TOWNSEND—Local butcher Dylan Miedema has a full plate. In addition to competing as part of Butchery Team Canada at the 2025 World Butcher Challenge (WBC) next March in Paris, France, he is competing as a finalist this weekend at the 2024 Ontario’s Finest Butcher Competition (OFBC).
“It’s an honour to be able to compete in both competitions. For me, being a young butcher on this team is humbling,” said Miedema.
This will be Miedema’s second appearance at OFBC after he learned some valuable lessons there last year: “I didn’t win. I learned to sit down and educate myself on what goes well with what, what doesn’t,” he recalled. “That was one of the big things I got dinged on last year, some of my spice didn’t complement some of the proteins.”
He said unlike other competitions, where awards are given to multiple contestants, when it comes to the OFBC, “you win or you lose, they don’t tell us who’s second.”
Miedema will face a panel of four judges considering a number of criteria: “They go through a list – how clean are the bones if there’s any, how clean is the seaming, how clean are the knots, how much trim got wasted or not, it’s cookability.”
While competitors know the theme of the competition ahead of time, they are not privy to the type of meat they’ll be cutting until it’s go time.
“When we get there, it’s like you open your box (and) it could be a beef, lamb, or chicken, or … venison or wild boar. It varies,” said Miedema.
He said the WBC operates similarly, “but the scoring is a lot harder.”
He elaborated, “There’s more criteria…. In the worlds you have to grind your own trim and use it up; it’s not just gonna’ be set aside. You have to think of that – what you can cut to get rid of waste so you’re not using a lot of trimmings in your ground.”
As a fulltime worker at Townsend Butchers, Miedema classified his competitive appearances as a hobby to challenge himself to learn new techniques and ways to “use stuff up accordingly, not generate a lot of waste out of it.”
He said competing is fun, but “very, very time consuming,” sharing some insight into how he prepares.
“For Ontario’s Finest Butcher it’s relatively easy doing it, but for worlds it’s a bit more challenging,” said Miedema, noting that you’re told in advance what meat you’ll work with at worlds – which means more prepping. “You’ve got to make your own cut list, what you’re spicing with what, what you’re garnishing with what…. I’ve been for the past couple months sitting down for about an hour every night just trying to work on it. We have a coach that’s helping us from Fanshawe College…. You’ve got to bring your own spices to Paris, and you’ve got to buy your vegetables and fruits once you’re there in Paris.”
In total, Miedema is one of six Canadians heading to Paris in March. Three of those will compete as a team, while Miedema is one of three young butchers competing individually.
He follows in a fine family tradition, with his father, grandfather, uncle, and great-uncle all making their livings in the field of butchery before him.
The OFBC finals will be held on Friday, October 25 at the Niagara Falls Convention Centre as part of the 2024 Meat Industry Expo. Those wishing to attend for free can use the code ‘MIEVP’ when registering to attend at meatindustryexpo.ca, or they can search for the live feed of the competition on YouTube, starting at 3 p.m.
