Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition at the 2013 Eat Real Festival

2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

Danny Johnson of Taylor’s Market in Sacramento along with Paul Carras and Mitch Lind defeated Dave the Butcher’s Marina Meats team and won the 2013 Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition at Oakland’s 2013 Eat Real Festival.

Before the competition, the emcee (Anya Fernald), judges and participants shared some Four Roses bourbon to get warmed up.

2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

The cow quarters were hung on meat hooks prior to the countdown to the start:

2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

Dave the Butcher, a crowd favorite, offered his commentary as he prepared some cuts.

2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

The Taylor’s Market team quietly worked together.

2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

Danny Johnson on the hacksaw:2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

Dave the Butcher cheeses for the camera.  “I’ve done this before.”

2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

A young fan inspects the cuts of beef in front of him:2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

Anya talks things over with a judge:

2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

Trimmings.2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

Rump roast:2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

Anya did an excellent job of explaining to the crowd what was happening on the butcher tables in front of them.2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

You may have noticed that the perennial winners, the Yedra Brothers, were not competing this year.  They agreed to come back as judges and let another team take the prize.

2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

Prizes.  Trophies and Four Roses Small Batch.

2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

The Yedra brothers take a look at what’s on the table:

2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

Hacksaw to the femur:2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

Miguel Yedra, judging:2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

Last year, the Yedra brothers set the precedent of labeling and garnishing the final cuts.2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

Dave explains to the judges what his team did.2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

Danny explains his side of the story.2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

Handshake at the end of competition:2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

And the announcement…2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

Team Taylor’s Market wins!    See you next year.

2013 Eat Real Festival Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

Steer Butchery Competition at Eat Real Festival 2012

The stage was in a slightly different spot on the green at Jack  London Square, but the crowd showed up just the same for Eat Real Festival’s 2012 Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition.   The competitors were familiar, but with some changes: The defending-champion Yedra brothers, formerly of Marin Sun Farms  are now working for the BN Ranch team.  Dave the Butcher, Josh Kleinsmith and Adam Tiberio all joined forces once again, and the Butcher’s Guild put together a formidable team.

 

The crowd gathers, waiting for the start of the competition.  A woman holds a sign: “Viva Los Campeones Los Hermanos Yedra”

A Butcher’s Guild team member is representing Oakland:

Trophies for the 2012 champions-to-be:

The Yedra brothers hoist a hindquarter onto the hook.  These weigh about 200lb.

A Butcher’s Guild competitor rocks the Oaklandish STAY sticker on his knife sheath / scabbard.  Yeah Oakland!

Katy Quinn starts cutting with the saw:

The Yedra brothers start getting to work as well:

At one point, a festival attendee started resting his arms on the butcher’s table and was interfering with the competition.  Katy Quinn politely asked him to give them some space:

Oscar Yedra:

Adam Tiberio:

Josh Kleinsmith:

The crowd is having a good time:

The work of the Yedra Brothers:

The Butcher’s Guild table: (Hat from Zingerman’s Cornman Farms in Dexter, Michigan)

Yedra brothers:

Dave the Butcher of Marina Meats was mic’ed up and performed the dual roles of commentator and butcher:

Dave the Butcher laughs at a comment from Anya while cutting away:

The Yedra Brothers had quite a fan club:

And they came well-prepared.  Labels and kale.

Cuts of beef, labeled and on display by the Yedra Brothers:

Impressive.

The Butcher’s Guild team celebrates after breaking down the hindquarter:

Anya Fernald hands the microphone to Oscar Yedra to talk about what his team did:

Katy Quinn enjoys a well deserved beer:

The Yedra Brothers were declared champions, once again.  This was their 4th win in a row.

Eat Real Fest 2011 Part 4 – The Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition, continued

This is Part 4 of a series of photo posts from Oakland’s Eat Real Festival, September 23-25, 2011 at Jack London Square.  (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, Part 6)

This post is a continuation of the Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition – perhaps the most exciting part of Eat Real Festival.

 

 

Dave the Butcher gets the crowd involved.

 

 

 

 

Some cuts of meat start to make their way onto the display

 

 

 

 

Jose ‘Pepe’ Penaloza cuts thin slices

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave goes hands-free

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anya and Dave hold up a cut for the excited crowd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Tomahawk cut from the Yedra brothers and Rian Rinn

 

 

 

 

Damn.  That’s a good looking spread from the Yedra brothers and Rian Rinn.

 

 

 

 

The judges (4505, in this case) were swilled with beer to help take away their judging inhibitions.

 

 

 

 

Zach’s (from Shopper’s Corner)  “Santa Cruz – Beware of Locals” sticker.

 

 

 

 

Jose ‘Pepe’ Penaloza, rocking the Butcher’s Guild t-shirt.

 

 

 

 

Anya wows the crowd with a bit of her mastery of butcher’s cuts

 

 

 

 

Zach Gero and Josh Kleinsmith work together with the bone saw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave the Butcher gets in on the bone saw action too.

 

 

 

 

Cuts of beef.

 

 

 

 

More cuts of beef from the eventual winners by a large margin Rian Rinn and the Yedra brothers.  They were judged on efficiency, accuracy of cuts, technique and teamwork.  These guys had hardly any waste.

 

 

 

 

Bone saw, needing cleaning.

 

 

 

 

Gerrit Van den Noord, Jose ‘Pepe’ Penaloza, and Adam Tibero of the Butcher’s guild still had a very impressive spread, topped with rosemary sprigs.

 

 

 

 

Adam Tiberio’s apron

 

 

 

 

Meat hook

 

 

 

 

Kidney, with basil

 

 

 

 

Another look at the Butcher’s guild team spread.

 

 

 

 

Cuts of meat, being hauled away for the lucky staff members to distribute.

 

 

 

 

 

Eat Real Fest 2011 Part 3 – The Flying Knives Steer Butchery Competition

This is Part 3 of a series of photo posts from Oakland’s Eat Real Festival, September 23-25, 2011 at Jack London Square.  (Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6)

The butchery competitions are probably the most exciting parts of Eat Real Festival (Photos from last year can be found here).  Teams of butchers compete live and on stage in front of hundreds of onlookers to break meat into retail cuts in a 45-minute window.  Then, a winner is chosen by a team of judges from local restaurants (This year’s judges included 4505 meats, Brown Sugar Kitchen, among others) for a bottle of fancy St. Georges gin and a trophy.

This year, three teams competed:

As the audience filled in, the butchers unpacked their knives, hooks, and sharpeners.

 

 

 

 

The audience awaits..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 3 hindquarters arrived on a cart, each aged for 21 days to a month.

 

 

 

 

They were loaded onto three hanging hooks, spread across the stage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trophies and gin.

 

 

 

 

Dave the Butcher, a crowd favorite, sharpens his knife before the start of competition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zach and Josh talk strategy prior to the start of competition.

 

 

 

 

Anya Fernald, MC and founder of Eat Real and The Next Iron Chef judge, introduces the butchers to the eager crowd.

 

Rian gets underway

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few minutes into the competition – knives, hooks, and pieces of meat are flying and the crowd is loving it.

 

More images to come in Part 4.