Need advice: Buying beef at auction and taking it to a butcher

Originally Posted by BlackFeather

Butcher yourself, got to learn sometime. Rope around neck tie down draw an imaginary line from each horn to opposite eye and where the two lines cross you shoot. We used a 22 short at 1 inch from the head, worked well, this stuns the cow (pith like a frog) then slit the throat get both juggler veins, and bleed out, once dead remove rope. (had one after we slit throat get up and run out, had to get it back in and shoot again turns out the birth defect that caused us to choose him to butcher had twisted all his organs about 90 degrees out of place.) Need 2 pulley blocks, run knife around just below rear hoofs and along back of leg to lower abdomen just below rectum and start to skin legs down. once you clear the large tendon just above the hoof, cut hooves off with saw, hook pulley block into area between tendon and leg cut around rectum, run knife along lower side of tail, lift pulley blocks till rear end off ground by a foot, continue to skin, run knife right up the middle of his underside right up to the neck. start skinning down into back area. separate the base of the tale from the body so you can get your hands in and pull the skin off the tail. At some point when the skin is removed and the guts are away from the area, cut the tail off, tale meat is sweet makes good soup. Slit the body open down the middle once you have the skin free from the area. Alternate lifting, skinning the body. Some where around having the body about 1/3 off the floor start to work the guts out. While it is still mostly on the floor, you will need to saw open the center of the rib cage. (If you lift it completely up the guts sink into the rib cage and are hard to remove, so you have to start to work them out slowly as it it lifted up.) Skin down front legs like you did with rear, running knife down back of leg till it hits the knife cut up the middle of the body, and cut off hoofs. You may want to cut off the head, you can skin the head out and cut it off or just cut it off leaving the fur on. It is possible to get a small amount of meat from the face of the animal, or if you look to make head cheese. So skin, lift, work out guts, and repeat. Eventually the guts will flop out. You will have to remove the fat and the kidneys. You will have to cut out heart and lungs and remove the air tubes from the neck as you do with the esophagus. slowly lift till it is off the ground, skin till it is removed from neck and lower legs and the hide is free. Now take your saw and split the carcass in half with the saw down the center of the spinal column. leave the last vertebrae connected, this helps to hold up the neck area so it doesn't droop too low, especially if the limb/ beam the pulley blocks are on isn't high enough. Wash out the inside of carcass. let hang 5 to 7 days in 40 degree weather. November is usually a good time around here, or maybe march. You use natural refrigeration. We have had carcass freeze and it doesn't hurt them. I forget between which rib you cut to separate front and rear quarter. take by quarter into house and cut up. A good book will help with this. If you can get some one who has butchered before to help on your first time. Disclaimer, I haven't done this in 10 years so I might have missed something, but it will present itself as you butcher. The whole process takes between 2 and 3 hours depending on if you have help or not. You will need skinning knives, a saw, some pans to put tail, liver, heart into. Warm water to wash hands and finally wash down carcass. If you butcher it (pun intended) and it isn't a perfect butchering job, you learn, the meat is still good. On the liver be careful when removing the gall bladder from the liver you don't break it or it will ruin what ever it touches. If you have dogs, they will spend the winter chewing the guts, we sold our hides, but if you want you can tan them. A good skinner doesn't put holes in the hide. I got pretty good, but if this is your first time, you'll cut through the hide occasionally.

Originally Posted by CraterCove

So... butcher called and if I wanted the brain I had to go get the skull today. That was fine, I got to talk to him in person and explain what I am hoping to get and let him know I understand the difference in look between grass and grain fed and that Jersey fat contains more beta carotene thus has a yellower color. (both so he knew I wouldn't be surprised and make it a bit less likely he can just switch up my beef) They seem like really nice people, I like them.

Anyway, got home with my steer head. Dang the thing is heavy! Anyway I started looking up ideas for extracting the brain from the skull. Which lead me to wrestling on the ground with the skull, a tray and a hose. I removed most of the brain matter (I think) but then I knocked the hose across the tray I was holding the brains on and blew the whole bunch off the tray into the dirt where the dogs promptly began snatching bits up.

I suppose I will have to source me another cow brain to tan his pretty hide with or else experiment with a way I saw using egg yolks. I want to have new moccasins by the time winter sets in fully. I am a Hobbit by nature and don't wear shoes hardly ever and even then only those flip flops. But, I like custom fit moccasin boots. I'll use him for the sole and my goat Georgie I'll be doing when the temperature drops a bit more for the uppers. By then I'll likely have some rabbit pelts too for lining.

So continues my adventure...