Part 1

BEEF Slaughtering, Cutting, Preserving, and Cooking on the Farm

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FARMERS’ BULLETIN NUMBER 2263 PREPARED BY SCIENCE AND EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION

PRECAUTION

The Federal Meat Inspection Act requires that all meat which is to be sold or traded for human consumption must be slaughtered under inspection in an approved facility under the supervision of a State or USDA meat inspector. A person can slaughter his animals outside such a facility only for use by himself, members of his household, and his nonpaying guests and employees. He is not allowed to sell any portion of the carcass. For more details about these regulations, consult your county extension agent or write to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250.

CONTENTS

Page Selection and care of animal before slaughter 1 Preparing for slaughter 2 Slaughter 6 Chilling the carcass 35 Cutting 37 Freezing and frozen storage 59 Further processing 59 Meat cookery 65

This bulletin supersedes Farmers’ Bulletin No. 2209, “Slaughtering, Cutting, and Processing Beef on the Farm.”

Department publications contain public information. They are not copyrighted and may be reproduced in whole or in part with or without credit.

Washington, D.C. Issued—1977

BEEF SLAUGHTERING, CUTTING, PRESERVING, AND COOKING ON THE FARM

By H. Russell Cross, E. Curtis Green, William R. Jones, Roger L. West, and Anthony W. Kotula (Photographs by Donald K. Rough and Terry K. O’Driscoll)

Meat Science Research Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Md. 20705.

Standardization Branch, Livestock Division, Agricultural Marketing Service, Washington, D.C. 20250.

Present address: Cooperative Extension Service, Auburn University, Auburn, Ala. 36830. Employed at Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa., when work was initiated.

Department of Animal Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla. 32611.

Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Md. 20705.

SELECTION AND CARE OF ANIMAL BEFORE SLAUGHTER

Several factors should be considered before slaughtering a beef animal for home consumption. The most important considerations are health, kind of animal (calf, steer, or heifer or cow), expected meat yield, and care of the animal prior to slaughter.

Health

One should take care that an unhealthy animal is not selected for slaughter. At the time of selection, look for signs of sickness such as fever, increased breathing rate, and diarrhea. Animals suspected of being unhealthy should be treated by a veterinarian until the animal is returned to a healthy state.

Animal Care

To obtain high-quality meat, it is important to exercise proper care of the animal prior to slaughter. Pen the animal in a clean, dry place the day before slaughtering. Restrict the animal from feed 24 hours prior to slaughter, but provide access to water at all times. The slaughter of hot, excited animals increases the risk of sickness, injury, and dark meat.

Animal Type

The kind of animal one selects for slaughter will depend on its ultimate use. For meat similar to U.S. Choice in palatability it is necessary to select a 1,000 to 1,200-pound steer or a 900 to 1,000-pound heifer that has been on full feed for at least 150 days. The time on feed influences palatability because of the fat content in the lean. Unfortunately, as most animals deposit fat in the muscle, they also deposit fat around the muscle. Much of the outside fat is usually trimmed off during cutting. If meat with less waste fat is desired, a steer or heifer fed on forage to 800 to 900 pounds will be suitable. If the animal’s age is less than 17 to 18 months, the properly prepared cooked meat should be relatively tender. Yearlings just off the cow with perhaps a short period on grass, weighing 400 to 600 pounds, will produce meat low in fat. This meat will be less flavorful than meat from grain-fed animals but should be acceptably tender. Many persons who slaughter on the farm expect the meat from an 800-pound forage-fed steer to taste like U.S. Choice or Prime.

Meat Yield

Well-fed steers from most beef breeds yield a dressed carcass weighing approximately 60 percent of the animal’s live weight. For example, a 1,000-pound live steer yields a 600-pound carcass. Yields will vary according to the feeding ration and the length of time on feed. Cutting losses from the carcass, such as bone or fat trim, vary from 20 to 30 percent or more. With a 25-percent cutting loss, which is not unusual, a 600-pound carcass would yield approximately 450 pounds of usable meat cuts. A good rule of thumb for carcass beef is 25 percent waste, 25 percent ground beef and stew meat, 25 percent steaks, and 25 percent roasts. Thus a 1,000-pound steer will, on the average, yield about 450 pounds of usable meat cuts. This figure can easily be as high as 550 pounds for an animal with very little waste fat to as low as 300 pounds for an animal with excessive waste fat.

PREPARING FOR SLAUGHTER

Prior to the day of slaughter, select the slaughter site, accumulate all equipment, prepare for waste disposal, and, if necessary, make arrangements with a local processor or meat market for chilling and cutting the carcass. If you plan to have the carcass chilled and cut up, arrangements should be made concerning the time and day on which the carcass can be accepted, the charges, and specific instructions for chilling, cutting, and wrapping the carcass.