I’m a big fan of seam butchery. When you seam you follow the naturally defined divide between muscles. You end up with drastically different cuts of meat from what we’re all used to seeing from our purveyors and grocery store butcher. Seam butchery gives you the opportunity to find the best method and technique for each muscle versus finding a common ground for a group of different crosscut muscles. This allows the chef to maximize the texture, taste, and flavor potential of each cut to its peak. 

This is a koji cured Adductor muscle, commonly called the Inside Round, from some Ohio wildgame venison. It was cured for 4 days in 3% salt with 0.25% cure #1 and 1.5% Bell’s Poultry Seasoning. It was then koji cultured for 2 days and hung for 9 days when it achieved a 30% weight loss. This muscle is a prime example of seam butchery.

I’m really happy with how this turned out. Allie, Kenny, and I smashed a bunch with some fermented pickles while doing some work in the kitchen. This is the perfect satiating brain food.