Let’s keep it simple

STEVE BAIN says home butchery can be approached fairly simply and economically.

Shop around and you’ll likely find whole rumps for sale much cheaper than rump roasts and/or rump steaks.
All it takes is a sharp knife to save some money.
And the following method, I reckon, is the simplest approach to home butchery.

Step 1: Start with a whole rump from the butcher (or mobile butcher) and a knife.

Step 2: Flip the rump over to expose the seams (which are the joins between the muscles/meat).

Step 3: Use the tip of the knife to cut away the lard.

Step 5: Much of the lard can be peeled back and will lift away from the meat without any knife-work. Here and there you may need to flense the lard away from the lump of rump.

Step 6: Keep trimming and peeling away to remove the lard. The lard has many uses, including in sausages and/or casseroles.

Step 8: Now we start on an internal seam (this time to remove the piece known as the rump cap, and also known more recently as the picanha).

Step 9: Here the knife points to the seam into which we will dig in order to separate the picanha from the remainder of the lump o’ rump.

Step 10: Like we did with the lard, stick your fingers down into the seam and peel the lumps of meat on either side apart.

Step 11: Rolling the roasts apart.

Step 12: On the right as you look at the picture is the picanha/rump-cap removed from the rump.

Step 13: Trim the fat flap away from the rump cap.

Step 14: Continue to break down the lump of rump. Again the knife points to a seam.

Step 15: To remove another roast, start by cutting through the thin surface membrane to expose the seam (the seam of fat).

Step 16: Using your fingers, pry the seam apart to a depth as deep as you can without using a knife.

Step 17: Now cut straight down through the lump of meat; cut fully through from the seam that you’ve started all the way to your cutting board/butcher’s block.

Step 18: Another roast cut away from the lump o’ rump; this roast weighs 750 to 800 grams (family sized).

Step 19: Now cut the remaining piece into two roasts that weigh about 850 grams. These two roasts will contain some more of the connective and seam tissue; accordingly they are typically cooked slower using a wet roasting technique.