B&R Meat Processing
Owners: Earl and Scott Ridenoure (pictured); and Darrin and Eric Burnett
Location: Winslow, Ark.
History: B&R Meat Processing began three years ago when Earl and Scott Ridenoure, and Darrin and Eric Burnett saw a demand for a processor in their community.
“We were going to build a personal butcher shop on our farm for cattle, deer and hogs,” Scott Ridenoure explained. “We saw a need for a business to accommodate the demand for butchering deer and thought we could do a few domestic animals on the side.”
In April 2014, the processor became the only private USDA meat processing facility in the tri-county area, which has brought them a great deal of business.
Products and Services: While the company does have a retail licence to sell beef and pork, it is a very small percentage of their business.
Careful consideration is also give to each customer, and the animal that is processed.
“We process sheep, goats, beef, hogs, Buffalo, bear, deer, elk (which are usually brought back from hunting trips elsewhere) and wild hogs,” Scott said. “The animals are unloaded before being stunned and slaughtered. They are then chilled with a tag to keep track of the kill date and weight of each carcass with stamped USDA meats stored separately.
“We invested in some high-end machines in order to provide the best quality. We have a stainless steel, programmable smokehouse that uses hickory or apple, and produces brats, snack sticks, summer sausage, jerky, bacon and ham. Ham and bacon are injected with a sugar cure and then put in a vacuum chamber that pulls the brine evenly throughout the meat and helps provide uniform quality.”
All meat is vacuumed sealed to increase use life. No paper wrapping is offered.
Philosophy and future: Scott views himself as a “partner” with his customers.
“I keep communications open so together we know exactly what we are going to do with each animal. This is especially important because we don’t use standardize cutting methods like large companies,” he said. “We support the community and schools through Hunters for the Hungry and offering free processing to help schools raise money as well as donating to kids at the fair. We are considering opening a regional retail shop in the future to provide space for local producers as well as the general market. Local producers will have the advantage of not having to pick up meat for sale.”
