# Butchering your own cow?



## Zookeeper (Sep 7, 2006)

Have you done this? If so, I want to hear about it. Is it worth it? How many people should you expect to be doing the job? What tools do you need as a bare minimum? Are we crazy for even thinking such a thing? 

DH wants to purchase a cow, and process it himself. I am a little skeptical, but if we can do it successfully I am willing to help. We already do our own pigs, goats, etc. so not totally new to butchering, just seems like a cow would be a whole different story.

Obviously, people used to do it themselves, and I'm sure we could too...I just want to know what we're getting into I guess.


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## Snakeoil (Mar 13, 2005)

I've done it twice about 20 years ago. I personally would not (and haven't) do it again. I had a helper both times and used a tractor to haul the steer up off the ground. It is a huge amount of meat to handle at one time, and you really need to be have good meat cutting skills to do it correctly.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

An't know different than any other animal.I would say three people.Meat Saw is nice but have just Deboned it.Oh good grinder.

My wife has cut up and package Elk by herself.

big rockpile


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## vickie (Aug 8, 2002)

We do our own. Mainly to make sure we eat our meat and not someone's cow that we don't know what is in it. This is what we do. Early in the morning the steer is put into the pen closest to the house by its self. He gets cookies that is the standard treat for our cows. While he is finishing his cookies dh shots him in the head. Then he cut his neck to bleed. Then he is pulled up the pully ( we use a big tree) until he is off the ground. This is done buy my dh and his tractor. Because i tan the hide dh carefully skins him. Then guts him. We use to hang them in the garage and age for about 2 weeks. But we don't have the garage any longer so the cow is not aged other then in the freg. We have an island in the kitchen so i put down a blanket so the counter doesn't get scratched, then lay a new sheet of ply-wood. I spray this with food safe sanatizer and let it dry. Dh cuts the cow in half then into quarters. He bring these in and we cut, grind, and wrap each quarter. We set this in the freg for 1 week to age then into the freezer it goes. we use every bit. the bones are cooked and pieces of meat picked off for our dog food that i can, the organs we can eat, we package. The rest go to the chicken, they love it. The head we give to some cuben friends, the bone after cooking get wrapped for treat for our 2 great danes. This does take all day about 14 hours that is from shooting to kitchen clean up. I hope this helps. You can do it. We use a saws all on alot of this, so try to get one it makes it alot easier. Vicke


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## wolfwalkerpa (May 24, 2007)

vickie , has given some good advice. To age beef for 2 weeks the temperature must be cold .My dad always said whats missing from one piece will be on another piece .


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## flaswampratt (Apr 27, 2003)

We recently(2 weeks ago) slaughtered and butchered out our first. 

Since I intend to do this for my family from here on out, I employed the services of a freind from our church to teach me how to do the cuts properly and get the most from our cow("As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."Prvbs 27:17). 

It was more of an educational process for me and our family, it took over two days from start to finish, but Dave(the old butcher) likes to talk and explain exactly what and why he is doing something, and experience has taught him to set his knives down while talking.

Anyway, anyone (myself included) can cut and hack up a beast and get it frozen, it is altogether another thing to break down an animal and get premium cuts of meat and do so "Old School" style by de-boning 99.9% of the animal, as mentioned above.

Don't be scared to do this, just know going in that it is a HUGE amount of work, but well worth it. Try and get someone who has been there before to give you some pointers and encouragement.

Good Luck.........

<///><


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## Beeman (Dec 29, 2002)

Zookeeper said:


> Have you done this? If so, I want to hear about it. Is it worth it? How many people should you expect to be doing the job? What tools do you need as a bare minimum? Are we crazy for even thinking such a thing?
> 
> DH wants to purchase a cow, and process it himself. I am a little skeptical, but if we can do it successfully I am willing to help. We already do our own pigs, goats, etc. so not totally new to butchering, just seems like a cow would be a whole different story.
> 
> Obviously, people used to do it themselves, and I'm sure we could too...I just want to know what we're getting into I guess.


 Actually people didn't do much of this themselves. People used to eat mostly pork and chicken because of the ease of process and the ability to cure pork due to lack of refrigeration. You're in GA, unless you have a cooler to hang it in I don't see how you could cool it to cut it up. I would start with chickens and work up to hogs. Once you shoot it you're committed and a beef is a lot of commitment and money on the line.


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## mylala (Jun 3, 2008)

Beeman said:


> Actually people didn't do much of this themselves. People used to eat mostly pork and chicken because of the ease of process and the ability to cure pork due to lack of refrigeration. You're in GA, unless you have a cooler to hang it in I don't see how you could cool it to cut it up. I would start with chickens and work up to hogs. Once you shoot it you're committed and a beef is a lot of commitment and money on the line.


