In this workshop, Chicago Meat Collective condenses years of hands-on butchery instruction into a full day of learning, covering whole lamb butchery, cooking technique, working with offal, and charcuterie making. CMC founder McCullough Kelly-Willis is joined by butcher Jake Calthorpe of Cut Once, who will lead a hands-on, nose-to-tail lamb butchery session. Ethan Pikas, chef & owner of Cellar Door Provisions, will demonstrate his creative approach to working with lamb, and provide lunch for the group. The afternoon session will cover basic sausage technique, as well as a demonstration by Evan LoJacono (chef de partie, Smyth) on cutting edge charcuterie and cooking with offal, informed by his ongoing work with lamb and other proteins at three Michelin star restaurant, Smyth.

This workshop is a deep dive for food lovers, aspiring chefs, farmers, butchers, homesteaders, and anyone who’s seeking an integral understanding of where their food comes from.

*We will be offering one fully funded spot at this workshop to a culinary industry worker, culinary student or mentee. If you qualify and you'd like to be entered in the giveaway, email mccullough@chicagomeatcollective.com. Include information about your current employment or enrollment.

Class details:
Arrive at 9am. The workshop begins with a hands-on whole lamb butchery session, in which students will learn seam butchery technique, hand-saw technique, and more.
Around 11, chef Ethan Pikas leads cooking demo, ending in lunch prepared with the lamb we worked with in our morning session.
Class will recommence around 1pm after our lunch break. We’ll cover basic sausage technique, including working with notoriously tricky lamb casings, followed by a workshop led by chef Evan LoJacono focused on lamb charcuterie and nose-to-tail eating.
The workshop will end with a selection of charcuterie and sausage from the afternoon session, along with cheese, crackers, wine, beer, and other refreshments.

Students will take home ~10 pounds of fresh, freezer-wrapped local lamb, ~ a pound of lamb sausage/charcuterie, along with worksheets and recipes.

We're inviting you to dinner! Chef (and CMC assistant!) Tess Bixby is putting together an abundant, mutli-course, family-style meal featuring Indian flavors and local lamb sourced by the CMC. We're also offering an optional wine pairing, put together with the help of our friends in the industry. Join us in welcoming spring!

Ticket sales from this dinner will fund a fully sponsored ticket to our April 5th workshop. The sponsored ticket will be offered to culinary students, Impact mentees and graduates, and individuals currently working in the culinary industry. We'll gather nominees from our network through email and social media. The recipient will be chosen through a randomized selection process of nominees who meet our criteria. We're excited to make this in-depth butchery workshop more accessible to someone just getting started in their career!

Address and other details will be emailed directly upon ticket purchase.

In this workshop, Chicago Meat Collective condenses years of hands-on butchery instruction into a full day of learning, covering whole hog butchery, sausage, and charcuterie making. CMC founder McCullough Kelly-Willis is joined by Publican Quality Meat’s Rob Levitt, who will share knowledge gained over years of experience as a chef, butcher, and charcuterie maker. This workshop is a deep dive for food lovers, aspiring chefs, farmers, butchers, homesteaders, and anyone who’s seeking an integral understanding of where their food comes from.

Class details:
Arrive at 9am. The workshop begins with a hands-on whole hog butchery session, in which students will learn seam butchery technique, hand-saw technique, and more.
We will break at noon for a hot, chef-prepared lunch using some of the local pork from our morning session.
The afternoon will include a hands-on sausage making session, and a workshop led by Rob Levitt of Publican Quality Meats covering cured meats and charcuterie.
The workshop will end with a selection of charcuterie from PQM, along with cheese, crackers, wine, beer, and other refreshments.

Students will take home ~15 pounds of fresh, freezer-wrapped local pork, 1 pound of fresh sausage links, along with worksheets and recipes.

We're inviting you to dinner! Chef (and CMC assistant!) Tess Bixby is putting together the perfect winter meal, featuring succulent braised meat sourced by the CMC, local produce, and dessert, to celebrate the end of the year and ring in the new. We're also offering an optional wine pairing, put together with the help of our friends in the industry.

