The Meat Hook Meat Book: Buy, Butcher, And Cook Your Way To Better Meat

Good book. I am a fan of their videos and I wanted to buy the book to support what they do. I work with meat, butchering and cooking so I didn’t think the book would have any big revelations for me but I was pleasantly surprised. There are some fun recipes and some insights into the operation of their butcher shop and it is all quite interesting and enjoyable to read.

Having relished Tom Mylan’s no-bulls*** writing about food and his irreverent skewering of foodie culture since the days of his Grocery Guy blog, I was really glad to see this book come out. And he hasn’t changed much. From the get-go, with the f-bombs dropped in the Foreword, this book lets you know that it is a brash, personal take on how we could make our food better, one piece of meat at a time. And for all the blood, sweat, and tears that he and his crew have put into this effort, learning how to butcher, opening a meat shop in Brooklyn on a shoestring, he’s clearly had a blast. Now, with this book, you can consider yourself invited to the party.While the writing on every page is a treat to read (if you consider being taken for a joyride by work-crazed and alcohol-sodden butchers a “treat), I don’t think there’s another book out there that packs in so much practical information: what to look for in a healthy, happy animal and its carcass, how to cut it up, how to cook many of the different cuts. You can even learn how to cook a steak sous-vide in a Crock Pot.But this is far from being a manual, a simple cookbook, or an earnest treatise on what’s wrong with our food system. It’s a very personal story of how one guy found his calling thinking about how we could produce better meat, at every step along the way, and turned that commitment into a small business that helps ensure a living for some of those people who are trying to do things right.Which is not to say that the book is perfect and gets everything right. I have a few bones that I’d like to pick with him (preferably over a bottle of bourbon). Making mashed potatoes with an immersion blender instead of a ricer (199) is a terrible idea, unless you enjoy eating wallpaper paste. He calls for cooking a turkey breast to 170ºF (190). That’s 5 degrees more than the USDA recommends – and they want you to cook the s*** out of your meat (because they don’t keep the s*** out of it in the first place). But, hey, if you enjoy eating chalk, go ahead. The sausage section is skimpy, with only 3 recipes (one of which calls for a one-ounce package of ranch dressing seasoning), and their sausage-making technique is not that great. Finally, they celebrate guzzling down gallons of ice cold, cheap, commercial beer. This seems to run counter to everything else that they’re championing about meat and food in general: support small, local producers who are taking the time and going to the trouble of making really good s***.Hopefully he’ll make enough money from this book that he’ll be able to slow down a little and enjoy decent beer or a good cocktail instead of chasing a Jäger bomb with an Irish Car Bomb. I love what he’s doing with the Meat Hook store and with this book, and I have no fear of it turning him into some hipster, foodie douchebag, so I wish him all the success in the world.

everything I expected and more!

Husband loves this (by request).

I've been looking to learn how to butcher my own meats at home to save money for a while now. Heard about this book on one of my favorite food blogs and after previewing the first 10 or so pages I ordered it right away. I'd never heard of The Meat Hook or Tom Mylan before, but they seem extremely passionate and knowledgeable. Would love to visit their shop in Brooklyn some day.The book is written straightforward (i.e. no BS), but with some humor. We're talking gorgeous cuts of meat floating in space (trust me, it works) and some funny anecdotes. And, naturally, the recipes and techniques all sound delicious and not completely impossible to prepare at home (like some cookbooks I've read).Overall, if you want a well written book to learn about butchering and get some great recipes; I don't think you could do much better than The Meat Hook Meat Book.