Hanging weights/final weights

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boondocks

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Picked up 2 steers tonight from butcher. They looked pretty decently marbled, even for grassfed. Hanging weights were 734 and 780. That's up over 100 lbs per steer from last year and hopefully a sign that we are maybe, just maybe, getting the hang of this and adding some good genetics.

Customers always ask what the final weight was. Do ya'll step on a scale holding all the meat, or what? :lol: (Our butcher doesn't provide final weights). Online research estimates that anywhere from 10-35% is lost between hanging weight and packaged weight. I have discarded the 10% figure as an outlier; then assumed, since ours were lean, that we may be a touch toward the lower end; but then (wanting to be conservative and not PO customers) added a bit back on. In other words, guesswork! I suppose it would be safe-ish to tell customers to expect a 20-25% loss from hanging to final weight? Or is that too low?
Any advice/experience? Thanks!
 
Son of Butch":jxtg3pqm said:
IF you want to weigh it easy, yet accurate, weigh your vehicle before and after picking up each.


Interesting point, hadn't thought of that. Although gas consumption may affect...Unless we could find a scale nearby. Or weigh it full then top if off...
Do you think the 20-25% is in the ballpark generally?
 
My fearless prognostication: 1,111 lbs take home from the 2 of them.
734 + 780 = 1514 - 403 = 26.6%

My butcher is located 6 blocks from the elevator's weigh scale... isn't everyone's?
 
Son of Butch":3fwlptbc said:
My fearless prognostication: 1,111 lbs take home from the 2 of them.
734 + 780 = 1514 - 403 = 26.6%

That was about what it felt like in the coolers...not way off anyway.
It's funny how people expect everything exact, like the meat is lab-grown. One customer was sharing his order with a relative and fretted a bit because there were not even numbers of every single steak and roast. :shock:
 
Take home is roughly 44% of live weight
Your butcher has the right idea and avoids the subject by not providing take home weights.
It always shocks buyers and they assume the butcher is stealing meat.
 
Son of Butch":2che1npb said:
Take home is roughly 44% of live weight
Your butcher has the right idea and avoids the subject by not providing take home weights.
It always shocks buyers and they assume the butcher is stealing meat.

Agree. We did have a local butcher (now closed up shop for reasons which will become apparent momentarily) who openly talked about how part of his employees' perks were that he gave them some meat off every animal he butchered. Said like it was no big deal.
 
Son of Butch":3blh792h said:
Take home is roughly 44% of live weight
Your butcher has the right idea and avoids the subject by not providing take home weights.
It always shocks buyers and they assume the butcher is stealing meat.

I agree. Many different ways to process meat. Boned or bone-in steaks, do they fast the animal for a day before processing or not? Just to many variables. 44% seems like a safe figure to use.
 
Weavers in Falkville. I have also used Brickhouse in Cullman. I'm pretty sure they labeled with weight also. I prefer Weavers when I can get in though. My in laws took some pigs to a place in Hanceville and it was not labeled. Can't remember the name there though.
 
boondocks":j1im1fm8 said:
Agree. We did have a local butcher (now closed up shop for reasons which will become apparent momentarily) who openly talked about how part of his employees' perks were that he gave them some meat off every animal he butchered. Said like it was no big deal.

I'm killing every week, and have a spreadsheet made up to track all cuts and weight percentages. I made it well known at the shop that I have this information, results are steady now.
 
Supa Dexta":hxehwsb1 said:
boondocks":hxehwsb1 said:
Agree. We did have a local butcher (now closed up shop for reasons which will become apparent momentarily) who openly talked about how part of his employees' perks were that he gave them some meat off every animal he butchered. Said like it was no big deal.

I'm killing every week, and have a spreadsheet made up to track all cuts and weight percentages. I made it well known at the shop that I have this information, results are steady now.


Funny how that works.
 
Craig Miller":at5z8f0p said:
Weavers in Falkville. I have also used Brickhouse in Cullman. I'm pretty sure they labeled with weight also. I prefer Weavers when I can get in though. My in laws took some pigs to a place in Hanceville and it was not labeled. Can't remember the name there though.
I've used Weavers on a hog one time, it seems hard to get an appointment with them, but they did a good job. But they didn't weigh the packages on the hog. I have heard of brickhouse but never used them. Have you ever used Pete's Meats in Loretta ?
 
Never used them before. We are always looking for good places though because as you said Weavers is hard to get into. If you were selling beef sides it would be hard to deal with them. We normally have our appointments set 3 months ahead
 
I've only been doing this 15 years but, this is what I've found.

You take home 50%-70% of the hanging weight. (the majority fall into the 55% to 62% range) Yes, I weigh the boxes on my scale and have witnessed 90% of the rail weight numbers (assuming their scale is accurate). This is from two different butchers over the years.

One obvious factor that affects %'s is whether the animal was deboned or not.

Another thing I've noticed is breed differences. Seems to me that the ratio for Angus is better that Herefords. Now before all the Hereford guys slam me, my sample size on Herefords is very small (maybe 5 Hereford's verses 70 or 80 Angus's), but it is what my numbers are showing.
 
Just off the top I always tell buyers they will get approx 50% of hanging weight back in edible meat. Anything more is a plus. Like Ridgefarmer63 said, it depends on the amount of deboning. Since i often kill an over 30 month animal, grassfed beef and wanting the good marbling that comes with the little bit older animal, and being finished more at that age on grass, there is more deboning due to no backbones and no T-bones etc. I fine that the jerseys actually give a better percentage of returned beef in part due to the smaller bones, and they do put on some pounds in their little bit older age. Killed a heifer that was nearly 36 months that came up open, 1/2 guernsey 1/2 jersey and she hung at 590 lbs. Got back over 350 lbs total meat and all was deboned except the short ribs I got back. Marbled beautifully, but yellow fat that some don't like. Will eat the first steak tonight.
 
I have never heard of the 44% packaged meat vs live animal. That works out to 65% cutability & losing 33% from hanging to packaging. These are common numbers, but cutability will range mostly between 62% - 65%. At 62% it would be more like 41%.
I tell my customers they will lose 1/3 of the hanging weight.
 
1250 lbs live weight x 44% = 550 lbs take home

Here's my math:
1250 lb steer (over night stand, no gut fill) x 62.5% = 781 h.w.
8-9 days hanging = 30% shrinkage and trim losses
30% x 781 = 234 lbs 781 - 234 = 547 lbs take home

547 lbs is 43.8% of 1250 lbs or Roughly 44% of live weight

Hanging 15 - 29 days results in over 33% shrink with trim losses, dry aging vs wet aging will be even more

Gut filled 1300 lb steer x 42% live weight = 546 lbs take home
1300 x 60.1% = 781 lbs h.w.
781 lbs x 70% = 547 lbs
547 lbs is 42.1% of 1300
 

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