Edleen blockmen off the USA to represent South Africa

At this year’s Fire and Feast Expo, two local butchers from Edleen Butchery ranked third in the South African Butchers Challenge at the Ticketpro Dome on September 7.

Charl Kruger (38) and Johan Kuhn (24) competed against butchers from across South Africa to meet the one-hour challenge. With this challenge they had to cut and neatly display a forequarter beef, half a lamb and three chickens, ready to be sold.

“It was a tight competition,” Kruger told Express.

“We were judged on our productivity, creativity and hygiene. Within one hour, all your meat had to be cut and in the display box. Any meat left outside was penalised.”

After the competition, the judges compiled a butcher squad to represent South Africa at the World Butchers’ Challenge in Sacramento in the United States of America. Both Kruger and Kuhn were chosen for the squad, along with members from the first and second placed teams.

The world championships will be held in September next year in which larger teams of five will compete for the title of world-class butchers.

Kruger said the competition would also last for three hours and the challenge would be to present more meat.

Kruger further explained: “From now until the competition, the squad will get together once a month to prepare and train for the world championships.”

Kuhn was also chosen to compete in Australia at the Junior Butchers’ Championships next year.”

To be able to compete, they had to do a promotional video as part of their entry. The meat in the competition had been provided and was sold at the expo after the competition.

When asked for advice on butchering, Kruger concluded: “When butchering, one should always be mindful of extreme hygiene and not be afraid to be creative when slicing up meat. There are more ways than one to cut up an animal, and sometimes you should allow yourself to think outside the box.”