Butcher Cutting Instructions for 1/4 Beef

I had no idea what to name this postal service … "How to Butcher a Quarter Moo-cow", "Ground Beef and Everything Else", "Fill Your Freezer With a Happy Cow" … well, you meet what I landed on. Either way, this post is all about beef cuts and what to wait if y'all ever buy a quarter (or just double this info for a half) of a happy cow!

We've purchased a quarter of a moo-cow the last iii years, because ane) We like beef 2) I similar knowing where my meat comes from and 3) We phone call these happy, healthy cows – the kind that graze and are treated humanely.

Plus, at $3.29/pound – I tin't beat the cost.

Now, our beef isn't technically organic meat. The farm our cow comes from is merely a family unit subcontract that raises 2-3 cows each twelvemonth. They're grass fed until the concluding few weeks before butchering, and so they go a  fleck of grain in their diet because information technology marbles their meat.

The $3.29 is calculated on what they call hanging weight. Hanging weight is the terminal weight before the beef is butchered into various cuts. Our quarter cow totaled 161 pounds and toll us $531. It will last the states all year thanks to our deep freezer.

Once you lot commit to purchasing a share of a cow yous'll be given a range of what information technology volition weigh after butchering. And so the butcher will call you lot with verbal details and inquire some specific cutting questions. This baffled me for quite some time as I didn't know exactly what to do with each cut or how much of what cuts nosotros would need. Now, on round 3, I've narrowed downwards our favorites and figured I should share.

And so, for a quarter moo-cow this is roughly how the conversation with the butcher went …

A half beef is divided into the forepart quarter and the hind quarter. The front consists of chuck steaks, pot roasts, rib steaks, short ribs and soup bones. The hind consists of ground beefiness, superlative round, bottom round, t-bones, top sirloins, tender loins, flank steaks, sirloin tip, rump roast.

They'll ask for packaging purposes what thickness y'all'd like for each steak, typically 3/iv in to 1 in. We prefer 3/4 inch. Also, what weight you would similar for each package of ground beefiness, we opt for 1 pound packages, just if you have a large family you tin can easily request 1 1/2 pound or 2 pound packages.

They offer soup bones or stew meat – if yous don't want them they'll proceed them for dog bones and such. We always take them for os goop and we asking that the stew meet exist ground into extra basis beef packages.

The lesser and height round are unremarkably tougher cuts and then they'll offer to cube them (tenderize). This is where we got smart and we asked for these cuts to be cutting as thin as possible to use for carne asada or rouladen.

We always forgo the rib steaks and asking that it stay a rib roast also called a standing rib roast for our Prime Rib Christmas Feast. This is usually i big roast, simply we inquire that it be cut into ii because we all similar the salty outer crust from the Prime Rib recipe and having 2 roasts gives united states of america more than outside pieces.

For the curt ribs they'll offer a flanken cut, like for Asian short ribs where there is a circumvolve of bone with a footling chip of meat surrounding it. Instead, we ask for the larger, mesomorphic brusque ribs and we braise them in the oven.

If there are any cuts you are unsure of or don't know how to use, you tin can always ask that they just be ground into basis beef. Typically for a quarter yous'll get 25-30 pounds of ground beef. You'll see below that nosotros had our stew meat turned into ground beef which gave u.s. quite a chip of extra.

This is what it looks like once delivered. Our quarter beef included — 5 packages of rouladen/carne asada, 49 packages/pounds of ground beef, 2 packages of soup bones, 3 top sirloin steaks (2 steaks in each package), 2 packages of short ribs, 1 sirloin peak roast, 2 packages of T-bone steaks (2 steaks in each package), iii pot roasts, 1 rib roast, 1 rump roast, 1 packet of tenderloins and 1 package of flank steaks.

Over the next year I'll be sharing our favorite recipes for each cutting, I'll do my best to update this mail service so they all testify in one place. I've learned a lot about preparing meat beyond basis beefiness and accept officially awarded myself a homemaker bluecoat for "beef knowledge". It'south similar Girl Scouts, but for moms!

Stay tuned for …

• Carne Asada
• Crockpot Pot Roast
• Slow Cooker Beef Roast French Dip
• Shepard's Pie
• Beefiness Barley Soup
• Crockpot Enchiladas
• Crockpot Lasagna
• Braised Short Ribs
• BBQ Beef Sandwiches
• Mexi Burgers
• Prime Rib

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Source: https://thatmamagretchen.com/2014/07/what-to-tell-the-butcher-when-you-order-a-quarter-beef.html

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