butchering advice wanted

[steff bugielski]

We will be butchering our beefer in a few weeks. Can some one give me a timeline from killing to cutting up the meat. I will have my friend the butcher doing the actually cutting so I wanted to have everything ready when he gets here.

[kscowboy]

kill, hang for ten days , cut and wrap , freeze

[steff bugielski]

Thanks.

[Helena]

If it is warm you might want to put it into a large hanging freezer but really...you can kill and cut the same day. won't make a difference in the meat..this is advice from my meat cutter husband. The small slaughter houses kill and cut and deliver you cow within days..

[michiganfarmer]

it takes us 2 hours to kill, skin gut, quarter, and hang it in the cooler.

it takes us about 10 hours to cut and wrap a beef.

[steff bugielski]

So I can kill , skin and quarter. Put it in the fridge and the next day be ready for the butcher?

[agmantoo]

Steff, since you are going to butcher you may want to see this as a beef can be done the same way if you have some equipment. It is very fast and clean.
http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...view=slideshow

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by steff bugielski

So I can kill , skin and quarter. Put it in the fridge and the next day be ready for the butcher?

We always keep it in the cooler at least 48 hours to get the body heat out of it. I dont know the reason behind it. If we want tender steak, we leave it in the cooler for 2 weeks. That lets the meat start to rot. Butcher shops call that tenderising.

[agmantoo]

Cold meat will cut up better than meat that has body heat still in it.

[steff bugielski]

OK so I can kill skin quarter and put in fridge for 2 weeks before the butcher comes.
Sorry can't view that link.

[southerngurl]

We had our last one hang for 3 weeks and it is the best meat I have ever had. Of course, it was our first grass fed as well.

[unioncreek]

We have ours dry aged for two weeks, I prefer 3 weeks, but the butcher doesn't have room to let them hang that long.

Bob

[April]

Do you all think that it's comparable to let the cut up pieces (roasts, steaks, etc.) age in the refrigerator compared to hanging and aging the carcass halves or quarters?

-April

[francismilker]

Someday,
It's my understanding that meat stored at refrigerator temp doesn't age properly. Refrig. may keep it from spoiling too fast as compared to room temperature, but it doesn't age it. When you go to the butcher's shop they age them in a walk-in cooler that is at, near, or below freezing. This way the meat chills all the way through and bacterias have a hard time sustaining in that environment.
You can kind of compare it to the redneck penicilin that will start to grow on that piece of meat you forgot about at the back of the bottom shelf in the refrigerator. If that meat had been frozen, it would've kept a lot longer.

[BDB]

Originally Posted by francismilker

Someday,
It's my understanding that meat stored at refrigerator temp doesn't age properly. Refrig. may keep it from spoiling too fast as compared to room temperature, but it doesn't age it. When you go to the butcher's shop they age them in a walk-in cooler that is at, near, or below freezing. This way the meat chills all the way through and bacterias have a hard time sustaining in that environment.
You can kind of compare it to the redneck penicilin that will start to grow on that piece of meat you forgot about at the back of the bottom shelf in the refrigerator. If that meat had been frozen, it would've kept a lot longer.

when we hang our beef in the cooler our cooler is set between 35 and 40 degrees , where if the meat was to freeze it would not be aging,you might as well cut it up after it cools down, ours hangs in there for about three weeks, the beef gets a little mold on it, we just trim it off when we cut it up.

[wigg]

I helped a friend butcher last year. He has a big walk in cooler and a freezer. He let it age in the cooler at 37 degrees for 14 full days. He gave me steaks out of it, and they were some of the best I've ever ate. They were tender and full of flavor. There was no mold on it. The other key to keeping it from spoiling while it ages is to not let the quarters touch while hanging in the cooler. It is a big job and with his set up required a tractor and scoop. These steers were probably 1600 lbs on the hoof and took 4 of us 2 good days to cut the meet up and package it. It's a lot of work, but kind of enjoyable.

[agmantoo]

Being the thrifty person I am and I enjoy tinkering, I got a surplused double door freezer used in a convenience store and modified it as an aging cooler. The freezer thermostat was bypassed with an low differential refrigerator thermostat. I can and have set the temp to hold right on 34 degrees F. I age venison in the unit and it works great. The unit is large enough to hold a medium sized beef IMO. There is only the wife and myself so we do not process a beef but I am confident the modified freezer would compare to a commercial unit for aging. I have 3 deer in it now and there is still plenty of space.

[steff bugielski]

One more question..
When is the best time to skin? when the body is warm or cold?
Thanks

[agmantoo]

Skin warm

[RosewoodfarmVA]

We use a tractor front end loader to raise the cow by his hind legs after shooting in the forehead. Skin immediately. We have found that it's easier to remove the neck roast and front legs before gutting. The front legs don't have a bone joint, just a rotation plate that you cut behind severing muscle to remove the legs. Then gut. **NOTE** Be very careful with his "peepee tube" as it must be removed in one piece where it goes from his tummy, up (when hanging) between the two hind leg muscles, and through the hole where the "poop tube" goes. Don't forget to remove the liver and heart before allowing it to hit the ground. We do all the above in a remote part of the pasture so the buzzards and critters will clean it up for us. Then we drive up in the yard where we finish cutting. We remove the meat from the carcass, trying to keep muscle groups intact, where we then take them into the house where it's warmer to work (did I mention we like to butcher in freezing weather or no more than 40 degrees). All the grind meat goes into buckets and into the extra refrigerator, where we allow it to cool several hours so it will grind better. If you try to grind warm meat it won't do well, but cold stiff meat grinds great. We don't hang or chill any other meat, just haven't seen the need for it since it always is tender anyway. We then package and freeze it, usually finishing by that evening.

One further suggestion: buy good knives! It makes all the difference. Smooth bladed, straight, not serrated, and about 8 inches long is good for just about anything. Also, don't get tempered or treated metal, just plain steel or else you won't be able to sharpen them well. You'll need a stone for sharpening, plus a steel to use every couple of minutes during butchering. Keep it sharp and it'll go well. I probably use a steel on mine between 30 and 40 times on butchering day, and stop to sharpen maybe 10 times. You'll also need a large handsaw(just a typical old style wood saw) to cut leg bones. We use a set of garden clippers with long handles for cutting ribs instead of the saw, because the saw leaves lots of little bits of bone, while the clippers just go through in one pop per rib.

Butchering is a great opportunity for homesteaders to save lots of money, since butchers usually charge several hundred dollars to do it for you. Whatever savings you may have had by raising your own beef is lost if you pay someone else to butcher. It's easy, enjoyable work once you get the hang of it. We do between 2 and 4 a year for our own family's use (really 3 families). Go for it!