First trip to butcher....

[GANGGREEN]

what do I need to know? I'll be taking a young Highland bull and a young Highland steer to the butcher next week. I've never done this before and want to make sure I don't make any mistakes or forget to ask the right questions.

Here's the set up. I've heard good and bad about the butcher (the bad came from only one person) and they have a nice website, responded quickly to an email and were polite and professional on the phone when I made an appointment. They charge $50 for a kill fee and $.40 a pound for cut and wrap in cellophane or vacuum sealing.

I don't really care for the "other parts", ie. the tongue, brain, kidneys, etc.. I might keep the liver for friends, though my family and I don't care for it. For the rest, I'd like primarily boneless steaks and roasts, the whole brisket and the rest as burger.

What am I forgetting? Any thoughts or opinions about what cuts I should definitely ask for and which I should avoid? Should the butcher pay me for the "other parts" or am I just sacrificing them if I don't want them? I'd presume the hide goes to the butcher and I can keep the horns, right?

Of course I'll go over all of this with them when I take the animals in for slaughter, I just want to prepare myself. Anyone have any thoughts for a newbie as it relates to the butchering game? Lastly, I'm curious about all the rumors you here of butchers shorting you on meat or giving you meat that didn't come from your animal. I can see an unscrupulous butcher shorting you because they could eat or sell the meat themselves but I've never understood what would motivate them to switch your meat with someone else's. Any thoughts about that scenario?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jalopy]

Do you have any dogs? They could get some value from the "other " cuts. But I am frugal so that may not be worth it to you. As for being shorted you could weigh the live animals and as a guide/rule of thumb you should get back between 32-35% of your live weight as boneless frozen beef. We have one scheduled and our price locally is $.42/lb. If you want the horns make sure that they know this in advance so that there is no misunderstanding. But otherwise I agree with what you are ordering but I also order shortribs but that is our preference. Good luck.

 

[S&S Farms]

see if your butcher does any of the newer value cuts like the denver cut or the medalion or the flat iron steaks. I personaly love flat irons tender and smaller than a ribeye I dont actually need over 10 oz at a time. Yes I would rather have more just dont need it. I personaly never see another roast fine with me. If you like tex mex keep the skirt steaks or they make good philly cheese. Now I am hungry :cboy:


Does your butcher make hamburger or ground beef? There is a difference. I perfer ground beef

Jeff

 

[angie1]

Does your butcher make hamburger or ground beef? There is a difference.

Fine then, I'll ask. Whats the difference?

 

[The Blue Belgian]

Make sure to get your meat vacuum sealed. Less chance of freezer burn and it will last longer.

What's the difference between "hamburger" and "ground beef"?
Beef fat may be added to "hamburger," but not "ground beef," if the meat is ground and packaged at a USDA-inspected plant. A maximum of 30% fat by weight is allowed in either hamburger or ground beef.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Factsheets/Ground_Beef_and_Food_Safety/index.asp

I'm guessing you're giving away the parts you don't want.

 

[GANGGREEN]

Good points so far and much appreciated. I guess I didn't know there was a difference between hamburger and ground beef either. I prefer very lean ground beef so I'll make a point of it.

I've never tried the flat iron steaks but that brings up another point. Although I sometimes overindulge, I also prefer smaller cuts. I've seen some homegrown beef that came back from the butcher in absolute enormous cuts. The typical sirloin, ribeye, NY strip, etc. should all come back looking like what I'm used to from the supermarket, correct?

 

[S&S Farms]

Does your butcher make hamburger or ground beef? There is a difference.

Fine then, I'll ask. Whats the difference?

hamburger can have the organs like heart and kidneys added to the grind.


Jeff

 

[Auburn_Ag]

Does your butcher make hamburger or ground beef? There is a difference.

Fine then, I'll ask. Whats the difference?

hamburger can have the organs like heart and kidneys added to the grind.


Jeff

Not where I use to work. We didn't use any organs in our hamburger. However I do know in commercial packing house are allowed a very small % of other in there hamburger. There was a guy locally who got in trouble for using to much hearts in his hamburger. It was somthing like 60/40.

 

[I luv herfrds]

How thick do you like your steaks? 1/2", 1" or thicker? We get ours cut to 1". How many per package? We get 2 steaks. How much do you want your roasts to weight? We have them at 3lbs. How much burger per package? 1lbs, 1 1/2 lbs, 2lbs? We get it at 2lbs.
I keep the tongue and pickle it for my son.
Our butcher charges $30.00 kill fee and $.35 a pound to process it. We sign a bill of sale for the hide and he sends it off to be made into gloves.