They already do hogs and goats...so a cow is working their way up.


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## Zookeeper (Sep 7, 2006)

Well here are some of my concerns. They mainly have to do with the HUGE size of a cow as compared to a pig or goat.

We have a hard time hoisting a 300-lb. pig onto our "tripod"...I don't know how or where we'd lift a cow...don't have a tractor but we do have a 1-ton pickup...I guess that could be used...but currently don't have anywhere to hang a 1000 lb. cow...don't think tripod would work...

Yes we are in GA. It does not get cold enough long enough here to cool an animal. And even if it did, we don't have an enclosed place to put it so that the dogs, etc. would not get to it. We do have a cannery/cooler just down the road which we could use, although they only operate during the week, which would mean DH taking off from work and missing a day or two of getting paid, which would totally negate (and then some) saving the cost of having a processor just do it for us. 

When we have killed hogs and goats, we do it when it's cold, but they do not hang long. We start cutting them up right away, which of course makes the meat much harder to work with, but we do okay. I just don't think it would work as well with a cow...so much more to work with. Plus if we're going to do this, I don't want to grind as much of the meat as I do with the pigs and goats (and therefore cuts are not as important)...I want GOOD cuts of steaks, roasts, etc.

We do not know the proper way to butcher meat. We have read charts and what-have-you and DH does pretty well, but still it's not really pretty cuts like a butcher knows how to do, and I'm sure meat is wasted too. DH wants to go to the cannery where they can teach him how to do this, but again, taking off of work is an issue. He could possibly do it once, and learn, and then could do it himself from then on.

DH's concern is that he feels that the times he has taken animals to a processor, he did not get all of his meat back, and I second his suspicion on this. 

I am concerned that it will end up just being me and DH doing the work. There are other people who want to go in on buying the cow, but I don't think they're going to come over and help with butchering. I don't know if 2 people can get it done.

My DH's weak spot, if there is one, is that he is often WAY overly optimistic about what he is able to do. I am just concerned this might be one of those times. And I hate to have an $800 cow at stake if he's wrong 

We are going to keep researching this and he will probably try it at least once. 

Please keep the comments/advice coming...I will take them all into consideration!! Thanks!!


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## firegirl969 (Nov 3, 2008)

Zookeeper,

Does your DH have vacation time? He might consider taking a day of it to go to the cannery and get help butchering the cow. That might be worth it in the long run. I agree with you about the security of your meat when taking it to a processor. My DH used to help his grand-dad cut meat at the local IGA, so he feels he can successfully do this. We found a hunting club that has a walk-in cooler, and they are going to let us hang our cow there to age. (DH is animal control officer, so he helps them out from time to time with their animals). Maybe you could find such a set-up near you and hang the cow to age and take 1/2 of it to the cannery for help after it has aged and then you and DH could do the other half at home yourself. Just an idea. Good luck, firegirl


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## Farmerwilly2 (Oct 14, 2006)

We hope to do ours (slaughter) this Saturday. If the weather holds as predicted. We got our food saver today, knives at the ready, ditto grinder, saw and hog rings for the hide. I'm hopin to run down a chain hoist tomorrow on the way in to work and some rod to bend into meat hooks. I still have one big question: smoke the tongue or pickle it?
There are two great series on Youtube, one on slaughtering and one on breaking down a carcass. They might help you.


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## retire2$ (Feb 12, 2003)

Yes, I have butchered beef. The key is preparation. Without a tractor you will need a hoist and a heavy duty support to attach the chain hoist. You will not get away with using a 4x4 supported by a couple of 2x4's. Your lifting system (while being heavy duty) also needs to be portable enough to move to where you shoot the animal or where it eventually drops. You will also need a stout piece of pipe to run through the hind leg for lifting. A piece of chain to connect the pipe and the chain hoist. I use a 9" knife for cutting the throat and for cutting large chunks of meat into manageable portions. A fillet knife and a razor knife are used for skinning. Once the animal is skinned and gutted I use a reciprocating saw with a new blade to cut down the backbone to split the animal in half. The 9" knife is used to divide front half from back half. I have a $100 meat grinder. Not super fast but it works for me. I have found that if I put the chunks of meat in the freezer so they start to freeze it grinds easier. You will also need wrapping paper of some type. We usually wrap 12 burgers individually in saran wrap and then place them in a vaccum bag. Also, with all that meat you will not be able to put it all in the freezer at one time. It's to hard on the freezer. Plan on using a couple of freezers (ask your friends if you can put the meat in their freezer until it freezes) or look into renting a meat locker. You can do it. The key is preplanning.


