Frequently asked questions
Approximately how much packaged meat is expected after cutting and trimming loss?
ANSWER – The processor determines the hanging weight on their certified scale; all costs are calculated based on that weight. After the processor weighs the carcass, the uncut beef sides are dry aged for normally 5-10 days or longer if desired. The uncut beef sides will lose some weight to dehydration while in the dry age process, but it is said to improve the flavor and tenderness; There is some fat, bone and other inedible material (about 40%) that is lost as scrap during cutting as well. It varies with the individual animal as well as the way you want your meat cut and packaged. On average,from hanging weight (carcass weight) to packaged weight, you can expect hanging weight to yield about a 60% yield of packaged meat if you take the usual cuts and save the variety meats; you may expect, near a 50% cutting loss if you request all boneless cuts.
EXAMPLE— A 600 pound side of beef minus a 40% (240 pound) cutting loss = 360 pounds (60%) of packaged meat, more or less.
Approximately how much room will I need in my freezer?
ANSWER—A good way to figure freezer space is to divide the carcass weight by 60 to get the cubic feet needed for the usual cuts.
EXAMPLE – 600 pounds of hanging beef divided by 60 = Ten (10) cu ft of freezer space needed, more or less.
Approximately how much of the various meat cuts can I expect?
ANSWER—This is going to depend in large part on the cutting instructions that you provide to the meat processor. Some want to save the liver, heart, tongue and ox tail, while some do not. Some customers like cube steak and some do not. Some prefer a large portion of stew , while others favor more ground beef.
A few years ago, Mary and I took a 430 pound side for our own consumption. This was a large animal that had a total hanging weight of 860 pounds. We specified our package sizes for all the available cuts. We did not ask for boneless cuts or additional ground beef. After picking up our meat we got an approximate usable weight by subtracting my weight with an empty container from a bathroom scale weight of me holding the container with the various cuts. Here’s what we had:
CHUCK RST -------- 52 lbs (16 packages) ROUND STK ------------- 18 lbs (6 packages )
SHORT RIBS -------- 10 lbs (4 packages ) CUBE STK ---------------- 5 lbs (4 packages )
SOUP BONES ------- 9 lbs (5 packages ) SIRLOIN STK ------------- 17 lbs (8 packages )
GRD. BEEF --------- 107 lbs (82 packages ) P-HOUSE STK ------------ 11 lbs (8 packages )
RUMP RST ---------- 9 lbs (2 packages ) T-BONE STK -------------- 10 lbs (11 packages )
RIB RST ------------- None RIB STK -------------------- 17 lbs (15 packages )
STEW BEEF--------- 10 lbs (6 packages ) SIRLOIN TIP STK -------- 10 lbs (8 packages )
VARIETY MEATS – Package ½ of heart, liver, tongue, kidney, and tail = 14 lbs total.
With our crude weight system we had 299 pounds total packaged.
So we had 299/430 = a fairly high 69.5% yield from hanging to packaged on a large animal.
Joe's Grass Fed Beef
Cell - Carol (541) 761-9191
E-mail joesgrassfedbeef@gmail.com.
Edward Lysogorski
6822 Dixie Highway, Bridgeport, Michigan 48722
FAX (989) 777-9070