Do butchers get to save the best parts for themselves?

I’m sure there really are some crooked butchers out there who will save best parts for themselves or give preferred customers the best meat and give you back something else. But those should be very few.They won’t stay in business long if they do business that way.

Some will, most will sell the good cuts and take home the cuts that don’t sell well. They are not supposed to.

It would make more sense for them to keep the cheap parts that are still great, but that people do not know about.

I figure self employed butchers are like farmers who only eat the fruit and veggies that are spotted. They sell the good stuff.

It’s surely in their power, but why would they? If I were the butcher and could sell the “best parts” for a lot of cash, why keep it for myself? I would rather make the profit and eat a slightly poorer piece of stake, than give a way a chunk of money.

The other point is that “best” is not a well defined term. If I a making pot roast or chicken salad, then the definition of “best” is much different.

It really wouldn’t be good business sense if one eats up all of their product.

If they did, they wouldn’t stay in business very long. The stuff they keep for themselves will be the stuff that doesn’t sell so well, or what’s reaching the end of its shelf-life.

Keeping the best for themselves? Unlikely. Keeping the best for preferred customers? Very likely, at least in my experience. It pays to befriend your butcher :P

Most of the butchers in the country are employed by chain supermarkets, in which case I would assume they are getting first choice as to what to buy for themselves. In fact it took me a few moments to even remember the name of a single neighborhood butcher shop in this town since I’m so accustomed to Costco.

@stanleybmanly Most supermarkets employ meat cutters not butchers. A meat cutter starts with an already dead animal usually cut into quarters or halves. A butcher starts with a live animal. Small difference to most people, but a big difference to butchers.

@WestRiverrat Thanks for the distinction. This being the case, I’m at a loss for even a single “butcher shop ” in this entire town. I just grabbed a phone book, and found one listing under the heading of “butcher”. I’ll be in the neighborhood tomorrow and will swing by to have a look. I suppose the few places I can think of that deal with meat exclusively are “meat markets.” While it’s obvious that all of that bacon & hamburger is being slaughtered somewhere, it’s easy for city folk to forget about a profession that once was as common to neighborhoods as that of baker. So butcher is relegated to the same urban status as “candlestick maker”. The classic joke: The teacher asks the first grade class: “Now children, can anyone tell me where sausage comes from?” An eager hand shoots up and the teacher says “Yes Gwendolyn?” Gwen beams, stands up and announces “Safeway”.