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## Woodroe (Oct 28, 2005)

We did one this year. Cow had fallen into the creek and broke leg. We got it out and put it down after discovering the situation. Used a tractor and then a chain hoist to hang the hams etc. After hanging it in a cooler room my neighbor has for 2 weeks it took 4 people a whole saturday to process. I would do it again because it saved several hundred in butcher fees


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## farminghandyman (Mar 4, 2005)

yes we do our own butchering, 
currently we have a meat room in the back of the barn with walk in cooler and walk in freezer, and a big grinder and band saw, and tenderizer and stuffer and so on and so forth,

I got the idea I want to lean how to butcher my own beef, and at first I would use the cold of the winter and run the tractor loader in the shop and hang it in the shop with a heater going to keep it above freezing, to let it age, and my cutting board was a piece of plywood on saw horses covered with butcher paper, the big thing was I had a friend who was a profresional butcher and do a divorce he had sold his locker plant and was needing some extra work, I hired him to help me cut the first ones up, (the biggest problem was he was so fast I had a very hard time following what he was doing), 

my suggestion, if you try this on our own, 

I suggest having some one who know how to cut it up (or there are a few videos one can get at the (think it is ask the meat man) there is massive info on this site, http://www.askthemeatman.com/
the videos, 
http://www.askthemeatman.com/meat_cutting_videos.htm

one person to make the basic cuts, one wrapper, and a few deboners, 
I suggest a boneless cuts, (or if your on good terms with the grocery store manager, take the loins in and have them cut/sawed into T bones and so on),
(you will still want a hand saw to cut through the bones to get in into working sizes,

it is do able but it is a lot of work and a home chest freezer will not freeze it very fast, if packed tight in the freezer, it can take up to two weeks to get the center froze, 

the first time on my own it took me a good long time to get the meat cut up and wrapped, 

you want a good grinder, powered if possible, and any trimmings will probably be ground into the hamburger, the larger the grinder, the easier it is, as the pieces to not need to be cut down to fit in the grinder, and dealing with the pieces, on my grinder it take more time to clean it up than it does to grind, it is a large commercial grinder,(some one put a bearing in backwards and it would lock up, so I got it very cheap), it has a 5 hp motor, and I can grind a entire cow in to hamburger in about 5 Min's, but using my #22 grinder and it is motorized, it would take a better part of the day to grind up that much meat, so it can be worth it, but having a good place to work to keep the meat clean, a hose if needed, a meat cutting saw, the long type, not a glorified hack saw, (a chain saw that is out of bar oil can be used to halve the critter), I used a electric chain saw for a number of years, and still have it for back up use if my other splitter saw gives up for some reason.

I really suggest one either gets the videos or some one who is a meat cutter to help you on your first effort, that is my opinion.


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## Cotton Picker (Oct 10, 2008)

Hi Zookeeper,

If you do decide to do your own butchering here is a nifty chart that might be of some help to you.

http://www.certifiedangusbeef.com/chef/beef_cuts_poster_4047.pdf

If it were me I would shy away from butchering a cow. The meat is kinda tough.

I would butcher a steer or heifer, or a young bull that has been fed properly.

Who says that you have to butcher a 1000lb steer? If you have the facilities you could either raise a bottle calf and butcher it at around 500lbs, or buy a weanling from a beef producer in your area. The meat to bone ratio might be less than a steer that had reached its hereditary growth potential, however, a smaller animal would be easier to handle and would supply you with a good learning experience.

Hope this helps


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## Zookeeper (Sep 7, 2006)

Cotton Picker said:


> Hi Zookeeper,
> 
> If you do decide to do your own butchering here is a nifty chart that might be of some help to you.
> 
> ...


This is one possibility we have talked about, and I think it's a good idea for several reasons. 

Or we might also end up with a Jersey bull, when our milk cow has another calf, so that would be a good one to butcher as well, younger like you said...around 500 lbs. maybe...

I like the idea of doing a smaller one because we wouldn't have to depend on other people coming over to help. May sound awful, but our experience seems to be that when at the mercy of needing help (even from those who will benefit from the work) it gets iffy. Also we'd know for sure what the animal had been fed and be assured of its health, etc.


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## Zookeeper (Sep 7, 2006)

farminghandyman...sounds like you have a nice setup. DH has already been looking at the askthemeatman stuff and will probably get a video.

