Dawson City backyard butcher offers house-smoked, raised-in-Yukon meats

House-smoked sausages and farm-raised bacon; dry-cured salamis and aged steaks: They're the coveted offerings of a high-end, big-city charcutier — and now, a backyard butcher in Dawson City, Yukon.

BonTon Butcherie and Charcuterie is the brain-child of Shelby Jordan, a trained butcher and inspired sausage-maker.

She works from a private workshop and kitchen in her backyard, salting, smoking and curing meats.

The best part: everything is 100 per cent made in Yukon.

"A big push that I personally have is to improve the access to locally sourced meats for people in Dawson," Jordan said. And not just Dawson City, but all communities outside of Whitehorse, she added.

"Down there you guys have lots of access. But here, it's not as easy."

Jordan gets her beef, pork and elk from Yukon farmers, mostly in the Whitehorse area.

She started from scratch, building her kitchen and workshop, which includes a hanging cooler and aging room.

"Over the past year I've been putting the pieces together," Jordan said.

"[I've] been getting some salamis going ... getting the smoker all queued up, that sort of stuff."

Now those labours of love are finally ready for the market. But Jordan is clear: it's not a storefront. At least not yet.

Selection varies from week to week

Jordan makes her products only as Yukon meats are available, and supply is limited. Aging can take weeks or months (to see "where the flavours take us," says BonTon's website). Selection varies from week to week.

But although it's a backyard business, BonTon Butcherie is anything but amateur in its operation. All the meat is territorially-inspected, and the kitchen is approved for caterers or small producers who need a professional space to prepare food for the public.

Jordan expects that come fall, people will be looking to her to butcher their kills, and make sausage with ground wild meat.

"A lot of people have been asking if I'll do butchering of their game, which of course I will," Jordan said.

She's just recently set up a website, where people can get alerts when she has products ready to sell. They can also sign up for delivery, "in Dawson only," or for pickup at the back door of her shop.

Jordan's taking it slow, and letting her business develop naturally — the same way as she cures her meats.

"The best case scenario, I'll be happily busy every day of the week, just making things," she said.

"Maybe down the road it will evolve into a store."

You can find Dawson City's BonTon Butcherie and Charcuterie online, at www.bontonbutcherie.com.