# of steaks from a beef..poll

Ok, just curious what you get, or expect to get, from a yong butcher steer. small to moderate framed. Last 4 I brought in hang weights were 600,634,670, and 686. All 12 months of age. Butcher says I should expect 14-18 ribeyes, and about the same for T-bones. This is based of 3/4" thick steaks. So this puts each 1/4 at 4-6 steaks each. Is this what youall see? These are mostly red angus, with a mixture of shorthorn, normande, charlias, pinz,hereford, and a few with some simmi. Just want to be able to provide new customers with what to expect to get. Seems people think a "cow" has an unlimited number of prime cuts when you are used to buying from a store. Just a side note, out of these 4 (all same breeding as listed, corn/pellet fed since weaning all bulls) One was not well marbled and slightly tougher than the others. The other 3 people raved at how tender and tasty it was. Spoke with butcher and he said he noticed that and said with bulls, even steers some times you get one for some reason that does that, he said they all had a great fat cover, but one not marbled well. Said certain breeds do that too. Any one gone throug that??

Your comment re unlimited cuts reminds me of SIL, not farm raised. We split a hog with him, he liked the bacon so much he said he wished he had all of it made into bacon!

There's to many variables in beef to tell.
The limousine has the best bone to meat ratio and can yield up to 82 % HHW.
They been butcher carcass champion many years in a row.

(quoted from post at 07:39:27 07/11/13) Your comment re unlimited cuts reminds me of SIL, not farm raised. We split a hog with him, he liked the bacon so much he said he wished he had all of it made into bacon!

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I was ask that by a guy just last week.

Rick

Just curious. Why do you butcher them so young/small? We tend to wait until 15+/- months and rarely have one hang below 800lbs. We've had angus, semis, herfords, and limousines. I agree the limousine guy. Were the best and fastest growing. Had one hang at 1100lbs at 16 months. He was a feak of nature though. All the rest were in the 850-900lb range at the same age. Wish more were available in this area.

I heard that a city guy ask how many hams from an average size hog. I like to make fun of city guys because they have called me a hick so long.

That is just how we have always done it. From weaning to full grain/pellets. @$2.25 a pound we seem to be money ahead at this weight, and ,usually, the meat is super tender. Selling a 1/4 to som eone usually shares our number

Dave, it all depends on how honest your butcher is. Most butchers I have observed, have glass meat cases with choice steaks and roasts for sale in their retail store front. You will see that they always sell lots of steaks, roasts, and other nice cuts, but not so much ground beef, etc. Most butchers around here have historically took choice steaks out of customers hanging sides of beef and made a nice profit out of it. That is why I don't fool with any home grown beef - - to hard to find an honest butcher.
Tom

(quoted from post at 18:22:56 07/11/13) Dave, it all depends on how honest your butcher is. Most butchers I have observed, have glass meat cases with choice steaks and roasts for sale in their retail store front. You will see that they always sell lots of steaks, roasts, and other nice cuts, but not so much ground beef, etc. Most butchers around here have historically took choice steaks out of customers hanging sides of beef and made a nice profit out of it. That is why I don't fool with any home grown beef - - to hard to find an honest butcher.
Tom

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on't I know it.
I had once a 470 lb dressed weight bison heifer processed by a butcher with a meat counter, I ended up with +/-80 lb of meat and 2/3 of that was hamburger. When I demanded the rest of the meat he said Buffalo don't yield that much.
He would not come clean.. the crook.

(quoted from post at 10:19:31 07/11/13) Just curious. Why do you butcher them so young/small? We tend to wait until 15+/- months and rarely have one hang below 800lbs. We've had angus, semis, herfords, and limousines. I agree the[b:34d0954137] limousine [/b:34d0954137]guy. Were the best and fastest growing. [b:34d0954137] Had one hang at 1100lbs at 16 months. He was a feak of nature though.[/b:34d0954137] All the rest were in the 850-900lb range at the same age. Wish more were available in this area.