We have two freezers, and if we did a 500 lb. animal, shouldn't that be enough freezer space to get it cooled down fast enough? 

firegirl...no, he does not have vacation time. He doesn't work, he doesn't get paid. But I'm sure between now and fall (probably when we'd do it) he can figure out a way to make up a day and take one off during the week. Our cannery also has the walk-in cooler, so we could do all our business there...plus they have all the saws and really good knives we'd need right there...along with a person who could help teach us what we're doing...I think it would be worth it to find a way to use them.

I have one of those $100 meatgrinders, too. But what I do with the hogs is freeze big portions of the parts I'm going to grind, and pull them back out one batch at a time, grind them, then refreeze in small packages, and that way I don't have to do all the grinding on butchering day. YES I know you're not "supposed" to thaw meat and refreeze it (not sure why, I've just had people tell me that) but I think it is fine.

Okay I am starting to feel more like we could do this. I just needed lots of info (and success stories from you all :clap

I can at least see what preparations we will need to decide on ahead of time, and we can start making decisions now.

I REALLY like the idea of raising one ourselves, and killing it at a smaller size.


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## DavisHillFarm (Sep 12, 2008)

Agree with Cotton Picker about a cow being tough. If we had a cow go down (grew up on a dairy farm) we'd butcher and grind the ole' girl up for hamburger.


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## Zookeeper (Sep 7, 2006)

Hmmm. Just called the cannery, and they said it would cost at least $150-$160 to have them hang it and help us cut it up. 

That is AFTER we slaughter, skin, eviscerate, and quarter the animal (isn't that half the work right there???)

That also does not count packaging.

That was more expensive than I thought it would be. We could put that $ into equipment that we could use over and over, plus a video we could refer to again and again...


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## Zookeeper (Sep 7, 2006)

DavisHillFarm said:


> Agree with Cotton Picker about a cow being tough. If we had a cow go down (grew up on a dairy farm) we'd butcher and grind the ole' girl up for hamburger.


Okay sorry...but I am a converted city girl so when I said "cow" I was just using a general term to mean some type of bovine animal (young bull, steer, etc.)  not necessarily a "cow" as in the proper use of the word.

 I'm really not a citiot, I SWEAR!!!


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## Cotton Picker (Oct 10, 2008)

Hi Zookeeper,

Now yer talkin'!! See... It ain't so tough, (Cow... OK... I'll leave ya alone on that one now.) No worries, once ya have an idea on how to proceed. Sometimes ya just hafta scale your ambitions back just a tad.

Just remember the Little Red Hen when askin' for help as you have already alluded. Spot-on about knowing what you have and what it's been fed. You also know that you are getting all of YOUR meat.

If you are not a grass-fed purist... I know, they're supposed to be healthier for ya and all. It's just that they can be chewy too, even straight off being milk-fed by their Mama... (Voice of experience with a full-blood Angus) I would grain the calf, starting at least 100 days before you knock it in the head. The meat will be much more tender.

Another plus for butchering the calf before it is full grown, regardless of the amount of grain that you feed, or don't feed, is that you will more than likely not have to deal with a bunch of waste, leaf and back-fat, (kinda a drawback to dairy beef.) I raised a Holstein steer once, grained him heavy and butchered him before he was fully grown. His meat looked so lean at slaughter, I just knew he was going to be tough as a boot. I was more than pleasantly surprised. 

Bulls are much the same way. They will pack on the lean meat with proper feeding. If you leave them as bulls and butcher them at 500lbs, they won't be bully and the extra testosterone from leaving the hardware intact will help him flesh out immensely over a comparable steer. I wouldn't even bother with stressing him by dehorning, (Unless you have an electric.)

Great idea about defraying the cost of butchering equipment with the savings from DIY. I haven't used one, however there is a combination meat saw/grinder out on the market.

Example:
http://www2.northerntool.com/food-processing/meat-saws/item-168655.htm

If you keep your eyes and ears open you might find a serviceable commercial saw too. Maybe the cannery has one that they are going to replace? They might be a source of other equipment too, either by sale or telling you where you might find some locally. Watch yer back buyin' equipment..... Don't buy a pig in a poke. Study up on prices... No excuse not to, with the Internet handy.

I would recommend that you buy a decent manual meat saw to split the carcass. If you're hard against it for investing in equipment you can split the carcass with an Axe. Some here have recommended using an electric chainsaw, (No bar oil... Of course.) Be careful using electric tools around any kind of water or blood, (Shock value could be rather unpleasant)

As for chilling the meat. You could invest in a couple of used refrigerators. Another way would be to fill your freezer with water-filled, milk jugs, (2 liter pop bottles etc.) Get you some ice chests. With a small critter, (500lbs live weight = about 250 hanging weight) you could chill the carcass with the ice, in the ice chests, if you knock it down into primal cuts first. By the by, Keeping your freezer full (Milk jugs or meat, etc.) will help it to be more energy efficient.

