Red Meat. And a LOT of it.

ManglerYJ

ManglerYJ

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Lexington, NC
One of my wife's co-workers is a part time cattle rancher (not sure how you do that part time, but hey). He has a Black Angus bull that he is getting ready to butcher and has offered for us to buy about 4-500 lbs of the beef. I just have to accompany him to the slaughterhouse and tell him how I want mine cut up.

This is the first time I've ever done this, so I'm looking for advice. We eat a LOT of beef at our house - steaks at least once a month (more in summer time), ground beef used in at least one meal once a week, hamburgers, meatloaf, etc.

I have heard that bull meat is leaner than heifer meat, but have no experience with either. Food Lion doesn't specify on their packets if it is male or female. :)

When I buy steaks, I typically get strip steaks, but I have started getting ribeyes as well now that I've figured out that I like them when thick cut. (as a kid my dad would get thin cut ribeye steaks and he grilled them medium well - I thought they tasted like burnt Steak-ums)


Any suggestions as to how to maximize the beef? I know what can't be cut into steaks will be ground up.
 
Best way to maximize it is to share with your friends :D

/got nothing useful here
 
Ground chuck uses a lot of leftover parts that would otherwise go to waste.
Ribeye for the win! I've gotten chuck eye here recentky that was better than I thought.
 
Are you getting half the cow, or just an amount?

If half the cow, get it all. Many butchers keep the ribs, tri-tip, some roasts.

Anything that isn't cut or ground, have them make sausage.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
Are you getting half the cow, or just an amount?

If half the cow, get it all. Many butchers keep the ribs, tri-tip, some roasts.

Anything that isn't cut or ground, have them make sausage.
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I believe it to be half the cow. Just spoke briefly with my wife about it.

When she called to tell me about it, this kept going through my mind, so I didn't pay attention as well as I should have....


 
How long is he aging it for? Dry aged beef tastes a lot different than wet aged like in the stores. I'd let everyone try some dry aged from somewhere first. Some people are so accustomed to wet aged they don't like dry aged.
 
make sure to specifiy out your expensive cuts or alot of butchers will keep them for themselves (sell high) and give you more ground beef to compensate.

porters, skirts (bottom plate), ribeyes, top blade, tenderloin, sirloin, tbone, flank, short loin, hangar steaks

i find the tenderloin the most expensive and flavorful. we usually butcher for the above and ground the rest. this year want to get some brisket out of it. flank and rump usually go to ground for us, but gunna use some for jerky this time.
 
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ckruzer said:
make sure to specifiy out your expensive cuts or alot of butchers will keep them for themselves (sell high) and give you more ground beef to compensate.

porters, skirts (bottom plate), ribeyes, top blade, tenderloin, sirloin, tbone, flank, short loin, hangar steaks

i find the tenderloin the most expensive and flavorful. we usually butcher for the above and ground the rest. this year want to get some brisket out of it. flank and rump usually go to ground for us, but gunna use some for jerky this time.
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Your porters/tbone/shortloin is all one in the same cut. Porterhouse just has the bigger fillet on it. Bulk of your tenderloin will be with the shortloin as well as the shortloin is comprised of your strip and tenderloin. Top sirloin/top butt is decent cut as well. Your chuck is one cut down from ribeye cut so your chuck eye steak will be very similar to the ribeye steak, often referred to as the poor mans ribeye as it's about $5 cheaper per pound in the grocery store
 
damn y'all some untrusting dudes! I use and have always used Key Packing and have always gotten more than I figured on and have never felt cheated. I picture yalls butcher looking like the hamburgler sneaking around with a bunch of meat undergarments like lady gaga's dress, now that looks as suspicious as a nun doing squats in a cucumber patch.
 
ask for a steamship.


my grandfather was a farmer. for my birtday one year he gave me a calf to raise and sell to start a college fund. i guess that made me a part time rancher, right?
 
It would be cool to have the experience of butchering a cow since it's probably the only time I'd be doing it...


Or drop it off and go wheel all weekend then pick it up on way home. Nothing like rolling back to the crib from a weekend out, get cleaned up only to devour a massive ribeye and wash down with ample beverage if choice.
 
Short ribs, chuck ribs, and especially the plate ribs. Those are the Dino ribs! Send 'em my way if you don't BBQ... ;-)


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Make sure that bull is cut well before he's slaughtered! I can attest that bull meat is nearly inedible unless heavily seasoned but really mostly fit for my dog. (Used to work on a farm and bull broke it's leg, cheaper to butcher than mend)

steers are much much tastier. Bull I would have to say is way gamier than Any wild meat I'd tasted (elk, deer, bear, gator[unsure])
 
a_kelley said:
Make sure that bull is cut well before he's slaughtered! I can attest that bull meat is nearly inedible unless heavily seasoned but really mostly fit for my dog. (Used to work on a farm and bull broke it's leg, cheaper to butcher than mend)

steers are much much tastier. Bull I would have to say is way gamier than Any wild meat I'd tasted (elk, deer, bear, gator[unsure])
Click to expand...

If you have them dry age for a few weeks, most of that game taste should come out.
 
I've also used Key Packing in the past. They vacuum seal instead of paper wrap. The vacuum seal keeps a lot longer in the freezer. And 500 lbs is a LOT of beef. The first heifer we raised dressed out at 550. We could barely close the door on the freezer.
 
And if you have dogs, ask for the leg bones... they will REALLY love you for that.
 
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