That time a whole lamb leg slipped out of my hand and into the bone bin

I was breaking down a lamb leg at 6 AM on a Saturday, still half asleep. Went to flip it over and my wet gloves just let go. Leg landed right in the 5 gallon bucket of scrap bones we keep for stock. Had to fish it out, rinse it off, and trim away anything that touched the bottom. Has anyone else had a cut of meat take a dive into something nasty and just had to roll with it?

3 comments

3 Comments

barbaraw471mo ago

Oh geez, I gotta push back on this one a little bit, @mark_thomas. I mean, I get it, we've all dropped stuff nobody wants to talk about. But that prime rib story... rinsing a roast that hit a greasy kitchen floor? That's a hard pass for me. Floor meat is floor meat, especially in a catering environment where the floor's been walked on by everyone and their mother. I'd rather take the loss and grab a new one than serve something that touched that kind of grime, no matter how much you trim off. At least with the lamb leg hitting a bone bin, it's just bones and scraps, not shoe dirt and floor grease... still gross, but I'd probably rinse and keep it if the bone bin was cleanish.

matthewkim26d ago

Read a similar thing on another thread where a chef said they just keep a spray bottle of vinegar water near the cutting board for drops like that. Supposedly kills bacteria without ruining the meat. Not sure if I'd try it on prime rib though.

mark_thomas1mo ago

First time I dropped a prime rib roast at a holiday catering gig back in 2018. Slipped right out of my hand and hit the greasy kitchen floor, bounced once, then slid under the prep table. Had to rinse it with cold water, trim off a good quarter inch from the whole bottom side, then pat it dry and hope nobody noticed the missing fat cap. Nobody said a word after it came out of the oven, but I sure felt stupid all night.