Primal info:
http://www.certifiedangusbeef.com/chef/cuts.php
This site also has that meat chart I posted earlier on it. Right side, about halfway down the page.

You could also chill the carcass in your freezer. Put the ice bottles around it and don't let it freeze. I would recommend boning the entire calf out. If you do it right there are three different solid muscle roasts that you can get off of the round, (Hind leg.) Top or Inside round... Bottom round or rump roast..... and the Eye of round.

You could cut up the bones, roast them in the oven (adds flavor) and simmer them down for beef stock or broth. Any left over fat could be run through the grinder and rendered down for tallow to make homemade soap or used for suet for the Tweety birds (In winter.) You could tan the hide too, or maybe sell it for a few bucks to the cannery.

There ya go....


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## Zookeeper (Sep 7, 2006)

Well Cotton Picker...it seems you were holding out on me with the info! :nana: That is all very helpful. 

You know I was thinking we had to hang the entire animal to cool. We actually have 2 freezers and an extra refrigerator so we could do it the way you're talking about with no problem! Yippee!!

Hey I'm actually getting a little excited about the thought of having a freezer full of yummo steaks. Like DH and I say, "If God hadn't intended for people to eat animals, he wouldn't have made them out of meat!" :rock:

Hey and I just noticed your quote from Frankl...very cool...he was my favorite theorist in "counseling school" and I am still in the ongoing process of trying to live by those words...


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## Cotton Picker (Oct 10, 2008)

Hi Zookeeper,

Glad that I could be of assistance. Glad you enjoyed the Frankl quote too.

Hey!!.... I'm A Member of PETA myself..... People Eating Tasty Animals.....


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## Oldcountryboy (Feb 23, 2008)

If there are any meat lockers in your area you might check them out and see if anyone has a beef half for sale. The rancher I buy my beef from will store a half a beef when he sells the other half. Sometimes when I call him he might say "Hey I've gat me a half beef already in the locker so just call them up and tell'em how you want it cut". 

So if they're is anyone waiting to sell the second half you might be able to take it home and process it yourself. Might save you a few dollars on cutting and wrapping and you'll get a little cutting experience to see if you ever want to do it again.


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## liyarra (Aug 26, 2009)

HI,
New to this forum, I am Jenni and live in Australia - been dairy farming for a few years and finally come home to the family property - raising cattle.
Got a question if I may...
Anyone got some suggestions. We had a 3yo heifer butchered a couple of weeks ago by a professional butcher. Calmy, quietly and she was real quiet in herself anyway. Hung for a week in the coolroom and cut up by the butcher. But the meat is virtually inedible. Cooked up what looked like a nice steak (porterhouse) on the bbq (to about medium rare) and it was as tough as boot leather. Bit worried about the rest of it now. The mince is fine and the sausages we made up are great but can anyone tell me how to tenderise the steaks?? really don't want THAT much ground beef LOL
This is the first time we have butchered one of our stock - should have probably done one we bred - this was a bought in Lowline - supposed to be good eating !!!!
Thanks.


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## petefarms (Oct 17, 2004)

Our present meat cutter charges $20. kill fee and .35 a pound cut and vacumn packed. To inexpensive to do myself and the amount of work involved in cutting and wrapping isn't worth it at this time. 
liyrra you need to marinate your steaks in marinade (your choice of flavor or italian dressing) preferably for 8 hours but one or two days is better. One of my customers did that and complained to me, but once the meat was marinated it is great however you cook it.


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## uncle Will in In. (May 11, 2002)

ZOOKEEPER <> DON"T SHOOT <> DON"T SHOOT <> PLEASE DON"T KILL SWEET OLD ELSIE WITH THE BIG BROWN EYES!! The kids will grieve for weeks if you do. I thought she was a family member.


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## 65284 (Sep 17, 2003)

I have a 10"X13" 1943 booklet, Handbook on Cutting Beef, prepared for the US Army by the National Live Stock and Meat Board.

It has 43 pages of charts, diagrams, very clear instructions, and 2-4 good size pictures of beef being cut on nearly every page. We used this when we processed our own beef and found it very helpful lots of useful info.

Sort of strange that this thread should come up today. Several folks that have seen this have asked for a copy. We are going to town today and I was going to try and have some made.

