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Hit 100 whole chickens broken down in one shift and my hands didn't quit on me
Last Thursday I broke down 100 whole birds start to finish in a single shift at the shop, up from my old high of 68 back in March. The number snuck up on me because I stopped counting and just kept working through the case. Around bird 70 my wrist started talking to me, so I slowed down and fixed my grip instead of pushing through bad form. The real win was waste, I got 9 full trays of breast and leg meat with maybe a pound of trim in the scrap bucket. My boss weighed the yield at close and said it was our best run all quarter. My knife arm was toast Friday morning though, so now I'm wondering if I should be stretching before my shift. What does everyone do to keep their hands from blowing up on high volume days?
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adamr141mo ago
Buddy of mine ran a butcher counter and ran into the same wall, forearm would lock up by the end of a double shift. What saved him was wrapping his knife hand in a warm towel for a few minutes before clocking in, plus squeezing a tennis ball during breaks to keep the blood moving. His other trick was flipping his grip every 20 birds or so, even switching to a second knife with a different handle shape halfway through the case. Took him a couple weeks to get used to it but the soreness dropped off a lot. The stretching helps too but the warm up part is what he swears by, cold muscles and a sharp knife are a bad combo. Maybe give the towel thing a shot before your next big run and see if Friday feels any better.
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