Ticket sales from this dinner will fund a fully sponsored ticket to our January 11th workshop. The sponsored ticket will be offered to culinary students, Impact mentees and graduates, and individuals currently working in the culinary industry. We'll gather nominees from our network through email and social media. The recipient will be chosen through a randomized selection process of nominees who meet our criteria. We're excited to make this in-depth butchery workshop more accessible to someone just getting started in their career!

Address and other details for attendees will be emailed with ticket purchase.

Sold Out

Join the Chicago Meat Collective in this hands-on class, where we will cover the basics of sausage making from sourcing the best meat and fat, to butchering, grinding, seasoning, and stuffing. Students will have the opportunity to get involved in every step of the process, and will also get to take home several pounds of fresh, hand-made sausage! Snacks, wine, and beer included!

This class will take place at the Hatchery in the Bayless Kitchen. We will end the class by sharing some delicious charcuterie, cheese, and natural wine. Class will run approximately from 1pm to 4 pm.

This class is limited to 8 attendees.

The holidays are a busy time, so instead of having you come to us, we're coming to you! We'll be hosting a live Zoom session to demonstrate butchery techniques and methods of prepping your Thanksgiving bird (spatchcocking, parting, removing wishbone, trussing), and giving you an opportunity to ask all your questions. We will cover stock and gravy making and carving, and sharing favorite recipes and marinades. If you already have your bird and you want to follow along, we can help you troubleshoot. If you are bird-less, you'll have an opportunity to see how it's done and get your questions answered.

Zoom link will be sent once you have purchased your ticket.

In this hands-on class we will break down half a hog muscle by muscle, discussing the cultural and culinary diversity that hogs offer. You’ll get to hand-cut pork chops, grind fresh ham, and learn to bone out a pig’s head! By the end of class, the students will have broken the pig down into cookable cuts including ribs, tenderloins, ham roasts, chops, and coppa. Each student will take home approximately 10-15 pounds of locally raised, pastured pork.

This class will take place at the Roof Crop (enter on Justine Street), and we will end the class by sharing some delicious charcuterie, cheese, and natural wine. Class will run approximately from 1pm to 4pm.

This class is limited to 8 attendees.

Improve your knife skills and understanding of whole animal butchery this deer season! This class will combine hands-on whole animal butchery practice on lamb sourced from local farms with a Q&A with a hunting expert who can help translate our in-class experience to the in-the-field experience.

All participants will practice seam butchery and trimming technique to get the cleanest leg meat and shoulder roasts, learn how to bone out back straps, and work through the basics of sausage making. Lamb and venison are very similar, so we will source whole lamb and lamb legs to give you the hands-on practice you need. As in all our classes, we will provide knives to work with in class, but we encourage you to bring your hunting knives so we can discuss knife care, and the difference between our butchery knives and typical hunting knives.

Students take home their share of the meat butchered in class, and can expect to take home 10-15 pounds of fresh lamb!

This class takes place at the Hatchery. Maximum participants - 10 students.

Join Chicago Meat Collective for a series on whole beef butchery. Over the course of three sessions, we will approach a side of beef primal by primal, starting with the chuck (shoulder), finishing with the two middle primals (where you get your ribeye, tenderloin, and NY strip steaks!), and ending with the round (hind leg).

Each class will be a thorough, muscle-by-muscle break down demonstration with some opportunities to wield a knife. In this round class, you will see how we get the best cross cut beef shank, marrow bones, and how to find the best cuts for roast beef and tartare!

Enjoy a bite of grilled steak freshly cut off the primal, as well as wine, beer, and locally produced snacks. Each participant will take home a cut to grill and a pound of ground beef.

This class takes place at the Hatchery, class is limited to 12 participants.

Join Chicago Meat Collective for a series on whole beef butchery. Over the course of four sessions, we will approach a side of beef primal by primal, starting with the chuck (shoulder), followed by the rib, the loin, and finally the round (hind leg).

Each class will be a thorough, muscle-by-muscle break down demonstration with some opportunities to wield a knife. In this class focused on the loin primal, you'll see where we get flank steak, NY strip and Porterhouse, sirloin, and more!

