[ScotsGirl]

Can anyone recommend a good book for novices to butcher own carcasses? Also smoking, curing etc. looking for a pressure for OH. Thought about a course but quite expensive and not sure which would be best.


Suggestions gratefully received

[HappyHippy]

I don't know of any butchery books (cos I've never really looked), but there are 2 great charcutterie books I would recomend.

The first is 'Charcutterie - The craft of salting, smoking and curing' by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Rolycyn and the second is 'The manual of a traditional bacon curer' by Maynard Davies.

The bacon curer's manual is more technical, whereas the charcutterie one is written by a couple of chefs who are real foodies - both are packed with receipes and ideas  If I was buying only the one - it'd be the first 
Karen 

[lachlanandmarcus]

For basic butchery, the River Cottage big Meat book is very good, esp at understanding the overlaps between different joints and their names, they also have a good poster showing all the cuts in A3 size.
Lots of good recipes too, including for offal

[Olly398]

+1 for the River Cottage Meat book.
 
Another charcuterie classic is by Grigson called French Charcuterie and Pork Cookery.