Butcher

Description

The most commonly consumed foods are incomplete without meat.  Burgers, Pizza, Lasagnas, steaks and what not. Why does meat taste different in every dish? The same beef in a burger, tastes different in a sausage, but why?

The spices might be the reason for a unique flavor, but the taste of the meat depends on its cuts.  The way it has been mowed, and distributed. That’s exactly what a butcher does.

• A butcher is one of the most essential people of the food industry. The meat brought to the butcher is slaughtered, then he enables the meat to shed blood by detaching brachial arteries. He skins them, and splits them into long pieces. 
• Most butchers either run their own butcher shops, or work for slaughter houses.  In a butcher’s shop you can find all kinds of meat, and of all sorts of cuts.  And if you’re unable to find the desired one, they customize it for you in an instant. 
• Butchers are also hired by supermarkets.  With the increasing number of super markets in the UK and US, the butchers are employed for customized butchery. 
• The meat slaying involves sharp and edgy tools, so the butchers wear safety gloves and heavy aprons to prevent hurting themselves.
• Meat is extremely  prone to catch germs and transfers them to the consumers, so it’s  extremely essential for a butcher to use sterilized tools,  and stay sanitized himself in order to reduce the number of diseases in the it
• Butchers today are mostly the ones who inherited the profession. As easy as it may seem, butchery involves several inconveniences like constant flesh odor, stained clothes, and multiple injuries.

Butchers are the most essential people of the food market. The responsibilities of a butcher revolve around meat, and all kinds of tasks related to it. 

Common Duties/Routines

Butchers are trained by observing the meat slaughtering in full day shifts, where they are demonstrated the basics, the techniques and the methods of cutting and preparing meat. Usually, their training session does not last longer than a week, and no specific education or grade is required to do the job. 

Tasks:

The butchers accept meat from the suppliers and examine it. After examining the meat thoroughly they reserve the meat.

They start off with sanitizing their hands and acuminating the cutting equipment. They are later sterilized in order to maintain hygiene.

The meat is cut, chopped, minced and grinded.  However it depends on the consumers demand and preferences for the meat cut, so the butchers customize the meat for them.

The most commonly demanded meat cuts are displayed by them after being weighed on the scale, wrapped and packed in disposable ware.

Required/Trained Skills

Attentiveness: Butchers and meat cutters work with edgy tools in a rapid pace that requires a lot of focus and concentration. Inattentiveness can result in severe injuries such as slicing one’s own hand and fingers.

Stamina: Meat cutters work all day long standing  on their feet, so it requires enough stamina. The butchers should also be prepared to bear wounds, as it’s a major part of the job.

Customer Care: The butchers working at the retail stores should be good at sales, maintain a humble behavior, and should be able to work/advise the customer according to their need.

Health and strength: The meat cutting equipment is heavy weight and requires a lot of physical strength to lift them in an instant. Another factor that requires physical strength is that the butchers have to carry meat boxes that weight up to 50 lbs.

Inventory management: The butcher needs to have good inventory management skills to prevent lack of supply, and to maintain good customer relations.

Environment: The environment that butchers work in is commonly cold, chilled rooms where the meat is stowed.

Risk of casualties and sickness: Butchers are prone to casualties and illnesses since the slaughtering objects are extremely sharp, and this is why they’re advised to take maximum precautionary measures such as cut resistant gloves and aprons.

Atmosphere: The atmosphere in which the butchers work can be unpleasant at first, having the sight of bloodshed and flesh, and the constant aroma of either of them (or all at once). Nevertheless, the atmosphere does not affect them once they’re immune to it.

Income: Butchers make about $13.50 an hour on the average, and work in full shifts. They often work on weekdays, weekends and late evenings starting early.

Career growth: Since there’s no specific education or certification for the butchers, there’s minimal to no growth in their entire career span. The farthest a butcher can go is work in the meatinspection department, that too when they’ve been working for a long time period.

Future of the butchers: Most butchers work for departmental stores and supermarkets. Some of them begin with their own start-ups and continue with their profession after they have gained enough experience. The butchers are also hired by restaurants and hotels, and they can later work as chefs too (depending upon the skills).

The field, however, consumes a lot of time and effort, and once you’ve invested yourself completely in it, it becomes difficult switching to some other profession. Since it’s only meat related, you can only opt for careers related to food and meat in particular.

Skillset ⁴

Skillset

HARD SKILLS

• Animal anatomy knowledge
• Food conservation skills
• Meat storage knowledge
• Meat types knowledge