Local butchers compete in meat cutting competition

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - Slicing on ice! Meat cutters from across the Valley won't need skates or a hockey stick to score in this competition.

14 local butchers are competing to represent the southwest division in the Texas Roadhouse Meat Cutting Competition, proving they are a "cut" above the rest.

"The great thing about these cutters is that they do this everyday," Maci Taylor said. "This is like their Superbowl, their big game at the end of the day to win the competition and be the best in their area."

The annual meat cutting challenge calls for each butcher's fastest time in slicing 30-to-40 pounds of quality cut meat into three categories; filet, sirloins, and rib-eye.

"These guys are trained to cut every steak with precision, to make sure that we have the best of the best steaks in our house." Garrett Bateman said.

To beef up the ante, the champion of today's round is one step closer to a $20,000 prize given to the overall winner at the Grand Butcher's Competition in Orlando, Florida.

"It's just a really great number to write on a big check, I think!" Taylor said. "Twenty-thousand dollars can make a really big difference in someone else's life and it's the light at the end of the tunnel for these guys."