Cuts and Amount of Beef Click on a topic to go to a specific section Traditional Cut Stew Beef/Cubed Steak Cut Custom Cut Other Items Items Not Available How Much Beef Do You Get? Cuts for Different Numbers of Shares We have worked with the Meat Lab at UGA  to come up with  the cuts that are most popular. • One share - traditional cut.  If you desire the stew beef/cubed steak cut, tell us and we will attempt to match you with another customer who wants the same.  This is sometimes possible but cannot be guaranteed. • Two or four shares - traditional, stew beef/cubed steak, or custom. • Three shares - two of those can be  traditional, stew beef/cubed steak, or custom; the third will be traditional. The beef is prepared boneless with close to 1/4” trim and grillable ground beef (estimated 85% lean/15% fat).  Note to customers getting 2 or 4 shares and requesting as lean ground beef as possible - the processor will add no extra fat, but the animal’s intramuscular marbling will contribute to the amount of fat to be found in the ground beef.  Our cows and sires are selected to have genetically above average intramuscular marbling, so it is unlikely that any of our calves will give 95/5 ground beef. Traditional Cut (the cut for 1 share; it can be selected for 2 or more shares) The following is a conservative "guesstimate" of what a split half (1/4 animal = 1 share) includes.  Split half means that about 1/2 of the share comes from the front and 1/2 of the share comes from the rear of the animal.  Note, smaller animals will yield less meat both in number of cuts and weight!  We can NOT guarantee that each animal will yield the number of packs or portions listed below, because this varies with each animal’s weight, response to feeding, and genetic traits for growth and muscling.  These estimates have been close over the years.  The total weight of meat product is about 100 lb for a 1150 lb animal. • Roasts :  about 15 lb o Boneless chuck roast (1-2 roasts) o Boneless shoulder roast (1-2 roasts) o Eye of the round cut into fajita strips (1-2 packs) o Rump roast (1 roast) - since there is only one roast per side, another item will be substituted for the customer not getting rump roast. o Sirloin tip roast (1 roast) • Steaks: about 40 lb.  Most steaks are packaged two per pack, see below. o Top blade steaks 3/4" thick (also known as flat iron steaks) - 2 packs o Ribeye steaks 1" thick - 3 packs   o Strip steaks 1" thick - 3 packs o Filet mignon (tenderloin), greater than  ~1.5" thick -  1-2 packs o Top sirloin, 1" thick (one steak per package)  -  2-3 packs o Cubed steaks - these come from the London broil and bottom round and are a very desirable item here in the south.  From our experience eating them, they are very good. Approximately one pound per packages - 5 or more packs • Stew Meat: about 10 lb.  Stew meat in 1 - 1.5 lb packs • Ground Beef : about 35 -45 lb  in approximately 1 lb packs (85% meat/ 15% fat).  The ground beef comes from trim scraps off the other items.  Stew Beef/Cubed Steak Cut (available when purchasing 2 or 4 shares) This is a best estimate of what a side (1/2 animal or 2 shares) would produce.  • Roasts – roasts individually packaged; approximately 15 lb roasts o 12 lb. of boneless chuck roast-(4-6 roasts wrapped individually) o 3 lb. eye of the round roast to be cut in fajita strips in approximately 1 lb packs • Steaks – two steaks to a package; approximately 91 lbs of steaks of which 29 are cubed steak o 24 lb rib eye steaks - 1” thick (12-14 steaks) o 24 lb strip steaks - 1” thick (12-14 strips) o 4 lb of fillet mignon - greater than 1” thick (8 steaks) o 6 lb of top sirloin - 1” thick ((4-6 steaks) o 4 lb. rump roast made into cube steak o 5 lb sirloin tip roast made into cube steak o 15 lb London broil made into cube steaks (about 1 lb packs, of two or more steaks per pack depending on size) o 5 lb bottom round steaks made into cube steaks.  (1 lb packs, of two or more steaks per pack depending on size) o 4 lb top blade steaks ( also called a chuck steak and many other names)  ¾” thick (8 steaks) this has small bone in it. This steak is large, so it will be packaged as one steak per pack. • Stew Meat – total 28-36 lb in 1- 1.5 lb packs, including approx. 8 lb of boneless shoulder roast made into stew meat • Ground Beef – 70-85 lbs. in 1 lb packs (85% lean/15% fat). Note this is not scientific as to weight ratio of lean to fat.  It is an eyeball judgment made by the butcher at the time of cutting and trimming and so it is not exact!  It is their best estimate.  Also the 1 lb weight per package is a close estimate. Custom Cuts (available when purchasing 2 or 4 shares) Various possibilities include: • Bone in steaks rather than boneless steaks. o Bone in rib eye vs. boneless rib eye o T-bone and porterhouse steaks instead of tenderloin and strip steaks. o Standing rib roast rather than rib eye steaks. • Thicker sliced steaks. • As lean as possible ground beef. • No stew beef. • No fajita strips. • No cubed steaks. • Lots of cubed steaks. • Longer aging than 17 days, depending on processor. Other items If requested before delivery of animal • Liver (sliced) or heart (whole) is available for 1 customer per animal. • Soup bones (approx 5 lb cut pieces per bag).  Not available due to USDA regulations:  brain, intestines, feet, tongue. Amount of Beef Per Share or How Much Meat Do You Get? The following facts are important to understand • The literature indicates that only 30-35% of live weight becomes boneless retail product, the edible meat that you have purchased. • Our own experience with the current processor has been an average retail product of 39% (45 calves over the past 3 years) • The remainder is hide, bone, intestinal content, internal organs, fat, shrinkage during dry aging (25-45%), and waste trim during processing. Take for example a hypothetical calf weighing 1150 lbs (range has been between 1050 and 1200 lbs). • 39% of 1150 lbs = 448.5 lbs of boneless meat • 1 share = 448.5/4 = 112 lbs. The processor will weigh your beef - if in the heavy waxed cardboard boxes, each of those weighs about 2 lbs. The amount of beef will vary from animal to animal, depending on live weight, carcass weight, and the animal’s genetics and response to feeding. If the amount of beef in one share is too much beef for your family, find a friend to share it with you.  One of our customers bought one quarter several years ago and shared it with his two kids - they soon ran out of beef.  So then he ordered four quarters so everyone would have ample meat for the year.   He made a great statement that went something like this, "This is a gift that keeps giving"; each time the kids go to the grocery store their bill is less because they do not have to buy beef and they remember Mom and Dad."