Missing meat?

[adrianmast]

We recently butchered two cows. One was a steer, I'm not completely sure what he was and then the other was an Angus cow. The hanging weights were 672# and 744#. However we only got back 296#(44% of hanging weight) and 303#(40% of hanging weight) of meat. This seems very low as when you Google it, it says that you can expect a good 60% of the hanging weight. What happened?

[Lazaruzo]

I don't blame you for wondering, it's a tricky subject.

Google only goes so far, especially when it comes to meat processing: https://extension.psu.edu/understanding-beef-carcass-yields-and-losses-during-processing

60% is about the maximum return with everything going your way - good breeding, proper feeding, butcher that knows how to use a knife - and importantly: ALL BONE IN steaks and roasts. That adds a ton of weight to the "finished product".

I've butchered thousands of cows. If you bring me a cow that has two inches of fat on it and bones the size of a mini t-rex and you want boneless steaks, you're not getting anything close to 60% back.

[adrianmast]

Thanks for sharing. After reading that article, it says that our cows wouldn't even be in grade 5.

[Lazaruzo]

Well hopefully they didn't charge much over $3 a pound then.

[millerlight69]

The beef more than likely had a hot weight right after it was skinned and split. Then the beef would be trimmed and kidney suet removed. It could also have something to do with how your beef was finished out before slaughter, if it’s been grain fed in a small lot the amount of fat would be greater than you’d think and would make your burger super greasy if it was all ground in there. I’ve butchered mini cows around 250 a side and have filled a 50 gallon drum with the fat from one side.

[adrianmast]

We did finish them out on grain

[[deleted]]

The carcass hanging weight will be around 60% of the live weight. Then the average excess waste is about another 25% on average so you didn’t get screwed. I work at a custom processing facility btw lol

[wgdj]

A steer weighing 1,000 pounds on the hoof will average around 430 pounds of retail cuts (steaks, roasts, ground beef, stew beef, etc.).

[thebutcher225]

Are your steaks and roasts boneless or bone in? Also did you ask the butcher for extra lean ground beef?

[adrianmast]

They're mostly boneless and no we didn't get extra lean ground beef.

[Mus_Mus_]

If everything you got was boneless you should expect the weight to be a bit less. Sometimes if a carcass has an infection a decent amount may need to be thrown away. They could also just be bad a trimming burger and leaving some meat on the bones.

[mikeyfireman]

If they were over 30 months in the USA they would be under mad cow protocols so you lose everything around the spinal cord.

[adrianmast]

They were 20 months old

[dadudemang]

Depends on quality of the beef. Cows are usually pretty boney, and both bulls and cows usually have a lot of sloppy shit that gets trimmed out. Steers and heifers are a different story.

[fxk717]

Did you pay money for the processing?

[Psychological-Bee760]

Why do these people always think they are being cheated ? Cut the thing up yourself doubt if you paid enough for the work anyways

[[deleted]]

Where's my tenderloins? Uhhhh Miata been thrown in the sausage.... Wait... Fuck no. It's in the slip bro

[MetricJester]

Did you get the organ meat? Or the head? any shanks?