicious.
Heading Home
Thank you all for following along with us through our many adventures this year. The experience has given us so much knowledge and experience on a variety of farms. It has been a lot of work and a lot of fun. We're are all feeling very ready to return to our home and re-establish our routines and our lives in Portland.
Much Love,
Chris and Leah + Juniper
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