Fact sheet: What a butcher does

A good butcher can customize your meat for you. For instance:

Cut chops or steaks extra thick or extra thin.

Saw ribs crosswise into flanken-style ribs.

Tie pork or lamb ribs into a crown roast.

Debone a leg or shoulder, and tie it into a compact roast.

Skin a chicken.

Debone a chicken — remove its rib cage, leaving the bird whole — so it can hold more stuffing.

Bard a roast with a thin sheet of fat so that it bastes itself as it cooks.

"French-trim" the bony ends of lamb chops.

In some cases, age meat to order.