In this episode of UNWON, Keely Covello sits down with Sierra Anthony of Butcher Solutions, LLC in Three Forks, Montana.
Sierra is a meat scientist, butcher educator, and competitive butcher. She grew up on a ranch and now travels the country training butchers. She holds a master’s in meat science, competed for the United States at the World Butchers’ Challenge in Paris, and spends most of the year on cold concrete floors in small-town plants training the people who cut America’s beef.
They talk about the “Olympics of Meat,” why America has so little formal butcher education, the labor shortage facing small processors, and why Sierra believes rebuilding the butcher profession could help reconnect Americans with their food.
Then they get into the nitty gritty. Sierra breaks down the three tiers of meat inspection, the difference between inspection and grading, why there is no such thing as a bone-in ribeye, how a New York restaurant special became Pennsylvania’s word for every ribeye, and why the picanha has three names. She walks through the 1960s math still used to grade every beef carcass in the country, the MRI technology one major packer plans to adopt in 2028, and what a shift toward leaner cattle would mean for ranchers’ checks.
Recorded days after President Trump said ranchers should be able to process their own meat, Sierra gives a butcher’s view on deregulation, food safety, and the trust that holds the American food system together, earned by being the best in the world.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
🥩 Why a bone-in ribeye technically isn’t a ribeye
🥩 The difference between picanha, culotte, and top sirloin cap
🥩 The “secret cuts” you should ask your butcher for
🥩 Why restaurants can help introduce consumers to new cuts
🥩 Yield grades 1–5 explained
🥩 Why bigger ribeyes aren’t necessarily the answer
🥩 How new technology could change the way cattle are evaluated
🥩 Federal vs. state inspection vs. custom exempt
🥩 Inspection vs. grading
🥩 Grass-finished vs. grain-finished beef
🥩 Hormone implants
🥩 Why lamb could make a comeback
🥩 How to buy a quarter, half, or whole beef
🥩 What makes a great butcher
And yes, how Sierra orders her steak!
Show Notes
Sponsored by RanchVision, the software ranchers use to boost profits and make better decisions: ranchvision.io
Special thanks to Josh Woolwine for creating our intro. Follow Josh at www.instagram.com/hjwoolwine.
Follow Sierra & Butcher Solutions
Butcher Solutions LLC
Traveling butcher school, meat science education and meat-processing consultation.
Butcher Solutions
Book training with Sierra
In-person and virtual training, including butcher education and wild-game processing.
Book a Training
Instagram — @butcher_solutions_llc
Follow Butcher Solutions on Instagram
Butchers of America
A national organization working to connect, train and support America’s butchers.
Butchers of America
World Butchers’ Challenge
The international butchery competition Sierra competed in with Team USA.
World Butchers’ Challenge
World Butchers’ Challenge 2028 — Brisbane
2028 Competition Information
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