If anyone is interested let me know ASAP, the cost should be less than $10.00 including mailing.

Below is the contents page. 

CONTENTS

Beef in the Army Mess 2
Beef Cooking Methods 8
Beef Chart (Wholesale Cuts) 4
Beef Chart (Bone Structure) 5
Beef Chart (Hindquarter) 6
Making Cuts from the Beef Hindquarter 7.23
Removing Hanging Tender and Kidney Knob 8-9
Hanging Tender 9
Kidney Knob 9
Removing Flank from Hindquarter 10-12
Flank 11-12
CodFat 12
Separating Round from Loin and Rump 13-14
Cutting the Round of Beef 15-18
Knuckle (Tip) 15-16
Hind Shank and Heel 17
Inside and Outside Round 18
Removing the Tenderloin 19
Separating Loin End and Rump from Shell Loin 20-23
Sirloin-Rump Butt 22
Loin Strip 23
Beef Chart (Forequarter) 24
Making Cuts from the Beef Forequarter 2546
Trimming the Beef Forequarter 26-3 1
Trimming Neck 26
Trimming Back 27
Removing Neck Bones 28
Trimming Chine Bone 29
Removing Heart Fat 29
Puffing Membrane from Skirt and Plate 29-30
Removing Breast Bone and Rib Cartilages 31
Separating Wing from Cross-Cut Chuck 32
Catting the Wing 33-34
Boneless Plate 33
Boneless Rib 34
Cutting Cross-Cut Chuck (Outside) 35-41
Arm and Shank 35-37
Shoulder Clod 38-39
Outside Neck Meat 39
Chuck Tender 40
Removing Blade Bone 40-41
Removing Loose Meat 41
Cutting Cross-Cut Chuck (Inside) 42-46
Boneless Brisket 42-43
Inside Chuck 44
Boneless Neck 45
Rib Fingers 45-46
Roasting Tests 47
Army Beef (Fresh, Frozen, Boneless) 48
Revised Printing March, 1943


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## Chuck (Oct 27, 2003)

Done that. No fun at all. 14 hours of meat-cutting, 700 pounds of beef. VERY exhausting work!


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## MN Gardener (Jan 23, 2008)

We always have the butcher do it. We usually raise 3 - 5 steers, we keep one, sell the others. We have ours hung for 2 weeks and the butcher cuts it up the way we want it. Usually the sale of the others more than pays for the butchering and the cow so that's how we justify the costs. We just don't have the time for it, but prefer to eat our own beef. The butcher is a shirt tail relative and very honest so we know that we are getting our meat. We do butcher our own deer in the fall though.


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## Stephen in SOKY (Jun 6, 2006)

MN Gardener said:


> The butcher is a shirt tail relative and very honest so we know that we are getting our meat. We do butcher our own deer in the fall though.


Therein lies the problem most of us have. Seldom (If ever) do we get the beef back we took in. Butchers who sell meat by the cut are the worst. Take in a prime, grain fed steer, get back a cull cow they picked up at auction. Until I have a chill room to process my own, I'll continue buying cuts from the local butcher. I'm probably getting those prime steers my neighbors are taking in.


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## johnghagen (Feb 3, 2004)

