YOU SPECIFY YOUR CUTS
You can specify what level boning (saw work) the processor will do for your large primals; loin, rib, chuck and round. By working with the processor on your first side cut – you can specify the boning & trim for your primal cuts.  In addition, you can specify what primal cuts will be fresh and which primal cuts will be frozen.

AGING
You can specify the carcass aging, which is important because then you can assume how much cooler aging at your facility you can do for the fresh cuts.  We normally dry age a side for 24 days.  However, if you want a lesser carcass age which enables you to take the fresh cuts into your cooler for an additional 10 – 14 days, we can do that (not vacuum wrapped-but paper wrapped if you wish).

PROCESSING COSTS
The processing cost is less for Chef’s Cuts, which provides you with a lesser per lb. cost per rail weight.

SEASONAL CUTTING
You can modify your Chef Cut sheet with us based upon you seasonal menu.

Carl DeHaven sells pork chops, ground beef, sausage links and more at his U.S. Department of Agriculture-approved DeHaven’s Butchering and Country Market near White Hall in Frederick County.

Carl DeHaven of DeHaven’s Butchering and Country Market near White Hall stocks whole sides of beef at the USDA-approved facility.

A 72-pound steamship round and sirloin steaks are part of the offerings at DeHaven’s.


Photos by Jeff Taylor

The Winchester Star April 21, 2010


A personal chef gets a familiar, “What can I do for you today, Miss Sandy?” while another gets an impromptu lesson in the difference between beef on the hoof and in a refrigerated case.

Carl has been in the meat business 15 years, and has operated his shop at 468 White Hall Road for about 6 years, said his mother Alma, who works behind the counter.

In previous years, the meat sold in DeHaven’s cases was processed by other facilities that were U.S. Department of Agriculture plants. But as of two months ago, the business has become a USDA facility, Carl said, and “we kill, cut, wrap, stamp, and seal our own products.”

Some of that meat comes from cattle raised at his family’s Gainesboro farm, as well as Pride of the Plains, a relatively young outfit near Middleburg. Along with his brother, he has about 130 head of cattle, with around 10 to 15 on the feedlot. The Middleburg operation has about 75 on a feedlot at a given time. “They’ve got a good product,” he said.

When Carl mentions a feedlot, it is not like those used by large-scale beef producers. His feedlot has two streams and is a substantial piece of ground, he said. No hormones are used to encourage cattle growth, he said. “It’s natural.”

“These babies hang here and just chill out on their own,” he said as he looked over a few sides of beef. The facility also handles and sells pork, lamb, and some goat. It orders chickens to sell, which arrive on ice, and sells Kunzler hot dogs and bacon. It also carries aged sharp cheddar cheese, Amish butter, farm- fresh eggs, and some deli meats. It has scrapple, souse, and pudding, too.

“It’s good stuff down here,” said Larry Lovett, 60, who lives down the road. “Nice people, and the meat’s good.”

He dropped by to have a couple of Delmonico steaks cut to order and called one of the staffers “a craftsman” when he was presented with the fresh steaks. Larry said he loves the hamburger, as do his grandsons, aged 17 and 13 years old. His grandsons, he said, also enjoy the horseradish deli cheese available there.

Aside from obtaining “delicious” beef at DeHaven’s, Larry said he also gets to visit with Alma. “I see her beautiful face all the time.” Alma smiled as she noted that “most people who come in call me either mom or grandma.”

Sandy Gallagher, the aforementioned Sandy, loves the people at DeHaven’s, as well as the product. “The quality of the meat is great,” she said. “It’s custom-cut for you.”

She recently came by for a mix of ground pork and ground chuck to use for meatballs and lasagne. Last year, when she prepared breakfasts at the Clarke County Farmers’ Market under the “Sandy Cooks” moniker, people enjoyed the sausage she purchased at DeHaven’s.

A personal chef, Sandy will not return to the farmers’ market this year. She’s expecting her third child, and it’s just too much, along with her other responsibilities. Sandy, 39, of Berryville, said she found DeHaven’s after looking for a local butcher and returns because she likes “the way the local boys do it.” When people comment on how much they like her lasagne, she tells them the secret to replicating the dish: “Go get your mix from DeHaven’s.”

Carl learned about meat more than 20 years ago, when he worked at the Bayliss Market on U.S. 522. He also grew up on a farm, where he still lives, and cattle was raised. A James Wood High graduate, he described himself as “just one of them ol’ Frederick County boys.”

His business is admittedly off the beaten track, but people come to him because of positive word-of-mouth. “They find me,” he said.

A customer with Maryland plates on his car stopped by recently to get an order. This customer often picks up meat not only for herself but also for her neighbors.

Customers’ knowledge of meat varies. Some in the know and on a budget stock their freezers with lots of hamburger, which Carl said provides the greatest bang for the buck, because its weight includes no bone. Some others buy thinking that a beef’s live weight will be similar to what ends up in a box of beef cuts. While everything starts with a live cow at a facility such as his, “I knock the air out of them and put them in a box.”

When he eats his product, Carl’s preparation is simple: “I grill everything.” He only seasons with salt and pepper, which he said is all that good meat needs. Meat is the centerpiece of DeHaven’s, but the market also sells some canned goods, bread, and ice cream. Country ham is a draw for others, including the man who stopped by to get a little to cook with some newly gathered land cress. He’s one of the many who come by — either after placing an order by phone or at the counter — who likely feel as Larry does.

Larry prefers going to butcher shops such as DeHaven’s. Aside from liking the food and people, he gets to do something else — “give the locals the money.”

Information: DeHaven’s Butchering and Country Market is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Call 540-662-4004.