Description
Perform precision deboning and trimming of meat to produce boneless cuts per specifications. Remove bones, cartilage, and defects; separate muscles and portion cuts for marketing or further processing. Work typically occurs in slaughtering, meat packing, or wholesale establishments.
- • Remove bones from carcasses, primals, and subprimals to produce boneless cuts.
- • Trim meat to remove cartilage, tendons, silverskin, and defects while maximizing yield.
- • Separate muscles and portion cuts according to product specifications.
- • Cut standard and premium boneless cuts for marketing or further processing.
- • Follow anatomical landmarks and cutting lines to minimize waste.
- • Inspect meat for bone fragments and foreign materials and correct as needed.
- • Use knives, hand tools, and deboning equipment safely and efficiently.
- • Maintain sharp knives; hone and change blades to ensure clean cuts.
- • Sort, weigh, and tag boneless meat by size, grade, or destination.
- • Segregate edible trimmings for grind or sausage and discard inedible trim.
- • Tend deboning line stations and coordinate with adjacent cutting operations.
- • Wrap or tray-pack boneless cuts for packaging as required.
- • Clean and sanitize tools, equipment, and work areas per food safety rules.
- • Record production, yields, and lot information for traceability.
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Agriculture
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Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
