We LOVE beef.

"Beef. It's what's for dinner." 

"Eat beef. The west wasn't won on salad."

"Where's the Beef?" 

These are a few of our favorite age-old beef slogans in our home. Yes, they are used way too often but we love them. Just like we love our beef.

I could create a long blog post all about the quarantine musings we have been doing to keep our busy little family from going insane, but I think I will focus on something that has been a backbone to our family for a long time. This quarantine has brought a new opportunity for our family to try something that we haven't ever done before. So sit down, grab some yummy popcorn and start reading about our recent beef journey.

We love beef, You do too! Go figure! My big love is a cowboy. Okay, he is probably grimacing over that word. Or at least I am. It just bothers me. I don't know why but it drives me crazy. Rancher? Farmer? I don't know which "label" I like but that's okay. At the end of the day, my husband and I raise cattle. His family has been raising beef for many generations, and we love it. His father is a wonderful guy who has a passion for cows and I love watching him watch his animals with kindness and compassion. He raised a man {whom I'm crazy for} that also looks at his animals {and kids} the same way. He raised another man who is just as great and is amazing to watch with the cows, but I don't want to be weird here and talk about how he looks at cows because that would be weird. Okay, this is getting weird. This quarantine is weird. I digress.

Cows. Anyway. Our biggest, little love, raises beef for his 4-H project and has the same fire within him as my big love and his father. It's amazing to watch him and to support him. Well, with the craziness that this world has seen and the impact that Covid-19 has done. County and state livestock shows have been cancelled left and right. Meat shortage scares have impacted consumers. Articles are published daily right now alerting the public of where the breakdown is occuring in delivering meat to grocery stores across the country. We were so blessed with many amazing people coming out of the woods to support our little love with his project and they got quality beef in return. We are eternally thankful for that.

However, we kept getting questions about other beef for sale. Over and over and over we received calls and texts asking if we had anymore beef for sale. Literally, "Where's the Beef?" This got us talking. Why don't we sale beef directly to consumers? Sounds logical right? It just made sense. We had talked about the prospect of selling directly to the consumer in the past but couldn't get all hands on deck so to speak to get the ball rolling. After many questions and many people wanting beef, the big love and I looked at each other and said, "Alright. It's time." Kind of like a super awesome quirky action flick with two crazy love sick agents. Okay, maybe it's definitely not like that, but I like to pretend.

We had the cows. We had the consumers. The only thing missing was the guy in the middle to process our beef. Here is where it has become quite tricky these past couple of months. Did you know that most butchers are at least a few months out right now due to other beef/pork producers looking for alternative routes to get meat to their consumers? I sure didn't until I started making calls trying to find butchers for our beef. We are incredibly lucky to have dear friends and family across the states that have helped take beef to butchers for us. We are forever grateful for them. We have used butchers in northern Nevada, southern Nevada and in Utah, just to get it done and to the consumers in a timely manner. We have recently used for many beef a place in Las Vegas that is wonderful to work with. They have been very good to us. The only downfall for this location is that all animals must be killed/gutted/ & cleaned before they can take the meat in to age/process. That's been a fun family activity on certain weekends. We have learned from an experienced and wonderful family friend how to do this part, in a timely manner. We are super thankful for him.

Also, another fun fact that many consumers do not realize is that we cannot under Nevada law sell carcasses or meat directly to the consumer unless we use a USDA certified butcher. Do a quick google search and see how many USDA processors we have in southern Nevada. I'll wait... If you notice, there isn't any near southern Nevada. Therefore, we cannot sell meat or carcasses directly to the consumer. I am sure folks are out there doing it, but yeah, I prefer to wear many colors not just orange. Here is the exact wording: NRS 583.040  Sale or possession with intent to sell carcass of animal slaughtered or prepared under insanitary conditions unlawful; insanitary conditions in slaughterhouses; civil penalty.

      1.  It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to sell within this State, or to possess with the intent to sell within this State, for human food, the carcass or parts of the carcass of any animal which has been slaughtered, or is prepared, handled or kept under insanitary conditions, or any primal cut of meat which is not stamped with an approved stamp authorized by the Department.

