Produce off the island

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“I make surethe animals arenot thrown around too much in the truck; the least amount of stress for the animals is always the best bet,” he said.

From Radford’s, the carcassesare delivered to the Ventnor shop.

“I do everything; we break everything down from the carcass to the final product in the window, includingsausages.”

Jake estimated that he was able to get about 40 cuts out of an animal, which is broken down and dissected in different ways. His favourite cuts are rump cap and rib cap from which he produces a variety of scotch fillet andrump steak.

“You generallywon’tfind them in a shop. The rib cap you won’t find in a shop -that’s the butcher’s secret -the best bit,” he said.

“That’s all Black Angus, grass-finished, grass-raised -consistent quality, consistent good feed, good genetics. If you start getting crossbreeds and substituting that with your beef, you start to get alot of inconsistencies in colour and flavour and structureofthe actual beef.

“By dealing with the samepeopleI’m confident the way it’s raised and produced.Itshows in the final product.”

The final product is pricierthanin most butcher shops,but you pay for intense, hand-made quality.

Jake takes particular careand pride with his sausages,which come in a variety of flavours.

“The sausages areall trial and error, tryingdifferent ingredients with differentmeats and ratios.It does take somepersistence and time to create something,” he said.

“It seems very simple -ahumble sausage. Thereis morethan meets the eye. Thereisnice quality meat in our sausages -nofat. We aremeticulous in the quality of the meatthat goes into the sausage.”

The business alsosellssome lamb, but “it’s hardtoget lots of lamb offthe island”.

“The majority is through Gippsland. We have hadsome from the island, but not the numbers we would like,” he said.

Jake and Tania have two children aged five and two-and-a-half;the oldest is starting school this year

“Wehavevery goodschoolsonthe island. It’s atough pick,” he said.

Of one thing he is certain: “I don’t want them to become butchers! Youhave to be away from your family working. It’s asacrifice you have to make or not.”

Every working family needs abreak; the McStaysare heading to Queensland for twoweeks for their one holiday of the year

“A couple of weeks is all Ican get,” said Jake.

But he’s in for the long haul.

“I have no plans on leaving, Ilove the island. It’s agreat place to live and have abusiness.”