It is not hard if you have the right equipment,we do it about once a year.Here goes,you need two have a chain fall or large pully Three poles two twenty feet long and one ten feet long to go across the top we used old utility poles we got for free.Place the long ones in ground four feet and notch out other one two set on top,you cut a flat spot on the side so each end will set on top of the uprights.Nail with two 8 or 10 inch pole barn spikes.End of day one trust me.Now you need to have a way to get power to here and two have a saws all and 8 inch blade.You will need good knifes and a one and a half or two Hp. grinder at least a number 22 or 32 size plastic wrap and butcher wrap waxed on one side not in the little box get a hold of your local locker plant and ask who they get there paper from or use Sams club. a paper holder plastic comes in a holder. Five clean plastic buckets and for large dish pans.You can cut up any wher that is clean and that can be kept that way.white formica on plywood workes great and you get two tables out of one sheet of each two feet by eight feet this is just right.A large bucket of clean rags for your hands and such or six rolls of paper towles.A bucket of warm water with some dish soap it cuts the oil and grease.A meat saw is nice but not a (have two have) you can bone out but thee is some waste if you dK now for the cow the day befor you give her no food only clean water all she wants it neds to be in its own pen and other cows ned to be away from this operation from start to finish.The next morning the cow will be ready to eat so take a bucket with a little corn in it to the pen it will follow you to the fore metioned utility poles pour corn on ground between poles.Have 22 mag ready to go as cow lowers head to get corn place rifle barrel behind ear faceing toward the front at a slight angle,you want to have bullet enter brain from behind ear so pay attention to angle pull triger cow is down becarefull will kick a few times come from front and feel jaw bone cut jugular now cow is brain dead but heart is still beating so will bleed out very well.Take hind legs and tie to the poles while on ground take front lrgs and secure to a couple of steel posts,you may have to postion the cow to do this use a ATV or tractor.Make a cut from chin to middle of tail then down each leg to the first cut do not cut to deep.Cut round each foot at angkel and star skinning down you will notice the hide making a blanket for the meat this is good.When you have skined the hide down as low as you can get to the ground you are ready to remove the insides.Cut from chin to top of breast bone and reach in and cut wind pipe free,Take sawall and hold almost parrell two breast bone cut thru it but stop three inches from the end twoard stomach.Take knife and cut thru but not into intestines take a hand full of paper towels and put up bung hole about six inches reach around and free up bung and tie with string.Carefully start to roll out guts on ground remove liver and kidneys and put in dish pan tie off throat above stomach then cut above string roll out all of the gut and remove from area.Now cut the wall of membrain from front of chest cavity and remove heart and lungs.Now start two lift the cow up and remove hide as it comes off ground notice no mess on meat.keep doing this till you get cow in air and hide removed and head cut off.Cut tongh free from back of head and remove from front.Cow is now in air with no guts and no hide clean up area and haul away.If it is cold which it should be if you started this thing stop for day two you will be ready.Good morning back truck under cow and have new or clean tarp in the bed to catch meat.We are going to quarter as this is easier two handle first cut three ribs behind the shoulder blade thru the back bos to remove front shoulders then split down the back bone nice and straight.Now lower cow down a little and cut right in front of hind quarters thru back bone then split back bone.Got four parts so far,now saw legs into and take every thing to cool for ten days you will be allright if weather is 30 to 42 F. Good Luck


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Zookeeper said:


> DH's concern is that he feels that the times he has taken animals to a processor, he did not get all of his meat back, and I second his suspicion on this.


I wondered if I was the only one that thought this. I'd be willing to bet some processers eat really good off of other peoples meat.


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## Jennifer L. (May 10, 2002)

I've posted before about losing a heifer to an accident and finding her several hours later. Fortunately it was early November and cool enough to hang her outside. Got her out with the skid steer and hung her in a tree. I did a quarter at a time and the first half was quite a learning experience. I finished her up at about the three week mark. (I intentionally let her hang that long for the last quarter, the others were done during the first week (one half) and second week (front quarter) and left the second rear quarter to hang until the end.)

So if it's cool enough you can certainly hold off on speed. But when you have two people working, you could work at least three times as fast as one person alone. I had never done it before and did everything with scalple blades and the cordless reciprocating saw. Managed to save the entire $1200 loss that way.

So just saying you can certainly do it if I could do it with not the right equipment and not much preparation for it.

Just wanted to add on the bit about getting your meat back from the butcher and wondering if it's yours, yes, I'd say that's not that uncommon. My neighbor has been using one guy for years and had good luck with him. Last time he got meat back it was the wrong cuts and was tough. Could be a mistake but the butcher wouldn't admit to it, so next time my neighbor is trying someone new out. The funniest thing about it is he switched to the butcher in the first place because he was being given someone else's meat at _another _ butchers! And he knew this because of the size of the pork chops he was getting back, was pretty obvious.

Jennifer


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## Jolly (Jan 8, 2004)

Down here, it's not uncommon for a rural school to have a "canning center", underwritten by school district dollars. No, they will not kill or skin your animal - they accept the carcass, only. Refrigeration times depend on the center's schedule and your wishes. You will also be required to be present to help the butcher (minimal training, don't ask for esoteric cuts) when he cuts up your animal(s).

The upside is that you have somebody butchering who know what he is doing, you have commercial grinders and meatsaws so the job goes faster, and you have nice big tables to work on with freezer paper supplied. If you are working on a hogs instead of a beef, they will usually smoke your sausage, ham or bacon for a small additional charge.


As for the initial killing and skinning...we always brought up an animal to stall or catch pen, corned them out for a week and then killed. We rarely shot cows, as we normally snubbed them to a post and used an eight pound sledge hammer. Most of the time we'd hang them in an oak tree, using a block and tackle to lift the carcass. Hides would be tacked on the back of the barn for later use as chair bottoms, etc.

As many have said, we normally butchered yearlings rather than heavy beeves. Easier to handle, and less to store.