      2.  Insanitary conditions shall be deemed to exist in any slaughterhouse that does not comply with the provisions of chapter 446 of NRS.

      3.  Any person, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions of this section is subject to a civil penalty pursuant to NRS 583.700.

That is why, we sale our animals "on the hoof" or live and we can't just sale the meat directly to the consumer. Sorry guys, not my rules and I'd rather be safe than sorry. We will take the beef to the butcher live for the consumer and pay for the butcher from what we charge.

With being able to weigh our animals live and then get their hot carcass weights when we drop off the carcass, has been so enlightening! I really have no life but I have learned so much also I am even starting to love the math that goes into understanding it. Since you are still reading, I am guessing you are probably looking for some help with these figures and you may be looking at from your farm to fork OR your just curious while you are stuck at home in quarantine ;)

If you have your steer, open cow, old bull, whatever it is that you are considering putting in your freezer. So how do you know their weight? There is a really great article that breaks down how you could get an approximate weight as an estimation. I am terrible at this method. My big love can guess their weights within a few pounds. I am glad he can't seem to do that on me. Or at least he's not dumb enough to say it out loud. LOL. I prefer the old method of using a scale. So you have your weight of your beef and you are trying to figure to out how much beef will go into your freezer, let's take a walk together.

We read all over the internet that the magic dressing percentage on cattle is 63%. Bull crap. Okay maybe it's not complete bull but we have yet to see this type of percentage, even our little love's show steers who ate the best of the best grain and hay up until their last meal. According to the thebeefsite.com website, there are many factors that can affect the dressing percentage in beef. This can be diet, age, gender, breed, trucking distances, seasonal, which way the birds are flying, etc. Totally kidding on that last one, but still. There are a lot of factors and we are learning. On average, our cattle are being dressed out at around 53-57%. This includes both our grass fed cattle and the grain fed cattle. We have only figured this out recently after I have begun putting these into a spreadsheet more thoroughly.  Dressing percentage can be calculated by taking (weight of the carcass / weight of live animal) * 100.

When I say dressing percentages, and thats not whats in their wardrobe, this means the percentage of the live animal that the carcass weight is. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Yes, I am saying that these animals lose a lot of weight from them being alive and happy and well, dead. The weight loss is a lot of just waste. I mean it could be used by certain cultures and many cultures are not as wasteful as we (I) are. These can include blood, intestines, head, hide, etc. Again, many cultures and people utilize these for a variety of reasons. I just am not that person. Sorry. If you are looking for ways to utilize these parts, look elsewhere and tell me all about it. I just haven't been taught.

So you have your animal butchered and you see the dressing percentages and are happy. Well, you should be happy either way, you are eating something that you have raised yourself or you know exactly how it was raised. So be happy. If you are just reading this for your own summer enjoyment, be happy too. Life is too short to not be. From here you maybe heading to get your animal processed or you are about to pay for your butcher fees at your butcher. But wait, there's more. Did you know that from here, you will still have some lost from the weight of carcass (hot carcass weight) to what you are putting in your freezer. But why?

Cooler shrink. Yup. It's a thing.  Muscles are made up of a lot water. Guess what your meat is? Muscles! Yup. Flex it, work it work it. Cooler shrink is the water that is being evaporated or lost from the carcass within the first 24-48 hours after the animal is harvested. So when looking for a butcher, find out which number they charge you for: hot carcass weight or cool carcass weight. There may be a significant difference. We have found that most everyone we have talked to use the hot carcass weight for what they charge us for processing, but you may know someone who does it another way.

So you have your carcass cooled and it's been aged. Wait, what is aging? Aging your beef is not the age of your beef at time of harvest but rather the amount of time that the animal is hung and refrigerated before it is processed (cut up) and put in your freezer. Depending on your beef and your butcher, your beef can be aged from 14-28 days. We know some folks that ask for their beef to be aged longer due to their preferences. Aging is super important for basic flavoring and tenderness.
Now you are ready to go. Right?

Well, almost. Here is the fun part and the part that I really {really} wish I had gotten more into meat judging/identification when I was in high school. You will get asked a lot of questions or given a form to fill out on how you would like your beef cut up. This sounds super intimidating and I totally get it. I am still learning myself! There will be several factors that will influence how much meat you are taking home and these need their own bullet points for emphasis.

