DIY Butchering

Cleaver? Check. Meat hook? Check. Street cred? Hell, yeah. Why meat lovers are becoming meat cutters

Illustration by Sarah Illenberger for TIME

The thud of heavy knives bashing bones, the splat of dead muscle hitting the table, the twisting of heads off bodies and the tearing of flesh from limbs. Is this a preview for Saw VII? An autopsy? No, it's actually the scene at a home kitchen near you, as more and more Americans are taking a do-it-yourself approach to meat. It's part home economics, part politics and at least part fad. And it's changing the way many of us eat meat, chop by succulent chop.

Some of the younger pioneers of this culinary trend may not realize that for much of...

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