[Peter Creasey]

This post marks the start of a new column by artisan butcher Tom Mylan, who will be writing regularly on all things flesh. In addition to seventies rock and drinking whiskey with friends, he enjoys working as co-owner of The Meat Hook, a Brooklyn-based butcher shop at the vanguard of the movement to promote locally sourced, responsibly raised meat.

Reading the Carcass

[Rail Paul]

Thanks for the link, Peter.

Another indicator is found in the thickness of the plate—the ribcage below the rib loin, also known as the short ribs. Generally beef with a thick plate is well-fed, mature, and delicious. Every butcher has a different beef fetish, and mine is a thick plate. While you're looking at the plate, you should take a peek at the eye of the rib loin, which should be bejeweled with many layers of fat between the muscles and a large triangular piece of fat where the loin transitions into the ribs. A super animal will have a thick, psychedelic spiderweb of fat throughout the lean section of the eye, which will ensure a mind-blowing steak.