• Carcass fatness. This will definitely be an influence on how much meat you get back. Generally there is fat left on your cuts, but sometimes people want less fat or more fat on their cuts of meat. Fat is flavoring BUT a fatter carcass will yield LESS meat. 
• Bone in versus boneless cuts. This one is a no brainer but let's be real here, it took me a while to realize this one. Bones make up 15-20% of the weight of the carcass. So if you prefer boneless cuts, be expecting less pounds of meat in return. 
• Types of ground beef. I know, crazy right? If you prefer leaner ground beef, be expecting less. Not necessarily less meat, but less amount going into your freezer because they have to take out more fat. It makes sense, but another thing I didn't really factor in when I would look at the before and afters. 
• Cooler shrinkage. See above. 

Now back to the meat cutting instructions. This also is super confusing the first couple of times you do it. Or least it is for me. Hey now, I never said I was the brightest crayon in the box... If you are expecting to get 2394873987324 steaks back after you sent your beef to the butcher. Let's have a come to Jesus discussion on meat cuts. Some cuts of meats are actually cut from some other cuts of meats that you are considering. Okay, let me say that again that it may make more sense: some retail cuts are fabricated from others. For example, you cannot expect to get beef Top Loin and Tenderloin steaks (Filet Mignon), if you want T-bone or Porterhouse steaks. Top Loin and Tenderloin steaks are boneless versions of T-bone and Porterhouse steaks. Learned something new didn't you? I sure as heck did. That is not to say you will not get a variety of other cuts as well, you will. Along with a ton of ground beef and if you talk to your butcher, possibly a lot of stew meat as well. Just be prepared to be seeing cuts that you may not see "normally" at the grocery store. For example, we bought 1/2 of one of our little love's show steer to fill our own freezer. (Yes, we paid him the money. Yes, we paid the same exact that his other buyers did. Yes, it sucked but it's all about the process for him right? Right...). Anyway, when we were putting away our meat we had a lot of packages that said, "Ranchero" cut. I had no idea what that was. After some research, come to find out it is the cut of meat for carne asada. Freak yes! I love me some carne asada! 

So you have your meat figured out and ready to go. But wait, where in the world are you going to put all of this meat?! You will want to make sure you have freezer space, and plenty of it. Each cubic foot in general will hold between 30-40 pounds of meat, but be prepared for some odd shapes of cuts of meat. Again, it won't look like what you may be used to from the grocery store. Just a heads up. 

Ready to pull the trigger so to speak? Hold your horses! Or cattle rather. Don't forget to get a brand inspection on your cattle BEFORE taking it to the butcher. Again, another thing that we have had to learn by fire. Ha.. We have the best brand inspector down here and we are so thankful for her taking the time to stop by when we need to take animals, either their carcass or live to the butcher. Get this done while the animal is live with your brand inspector and the butcher doesn't get in trouble or have to take their time to make the brand inspector come over. 

Phew. That was a long, LONG, story on what we've learned and what steps for to take, or not, totally your choice. Have you learned anything in your own beef journey? Comment below and let me know! If you have any other questions, let us know. Like I said {many times}, we are still learning but aren't afraid to share what we've learned along the way. 

Credit is due to a few different websites and articles that have helped us better understand farm to fork: 

The Beef Site- Dressing Percentage of Slaughter Cattle

22 November 2006

http://www.thebeefsite.com/articles/759/dressing-percentage-of-slaughter-cattle/ 

Grass Fed Solutions- Target Slaughter Weights

https://www.grass-fed-solutions.com/beef-cattle-slaughter-weight.html

PennState Extension- Understanding Beef Carcass Yields and Losses During Processing

4 August 2016

https://extension.psu.edu/understanding-beef-carcass-yields-and-losses-during-processing 

SDSU Extension- How much meat can you expect from a fed market steer?

20 December 2018

https://extension.sdstate.edu/how-much-meat-can-you-expect-fed-steer 

University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture- How much meat to expect from a carcass

http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/asc/asc179/asc179.pdf