Butchering your own cow?

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-pr...tem-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....

Well Cotton Picker...it seems you were holding out on me with the info! 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!"

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...

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.....

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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r.h. in oklahoma

Raised a country boy, and will die a country boy.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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 do.OK 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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If you are still mowing the grass then the garden needs to be bigger

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.

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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-Northern NYS

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.

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

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.

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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If you are still mowing the grass then the garden needs to be bigger

Working their way up to what? an elephant?

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits." Mark Twain

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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Iris
The Last Straw (aka Helinbak Farm)
Once a Marine; always a Marine