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That must have been a double muscle, I had one of these "freaks" weigh in at 1125 lb,(1420 lb on the hoof) after deboning the whole carcass it ended up having only 100 lb of bones in it.
There was a ell of lot of meat though :wink:

My daddy went to school on the subject TAMU and opened a
steak house when he got out of the army. He taught me that
Aberdeen Angus was the best meat to bone due to their small
frames and that they marbled the best. I run black cows today
on my farm.

He only sold corn fed Kansas City Angus which he bought from a
local wholesaler who hung the carcasses in his cooler for 2
weeks to get a little age mold on them before he sold them to
daddy.

Dad had a walk in cooler and had the "butts" (top sirloins) and
Rib/NY Strip sections hanging on hooks. Had a glass door to the
cooler for viewing. Had a large wooden butcher block right
outside the door.

Customers that wanted a custom cut would be taken back to the
cooler and they picked the hanging butt they thought they
wanted. He put it on the block, trimmed off the ageing coating
and while looking up at the customer started moved his knife
across the meat until the customer said stop. He didn't charge
extra for the service.

He cooked them on a 3/8" curved, perforated steel grill using
only green hickory. Made fresh rolls daily, double risen, and a
26 veggie salad. Only place I ever ate where you got a pat of
butter with your salad crackers and more for the rolls. Baked
potatoes rounded out the meal with all the trimmings.

He made and marketed his own salad dressing, a Blue Cheese
Italian type and his own steak sauce. Drippings from the grill
were what made the SS divine.

Duncan Hines Ice cream, Strawberry Short cake, or home made
pies were available for those that had room.

He had national customers that would stop by for a meal when
in town.

Made growing up nice for a young lad. Had a place to work and
all I could eat.

Mark

The longer the cow the more steaks you get.

Angus back then were short pudgy over fat critters.
Fat is bad for ye. :wink:
Grain fed is even worse cause grain retains all the chemicals used to grow it and that stuff ultimately end up in the fat and meat..

Eat healthy ,...eat grass fed BISON :wink:

I don't disagree with you in the slightest. Back then when I was
a youngun I'd eat the fat off the rind. Loved it.

Agree on the longer the more choice cuts. I slobber over those
rodeo bulls. How do they get them so long? How may Rib Eyes,
Clubs, and NY strips are along the back bone of one of those
suckers.....course I don't know what their tenderness factor
is.....probably pretty low.

But the short, fat, squatty critters were marbled to perfection and
marbling is where the flavor and tenderness are and that is what
made Aberdeen Angus what it was and is today.

What breed is the specialty in most any big chain grocery store?
Sure ain't Limousine. I think I have seen some buffalo from time
to time. But it's Angus and graded USDA Choice....only choice
cuts you find in a grocery store down here.

Mark

(quoted from post at 16:26:50 07/12/13) I don't disagree with you in the slightest. Back then when I was
a youngun I'd eat the fat off the rind. Loved it.

Agree on the longer the more choice cuts. I slobber over those
rodeo bulls. How do they get them so long? How may Rib Eyes,
Clubs, and NY strips are along the back bone of one of those
suckers.....course I don't know what their tenderness factor
is.....probably pretty low.

But the short, fat, squatty critters were marbled to perfection and
marbling is where the flavor and tenderness are and that is what
made Aberdeen Angus what it was and is today.

What breed is the specialty in most any big chain grocery store?
Sure ain't Limousine. I think I have seen some buffalo from time
to time. [b:26e96d390a]But it's Angus and graded USDA Choice....only choice
cuts you find in a grocery store down here.[/b:26e96d390a]Mark

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SDA choice,..isn't that 50-50 fat-meat :winkpersonally i can't stand fat)
One would almost say the texas longhorn(stringy as "ell) would be the meat of choice in a Texas grocery :lol: :wink:

Every breed has animals that can be tough or tender,..angus ain't no different.
It depends how they are raised, handled before during and after transport and butchered, and then there's plenty cooks that can turn a otherwise good steak into sole leather.