As for the stories about some butchers switching meat yes it is true. We had sent a steer into one place and I wondered later if we had gotten our beef back or not. There was a butcher near us that would add water to the ground meat to make it heavier because he was keeping some of the meat for himself. People noticed that these big steers were not producing as they should. He got run out of town.
Now there are some good butchers out there and if this one you are going to is a good one, stick to him.
We have a pretty good we go to now.
One more thing, check and see how "clean" you steaks are. What I am talking about is bone flakes. One butcher would not make sure they were gone and it is unpleasant to bite into one. Our other butcher has a tool that is run over the surface of the steak that removes any bone flakes.

 

[3waycross]

Does your butcher make hamburger or ground beef? There is a difference.

Fine then, I'll ask. Whats the difference?

hamburger can have the organs like heart and kidneys added to the grind.


Jeff

Jeff I believe the product you are refering to is technically called "PURE ground beef" That's how we were taught to refer to anything with any cheek or organ meat in it.

 

[DavisBeefmasters]

1. Hang time in the cooler prior to cutting -- do you like it to be 14 days or 21 days... does it matter to you? will they honor your request?

2. Vacuum pack vs. paper wrap... personal preference... some folks say vacuum others say paper (we have seen both get freezer burn if not done properly - we prefer paper so you don't have to worry about nicking and breaking the corner of the vacuum pack once it's frozen)

3. Thickness of the steaks

4. Quantity of steaks per package (2, 3, or 4?), pounds of hamburger/ground beef per package (1# or 2#?)

All good stuff -- and now I'm hungry for a steak... good thing today is Cattlemen's day at the state fair, good dinner tonite!

 

[dun]

All of the cutom cutters we've ever dealt with has a check off sheet to covers all of the possible choices. May not have some of the "newer" off ball named cuts listed though

 

[GANGGREEN]

I really appreciate all the helpful advice. For what it's worth, I'm thinking of 10-14 days hanging time and they said that would be fine if the animal has enough carcass fat. Remember, these are Highland beef that we're talking about and they typically have less carcass fat because of their heavy hair coats.

Really helpful advice about the ground beef/burger, I was previously unaware of that.

I'll probably do vacuum sealing, 1" steaks, 2 to a bag, 3 pound roasts and 1 pound bags of ground beef.

Thanks again and keep them coming.

 

[chippie]

We have our hamburger put into 1 pound packages because they thaw faster than larger sizes and it is easy to take out as many packages as you need. I also request that it be lean.
I had 20 pounds of pan sausage made from the last steer I took. The all beef lean sausage is great.

Just talk to your butcher and don't worry about asking questions.

 

[spoon]

I really appreciate all the helpful advice. For what it's worth, I'm thinking of 10-14 days hanging time and they said that would be fine if the animal has enough carcass fat. Remember, these are Highland beef that we're talking about and they typically have less carcass fat because of their heavy hair coats.

Really helpful advice about the ground beef/burger, I was previously unaware of that.

I'll probably do vacuum sealing, 1" steaks, 2 to a bag, 3 pound roasts and 1 pound bags of ground beef.

Thanks again and keep them coming.

Not to trying to steal the thread but can someone explain what the amout of fat has to do with the length of hanging time?

 

[S&S Farms]

Not to trying to steal the thread but can someone explain what the amout of fat has to do with the length of hanging time?

The thicker the fat cover the longer you can hang a carcass The layer of fat protects the meat from mold. Try to let them hang as long as possible The muscle are breaking down making them more tender. One of our local packers still let them hang three weeks if you have enough fat.

Jeff

 

[show steer up]

you might look into getting some beef jerkey. We just put our order in today, we got green chili, red chili, black pepper.
We also ordered brats, green chili and cheese, jalapino and cheese
Yum Yum

 

[grannysoo]

I don't know if our processor is different from others, but he wants for you to be there when he does the work. He brings you into the work area tells you the options that are available for each section of the cow. You want steak? How thick, how many per pack? You like ribs or want them made into stew? Extra fat in the hamburger or like it lean? Each section that he cuts/processes, you get asked the right questions.

 

[GANGGREEN]

grannysoo, that sounds like real service. Personally, I'd be thrilled to be there. First of all, I'd like to see the quality of the meat first hand, to see how he finished and where there might be room for improvement. Secondly, I'd like to learn a bit about beef processing first hand. Lastly, I guess you'd be pretty confident that there were no shenanigans going on with the processing if you got to see part or all of the process. Sadly, I can't imagine that I'll get the invitation but maybe I'll mention it.

 

[dun]

The first time we use a butcher I invite myself to be there when they cut it. After the first time, if there is a second time I don;t bother. They had to have done things to my liking the first time or there wouldn't be a second.