Jason Nauert, Director / Butcher / Instructor of the Rocky Mountain Institute of Meat and Co- Founder of PRIMAL MEAT CO, started learning how to butcher as a young hunter and outdoor enthusiast in the woods surrounding Pikes Peak in Colorado. Jason has been butchering everything from small game animals like squirrels and rabbits, to big game animals like elk and buffalo for about 30 years. With years of hunting and fishing experience, Jason learned practical and realistic approaches to butchering methods in the field and applying those methods when cooking or butchering at home or behind a butchers counter. At 39 years old, with a professional background in construction, law enforcement and horticulture Jason decided to make a life change and peruse his passion for butchering and cooking. Jason graduated from Rocky Mountain Institute of Meat in 2012 and was quickly thrown into the culinary and butcher worlds under the tutelage of Mark DeNittis.
In 2014, Jason was credited with developing the only ACF Accredited Practical Field Butcher course for the U.S. Army Special Forces. Jason will launch a 7 day “From Field to Fork” butcher program June of 2015 that focuses on the life cycle of pasture-raised animals from beginning to end. He is also recognized for developing other ACF programs in 2014/2015 (one day animal specific ACF Accredited course and 7-day intensive professional course).
Jason has assisted chefs like Hosea Rosenberg with butchering and other meat processes, along with a design for a meat curing chamber at his new restaurant, Blackbelly, in Boulder Colorado. He has also helped Paul C. Reilly, owner of Beast + Bottle, with butcher training for his sous chefs. Jason works closely with Colorado Division of Wild Life on new programs related to hunting, fishing, field processing, and the outdoors. He was the featured butcher at the 2014 COCHON 555, Ritz Carlton Denver, along with numerous local events like Denver Food and Wine, Bacon and Bourbon, Bacon and Beer Fest, and Beer and Bites at the Governor’s Mansion. This year, Jason will be the featured butcher at Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair in Houston.
Jason’s most current work is on a partnership with Dan Lorenz and Adrienne Larrew of Corner Post Meats in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This partnership will allow Rocky Mountain Institute of Meat to create an education center that will give everyone a chance to learn everything pertaining to small farming to the processes of butchering, cooking applications, and how it all ties together. Look for all the new and exciting things Jason will bring in the future!
