The customer who asked me to butterfly a chicken 6 different ways

I work at a meat counter in Portland and last Saturday this lady comes up with a whole chicken. She asks me to butterfly it, which is fine. Then she watches me do it and says "no, I meant like a real butterfly, spread out flat." I had to show her the difference between spatchcock and butterflying. She ended up making me cut it 5 more times in different styles before she picked one. It took 20 minutes and she bought the chicken for $12. Has anyone else had a customer who just couldn't decide on a cut?

3 comments

3 Comments

drew_park18d ago

Saw a video about this recently where a butcher in Brooklyn talked about people asking for "butterflied" everything and half the time they meant spatchcocked. That lady sounds like she was just messing with you honestly, or maybe she was stressed about cooking a whole bird for guests. Any cut that takes 20 minutes for a $12 chicken is just rough, especially when you got other customers waiting.

patricia31718d ago

Had a customer last Thanksgiving ask me to "butterfly" her turkey. I knew what she wanted but she got real annoyed when I clarified if she meant spatchcocked. Told her I'd just slice it down the backbone and flatten it out, she said "whatever makes it cook faster." Charged her an extra five bucks for the trouble and she didn't bat an eye. People get weird around holidays, they hear a fancy term on a cooking show and suddenly they're Gordon Ramsay. I just nod and do the work now, saves everyone the headache.

hugo_schmidt17d ago

Butterflying a turkey sounds like a relaxation technique, not a cooking method.