Enjoy a bite of grilled steak freshly cut off the primal, as well as refreshments from our favorite local purveyors. Each participant will take home a cut to grill and a pound of ground beef.

The Chicago Meat Collective is teaming up with Shawn Smith and Mike Shaker at Heffer BBQ to (finally!) bring you a class on smoked meats! Shawn and Mike will talk through fire building and maintenance, different styles of smokers (from their massive offset smoker used for the restaurant, to home-style smokers like the Weber Smokey Mountain, plus why Green Eggs are overrated!), and walk through the diverse offerings on Heffer BBQ's menu.

Class will include detailed demonstration of trimming and prepping a variety of cuts for the smoker, discussion and demonstration of how to maintain heat and proper airflow in different styles of smokers, a tasting of some of Heffer's offerings, and a drink ticket to cash in at Whiner Beer for each participant.

Gain confidence in both filet-ing and cooking fish in our basic fish butchery class!

Each student will break down and take home a whole fish, learning the best technique to filet, as well as how to utilize each part of the fish. Students will also take home a pair of pin-bone tweezers, in addition to the whole fish they break down in class. Class will end with a cooking demonstration for how to nail the perfect cook on a fresh filet of fish every time. Plus, learn how to shop for, clean, and prepare shrimp for a perfect shrimp cocktail.

This class will take place in the CMC home studio, and we will end the class by sharing some shrimp cocktail, fish we cook in class, as well as wine and beer. Class will run approximately from 1pm to 4 pm.

This class is limited to 8 attendees.

Expand your kitchen skills and your picnic game by making your own charcuterie! This class will cover pork rillettes, duck liver pâté, and a country-style terrine.

We will walk you through making these simple but elegant charcuterie staples, from selecting the right cuts and trimming the livers to proper storage, plus how to serve these treats at your next picnic or dinner party! Wines for class will be selected and introduced by Randall of Loci Wines. Class will end with a light meal of charcuterie, bread, and cheese accompanied by Randall’s selected wines.

This class will take place in the CMC home studio and will run approximately from 1pm to 4 pm.

This class is limited to 10 attendees.

In this hands-on class we will break down half a hog muscle by muscle, discussing the cultural and culinary diversity that hogs offer. You’ll get to hand-cut pork chops, grind fresh ham, and learn to bone out a pig’s head! By the end of class, the students will have broken the pig down into cookable cuts including ribs, tenderloins, ham roasts, chops, and coppa. Each student will take home approximately 10-15 pounds of locally raised, pastured pork.

This class will take place in the CMC home studio, and we will end the class by sharing some delicious charcuterie, cheese, and natural wine. Class will run approximately from 1pm to 4:30 pm.

This class is limited to 6 attendees.

In this Sausage Making 2.0, you will learn how to work with different proteins, different grind sizes, and different casing sizes. We’ll practice folding nuts, cheese, and other delicious mix-ins to a variety of sausage mixtures, opening a world of flavors and textures beyond your classic brat or spicy Italian link. Learn to form kebabs, make a basic summer sausage, and more! Students will have the opportunity to get involved in every step of the process, and will also get to take home several pounds of fresh, hand-made sausage! Students are encouraged to take our Basic Sausage Making class before enrolling in Sausage Making 2.0, but this class is open to all levels of experience.

This class will take place in the CMC home studio, and we will end the class by sharing some delicious charcuterie, cheese, and natural wine. Class will run approximately from 1pm to 3:30 pm.

This class is limited to 8 attendees.

Join us at Elawa farm for a hands-on, deep dive into all things ribeye. The ribeye represents all the indulgence and decadence we crave when we think of red meat.  In this class we will explore everything that the ribeye has to offer by taking students through the entire rib section muscle by muscle. From shoulder end to loin end, from standing rib roast to 1” steak, from spinalis dorsi to deckle, we will demonstrate the many ways to break down a rib section, while touching on best cooking methods and helpful vocabulary for ordering exactly what you want from your local butcher.

This class will feature a rib subprimal breakdown, a cooking demonstration, and a steak tasting with wine. Class participants will each take home part of the ribeye.

