East central Iowa, Camanche, Iowa | There are two basic yields-
1) Dressed weight or hanging weight - usually 60-63% cold weight.
2) Packaged weight after cutting. This weight can vary considerably based on the fat cover of the carcus, aging time and cutting preferences of your customer.
Note: This does not include the weight of the heart, liver or tongue.
When I was in the butcher business in the seventies I used the cattle off our farm. For the most part they graded choice with a yield grade of #2. I let the carcus age for seven days before I cut it and in those seven days I lost between 15-20# per carcus (evaporation). If the customer took all bone in cuts including soup bones, short ribs, 80% lean ground beef and a minimum amount of trimming the carcus cutting loss ran around 25%. If they wanted boneless cuts, no soup bone or short ribs and leaner ground beef the carcus cutting loss could get up to 30%.
What people are buying when they purchase carcus beef is a know quality and the convience of not having the go to the store to buy meat on a weekly basis. They are not saving much if any $$$ if you pencil in the cost of running a freezer and initial cash outlay to purchase a large quantity of meat. Plus it takes a considerable amount of management to be able to use up the entire carcus.
Pete Hinrichsen |
butcher beef?