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## KIT.S (Oct 8, 2008)

You don't necessarily have to hang the animal from something to butcher it. I've butchered moose out in the woods - and in central Alaska or on the Kenai Peninsula there aren't any trees big enough to haul up even a medium-size moose.

If you can position the animal on a hill, head down as much as possible, it will still bleed out acceptably.

Since you want to hang the meat for tenderness anyway, you only have to kill, skin, eviscerate and quarter it in one day. Not too much work for a couple people. Then hang the quarters, and you can finish butchering one quarter at a time, as you get to it. That's not nearly as bad to look forward to as doing an entire large animal in one day. Also gives your freezers time to get the meat frozen solid before putting in more to freeze.

Harbor Freight (also on-line) has a smallish band saw that we're getting before the next big animal we butcher. It's nice to have a powered bone saw, instead of a manual one.

Good luck! I really want to try beef-type sausage! I'm hoping for a couple deer this fall, as we aren't ready to raise a beef yet. 

Kit
Oregon now


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## Guest (Aug 29, 2009)

Several of you have referred to "aging" the beef, and I have heard somewhere that this is done to make the meat tender. Is this done without refrigeration? How does it tenderize the meat? Is this only done with beef? Sorry about the newbie question.


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## johnghagen (Feb 3, 2004)

Ageing is done to meat that has marbeling in the meat structure.Example the fat you see in the center of your rib eyes is marbling.Pork and deer do not have marbeling in there meat it is all on the outside of the cuts,so aging them would have very minimal effect.What happens to the meat is that starts to break down the minute it it killed and aging is the controlled method of using this for your advantage.You dont want to hold your meat at 32F because it will freeze and you dont want to be over 40 as it will break down to fast(spoil).On the homestead this can present a problem as you have to predict the weather for the next ten days for the beef to break down properly.We try to shoot for 30 0r 32 at night and no higher than45 during the day.Remember the most important thing on the homestead is to chill your meat all the way thru before your process for the freezer,take a instant read therometer and stick it in the thickest part of the carcass and you will be amazed at how long it takes to chill out. Have a great day God Bless John


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

mylala said:


> They already do hogs and goats...so a cow is working their way up.


Working their way up to what? an elephant?


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## ihedrick (May 15, 2005)

I've not butchered a cow; but woould give it a try. I was told by so many that butcherig a hog would be too hard for me to do; just me and my kids. It was work; but we learned alot together and have great memories as we prepared each package of meat that we processed. We even had a professional butcher tell me once that I couldn't butcher a pig or cow; it had to be done by a butcher. he didn't take too kindly when I asked who did the settlers take their stuff to; didn't they do it themselves? Worse case scenario is you'll have lots of hamburger and pay someone else to cut up your next beef project.


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## Wanda (Dec 19, 2002)

Make a plan and stick to it! When the bullet hits the mark there is no turning back.
The clock moves fast when you are you are using up options so keep it simple and quick.
If I were you I would look at doing a 450-500 lb. calf for the first time. It will give you beef for the winter and a chance to learn!
Most people underestimate the large amount of meat and waste that you have to deal with from a full sized beef. Nothing like digging a hole big enough for a few hundred pounds of guts and scrap after a hard day butchering.
The other thing you need to look into is if your freezer is able to handle that much warm meat at one time.


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## michiganfarmer (Oct 15, 2005)

Chuck said:


> Done that. No fun at all. 14 hours of meat-cutting, 700 pounds of beef. VERY exhausting work!


werent you a ranger? I know it isnt quite the marine corps, but suck it up, LOL


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## Farmerwilly2 (Oct 14, 2006)

Yea, it's a lot of meat. It's a lot of work. It is doable though. Our pigs love slaughter days, they eat like pigs. For a carcass the size of a beef you either need a cooler or the weather to cooperate. Since ya'll been slaughtering smaller animals I suspect you have the equipment you need.
The tasks can be broken down and spread out over time. You can slaughter and hang one day. Cut liver, trim heart and tongue the same day or the next (I think it peels easier when it's cold). You can start stretching and fleshing the hide another day. 
Once it's been aged you can process a 1/4 at a time, if the weather plays nice. Like most things the more hands you have helping the 
easier is. I like having a vacuum sealer, well more precisely, the Mrs. loves having the sealer. 
If you decide to do it yourself have your game plan layed out before you shoot. That includes having a full bottle of propane for the grill and adult beverages. I find searing meat and a longneck make the process more feastive. Feel free to grunt, wipe off grease with the back of your hand and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Your ancestors will smile down on you.


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