The second session in our beef primal series features the rib.

Each class will be a thorough, muscle-by-muscle break down demonstration with some opportunities to wield a knife. In this class focused on the rib primal, you'll see where we get skirt steaks, ribeyes, spinalis dorsi, and more!

Enjoy a bite of grilled steak freshly cut off the primal, as well as refreshments from our favorite local purveyors. Each participant will take home a cut to grill and a pound of ground beef.

This class will take place in the CMC home studio, and we will end the class by sharing some delicious charcuterie, cheese, and natural wine. Class will run approximately from 1pm to 3:40 pm.

This class is limited to 10 attendees.

Join the Chicago Meat Collective in this hands-on class, where we will cover the basics of sausage making from sourcing the best meat and fat, to butchering, grinding, seasoning, and stuffing. Students will have the opportunity to get involved in every step of the process, and will also get to take home several pounds of fresh, hand-made sausage! Snacks, wine, and beer included!

This class will take place in the CMC home studio, and we will end the class by sharing some delicious charcuterie, cheese, and natural wine. Class will run approximately from 1pm to 3:30 pm.

This class is limited to 8 attendees.

Join us for an evening of working through all things beef tartare including sourcing, cut selection, technique, and flavor combinations ranging from the traditional to the more creative. High quality beef is the starting point of this classic dish, and execution is everything. Learn these tools and gain the confidence to make restaurant quality beef tartare at home, any day of the week.

This class will include hands-on knife work, mixing, playing with a wide range of flavors and ingredients, and wine pairings by Em Scher, wine director at Elske. To finish class, we'll enjoy the fruits of our labor with a light meal of tartare, cheese, good bread, and wines selected by Em.

This class will take place in the CMC home studio, from 6pm to approximately 8pm.

Class is limited to 12 attendees.

Sold Out

Breaking down poultry might be one of the most useful skills a home cook can learn. In this class we will learn several ways to break down a chicken, including spatchcocking and boning out legs and breasts. This is a hands-on class, and each participant will have the opportunity to practice on their own bird and take it home to cook. We will cover broth and stock making, roasting technique, carving, and will culminate in a cooking demonstration. By the end, you will have all the skills and knowledge you need to buy whole chickens and quit your boneless skinless chicken breast habit for good!

This class will take place in the CMC home studio, and we will end the class by sharing some delicious charcuterie, cheese, and natural wine. Class will run approximately from 1pm to 3:30 pm.

This class is limited to 8 attendees.

Sold Out

Join us at Cellar Door Provisions to celebrate one of the most distinctive burgers on restaurant menus right now!

The CMC is bringing some local beef to the table, while Ethan, chef/owner of Cellar Door Provisions will share the how and why behind his take on one of America’s favorite foods, the burger. We will cut, trim, and grind beef fresh from a local farm (the beef will come from the chuck that we break down in class the weekend before, so take both classes if you want the butcher block to table experience!), and Ethan will take us through this burger step by step.

Class includes burgers for all, plus a glass of natural wine (some provided in class, BYO is also an option and neighboring Diversey Wines is open until 6pm).

Sold Out

Tackling a whole beef carcass is a serious task, even for a seasoned butcher. Over the course of four sessions, we will approach a side of beef primal by primal, starting with the chuck (shoulder), followed by the rib, the loin, and finally the round (hind leg).

Each class will be a thorough, muscle-by-muscle break down demonstration with some opportunities to wield a knife. In this chuck class, you will see how we cut the meatiest short ribs, where the brisket comes from, and how to find the most tender steaks on this hard working primal.

Enjoy a bite of grilled steak freshly cut off the primal, as well as refreshments from our favorite local purveyors. Each participant will take home a cut to grill and a pound of ground beef. This class will take place in the CMC home studio, and we will end the class by sharing some delicious charcuterie, cheese, and natural wine. Class will run approximately from 1pm to 4:30 pm.

This class is limited to 10 attendees.

We are coming back to Elawa Farm to offer a hands-on fish butchery class!

