butchering question!

[happyladybug]

i have a jersey/holstein cross steer going on about 18 months old that i would like butcher -

can someone tell me - is there a big difference between hanging weight and
actual "meat in the freezer" weight. I'm figuring about 60% (or just under)
of live weight as ending number.

am i close?? is there a substantial weight difference between hanging weight and the weight of the end product??

thanks for the help!!

janis

[farminghandyman]

http://www.cookshack.com/files/File/cuts_beefchart.pdf

A 1200 pound steer yields 500 pounds of retail cuts from a 750 pound carcass,

22% are steaks

22% are roasts

26% is ground beef and stew meat

30% is made-up of fat, bone & shrinkage

(breed and condition will make a difference as well, and the percentage of bone in and boneless cuts,)


more charts,
http://www.angus.org/pubs/beefchart.pdf
http://www.askthemeatman.com/yield_o....htm#breakdown
http://southerleigh.com/beefyieldchart.aspx
http://www.beefresearch.org/PDF/Beef...Calculator.pdf

[RosewoodfarmVA]

Hanging weight is after gutting and skinning. Actual meat is considerably less because of the bones. We butcher our steers at around 1000 - 1200 pounds and end up with about 300-400 pounds meat, without bones. You can assume about 1/3 of the weight of the animal will be meat, more or less.