Meat, was Grains Good as Gold

[Guest guest]

>. I'd had a similar

>experience with lamb from a different supplier (loss of about 40%), so I

>thought that was average. Is it really supposed to average only 20%?

>Although I guess I can see where the total loss would be higher on a

>younger animal, like lamb.

Hmm ... I don't know about pork and lamb. I suspect part of it

may have to do with the size of the animal. Also how much

fat is on it. The steer I *used* to get had about 2 " of fat all

over the outside ... which they threw out unless you asked

specifically for it. Also they toss most of the bones, and the

kidney fat (which is part of the hanging weight). So I think

the loss was quite a bit higher.

Now this one I asked that the shank bones be cut, with

the meat still on them, for soup bones. And I got all the

ribs as short ribs. There was zero fat on the outside of the

steer, and I took the kidney fat with me and " smelted " it.

And on a big steer, there is a large meat to bone ratio.

There really isn't all that much meat on some animals

(may be another reason folk ate a lot of internal organs).

Also, were you paying hanging weight or " on the hoof "

weight? I was surprised at how much of the animal

weight consisted of internal organs and hide.

Sounds like prices are higher there though ... some people

I know go to auctions and get good deals there.

But I should also say that the beef I got was not " certified

organic " or anything like that. The farmers who are

getting certified etc. get a premium price. But there are

also a lot of people who just keep a few cattle on

a patch of grass -- there may be issues with mineral

content etc. but for sure they are not factory farmed.

-- Heidi