Need ideas on how to breakdown and prepare fish? In this hands-on class, you will learn to breakdown a whole fish. McCullough will then cover portioning, preserving, and fish cookery. Class will end with a cooking demonstration for how to nail the perfect cook on a fresh filet of fish every time. Students will take the whole fish they break down in class. Wine, beer, and lights snacks will be included in addition to the fish we prepare and sample in class.

Sold Out

Join the Chicago Meat Collective in this hands-on class, where we will cover the basics of sausage making from sourcing the best meat and fat, to butchering, grinding, seasoning, and stuffing. Students will have the opportunity to get involved in every step of the process, and will also get to take home several pounds of fresh, hand-made sausage!

This class will take place at Guild Row, and we will end the class by sharing some delicious charcuterie, cheese, and natural wine. Class will run approximately from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm.

Sold Out

In this three hour, hands-on class we will break down half a hog muscle by muscle, discussing the cultural and culinary diversity that hogs offer. You’ll get to hand-cut pork chops, grind fresh ham, and learn to bone out a pig’s head! By the end of class, the students will have broken the pig down into cookable cuts like ribs, tenderloins, ham roasts, chops, and coppas, and each student will take home approximately 10-15 pounds of locally raised, pastured pork. This class will take place at Guild Row, and we will end the class by sharing some delicious charcuterie, cheese, and natural wine. Class will run approximately from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm.

This class is limited to 6 attendees. We may ask for disclosure of symptoms, exposure, or vaccination status prior to the event.

Combining the CMC’s two favorite things - connecting you with the best local meat and teaching out how to cut it - we bring you the workshop/shop-up!

What you can expect:

• Butchery demo working on locally sourced beef (Willow Creek Ranch, grass-fed and finished) and pork (and maybe other proteins, like lamb and poultry!).

• Opportunities to get hands-on and practice trimming, portion cutting, assist with sausage making, and more!

• Pop-up butcher shop - everything produced in the workshop is for sale! All meat will be cut from whole carcasses or subprimals, fresh, never frozen, locally sourced by the CMC.

• Yummy extras like beef jerky for purchase!

• Participation is optional - you can come shop and watch, or you can throw some gloves on and join in the fun. CMC will provide aprons and knives.

• A portion of the meat will be packed, frozen, and donated directly to the Breakthrough Urban Ministries food pantry.

Hosted by Guild Row. This event runs from 2pm-7pm, and will include snacks and drinks.

Locally raised duck from Vintage Meadows in Goshen, IN is the star of this class focused on duck butchery and the traditional French preservation technique, confit.

We'll start with whole ducks, work through breaking them down as a team, and talk through the ratios, aromatics, tips, and tricks for a perfect confit. Finish class with a confit tasting, accompanied by wine and some duck fat fried potatoes. Participants will take home some duck parts, duck fat, and seasoning mix to make their own confit.

This class will take place at Guild Row 2:30pm to 5:30pm. Class is limited to 10 participants.

Sold Out

Gain confidence in both filet-ing and cooking fish in our basic fish butchery class!

Each student will break down and take home a whole fish, learning the best technique to filet, as well as how to utilize each part of the fish. Students will also take home a pair of pin-bone tweezers, in addition to the whole fish they break down in class. Class will end with a cooking demonstration for how to nail the perfect cook on a fresh filet of fish every time.

Wine, beer, and lights snacks will be included in addition to the fish we prepare and sample in class. Class size is limited to eight people. Class hosted by Guild Row.

Sold Out

Join Chicago Meat Collective for a series on whole beef butchery. Over the course of three sessions, we will approach a side of beef primal by primal, starting with the chuck (shoulder), finishing with the two middle primals (where you get your ribeye, tenderloin, and NY strip steaks!), and ending with the round (hind leg).

Each class will be a thorough, muscle-by-muscle break down demonstration with some opportunities to wield a knife. In this round class, you will see how we get the best cross cut beef shank, marrow bones, and how to find the best cuts for roast beef and tartare!

Enjoy a bite of grilled steak freshly cut off the primal, as well as wine, beer, and locally produced snacks. Each participant will take home a cut to grill and a pound of ground beef.

This class takes place at Guild Row, class is limited to 12 participants.