Meat Cutter
A meat cutter is a professional who prepares meat, fish, and poultry for consumption, performing tasks from initial butchering to retail display. This occupation is divided into two main categories: those who work in industrial meat processing plants and those known as butchers, who operate in retail environments. Meat cutters in processing facilities handle the initial preparation of slaughtered animals, ensuring quality and safety, while butchers focus on trimming and displaying meats for sale to consumers.
The work environment for meat cutters often involves temperature-controlled settings such as refrigerated processing plants or butcher shops, where they utilize various tools and machinery, which can be potentially hazardous. Entry-level positions generally do not require formal education beyond high school, and on-the-job training is common. Despite the crucial role meat cutters play in the food industry, the profession is experiencing a decline in job availability, attributed to changing consumer preferences for pre-packaged meat products. Overall, a career as a meat cutter attracts individuals interested in food processing, culinary arts, and hands-on work, providing essential services in the food supply chain.
Subject Terms
Meat Cutter
Snapshot
Career Cluster(s): Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources, Human Services
Interests: Food processing, culinary arts, working with your hands
Earnings (Yearly Median): $37,650 per year $18.10 per hour
Employment & Outlook: -2% (Decline)
Entry-Level Education No formal educational credential
Related Work Experience None
On-the-job-Training Long-term on-the-job training
Overview
Sphere of Work. Meat cutters prepare meat, fish, and poultry for consumption. Some meat cutters perform initial butchering on recently slaughtered animals, while others trim commercially prepared meat sections into smaller pieces for retail display and consumer purchase. Retail meat cutters are traditionally known as butchers. In addition to the receipt and storage of meat, fish, and poultry products, meat cutters are responsible for inspecting food items to ensure quality and freshness. While industrial meat-cutting jobs are often conducted in processing plants away from consumer environments, butchers often interact with customers directly and must be knowledgeable about meat quality, residential storage requirements, and recipes.
Work Environment. Meat cutters work primarily in temperature-controlled food-processing plants. A large amount of initial meat-cutting work is conducted in refrigerated environments to ensure food freshness. Industrial-grade meat processing requires an extensive array of machinery and equipment, including meat saws, grinders, mixers, and slicers, that can be potentially dangerous. Butchers and retail food preparers also use a variety of potentially dangerous tools and equipment, such as bone saws, cutlery, and professional-grade meat slicers.
Occupation Interest. Meat cutting and industrial-grade food preparation attract workers from a wide variety of backgrounds and career interests. While entry-level positions are primarily filled by unskilled laborers, specialty meat-cutting positions and management roles are often filled by those with a professional background in food processing, culinary arts, small-business management, or commercial food distribution.
A Day in the Life—Duties and Responsibilities. The responsibilities of meat cutters can be divided into three major functions: initial processing, preparation for shipment, and retail preparation. Meat cutters and industrial food preparers are also responsible for a variety of safety and anti-contamination measures throughout this process.
Initial meat processing involves preparing animal carcasses for further processing. This work is traditionally completed in slaughterhouses or food-processing centers. These workers must inspect food products for defects and prepare them for shipping to locations where they will be further processed.
Once the meat has been prepared for shipment, it is received by secondary processors, such as wholesalers and food companies, who further break down the specimens into salable items and food products. This involves cutting the meat into still-smaller salable portions, canning fish, meats, and poultry, and adding ingredients to prepared food items containing the meat.
Retail and display preparation of meat items falls under the responsibility of butchers. These meat cutters receive large portions of meat, fish, and poultry and trim them for retail sale. Meat cutters and butchers at this end of the processing spectrum grind meats for use in cooking; marinate meats, poultry, and fish; add various ingredients, such as stuffing and wraps; and place food products in decorative displays for promotional purposes.
Meat Butchers (316.681-010). Meat Butchers cut, trim, bone, tie, and grind meats to portion and prepare meat in cooking form.
Chicken & Fish Butchers (316.684-010). Chicken & Fish Butchers butcher and clean fowl, fish, and shellfish preparatory to cooking. Where poultry cutting is increasingly done by machines, they are responsible for tasks, such as deboning breast meat, that are too difficult for machines to perform with precision.
Deli Cutters-Slicers (316.684-014). Deli Cutters-Slicers cut delicatessen meats and cheeses with slicing machines and knives.
Meat Inspectors (316.684-018). Meat Inspectors inspect and grade meats for wholesale and retail businesses.
Work Environment
Immediate Physical Environment. Meat cutters work in food-processing locations, such as kitchens, walk-in refrigerators, and various sanitary environments.
Plant Environment. Meat cutters involved in initial meat processing generally work in either slaughterhouse facilities or industrial food-processing facilities.
Human Environment. Many meat cutters work either on their own, preparing cuts at their own pace, or as part of smaller teams of processors who work in concert with one another. In either case, meat cutters must have strong attention to detail, good problem-solving skills, and a knack for dependability, cooperation, and self-control.
Technological Environment. Meat cutting and animal processing require an array of technologies and equipment, including knives, grinders, slicers, and conveyor belts. If a meat cutter is also a small business owner, they may need to be proficient in accounting and scheduling software.
Education, Training, and Advancement
High School/Secondary. Meat cutters traditionally learn the trade through apprenticeships or on-the-job training. Entry-level positions in meat processing do not usually require more education than a high school diploma or GED certification. Exposure to culinary and industrial arts programs in high school can lay some groundwork for a career in food processing. Chemistry and biology courses can provide elementary information regarding food-borne pathogens.
Postsecondary. Postsecondary education is not required for most meat-cutting professions. However, coursework in business management, culinary arts, or hospitality management may help those seeking managerial positions within the meat-processing industry.
Experts prediced a decline in the number of meat cutter jobs from 2023 to 2024. This was mainly due to consumers' preference for pre-made and pre-packaged meat products.
Bibliography
"Butchers." Occupational Outlook Handbook. Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor, 17 Apr. 2024, www.bls.gov/ooh/production/butchers-and-meat-cutters.htm. Accessed 22 Aug. 2024.
"Butchers and Meat Cutters." My Next Move, 2024, www.mynextmove.org/profile/summary/51-3021.00. Accessed 22 Aug. 2024.
Sarmiento, Rhealyn. "8 Essential Meat Processing Plant Devices and Equipment." Foodsafe Drains, 20 Sept. 2023, blog.foodsafedrains.com/meat-processing-plant-equipment. Accessed 22 Aug. 2024.