When life hands you lemons make hamburger

[Norm]

We were loading out cattle last week and had a steer go down. Lame front leg which no packer will take so I went to get my stock trailer. First thing I needed to do was find someone who would take him on short notice. Only thing I could find was the local guy said he would put it down and hang it for me if we could get him off the trailer into his facility. So first thing I needed to do was weigh empty.

Went back and with a bunch of work 5 of us got him on the trailer. Then I needed to see what he weighed.

1460#'s pretty big boy. Back to the local house and we got him off and in a holding pen.

I'll spare you the slaughter pictures... 10 days later I went back with my pickup. His hanging weight was 983#'s. I had him take each half and cut into thirds. The worst part is the front third. Not sure what it weighed but he and I struggled to get those into the pickup. Back home my son came over and helped me wrestle the pieces into my basement. I do quite a bit of meat processing myself so I took the chuck and broke it down to 3 pieces also. He completely filled up my big cooler.

I'll age the loins and ribeyes the rest I'll work on in the evenings turning into cuts and burger. If anyone wants to learn how to butcher a steer come over and I'll give you free lessons... :becky:

 

[Happy Hapgood]

Very cool!

 

[ronbrad62]

Brother, if I was close by I would be happy to lend a hand. I used to be a meat cutter and from what I see in the grocery stores, most comes in pre-cut and packaged. You won't find many butchers behind the glass these days that can break down a front or hind quarter. I would love to see if I could still do it.

 

[MisterChrister]

Norm, you're the friggun MAN!

 

[wihint]

Nice looking meat and animal for sure. Love breaking down primal cuts with/for my staff since most only see the basics in culinary school.

 

[robert-r]

I'm impressed! However.... you must understand I know nothing regards cattle, meat packing/processing & butchering. & that's a big cooler you have in your basement.

 

[Norm]

That's certainly understandable Robert. We raise full breed Angus cattle, the CAB you buy means that they only have to have 10% Angus genetics. Ours are 95% pure but that doesn't mean they are the best beef out there. For instance a Hereford steer is really good meat too.

For us we are marketing to the east coast and west coast high end users. They read Angus and think it's the best but the way we raise them I'll put this steer up against any so called American Waygu...

 

[TedW]

^^^ Great post ^^^

 

[KevinJ]

If anyone wants to learn how to butcher a steer come over and I'll give you free lessons... :becky:

If I was in your area code Norm I'd take you up on that.

 

[Norm]

I wish I could say I'm good at breaking down the primals but not really. It would be cool to take up someone's offer that would show me how to get the best cuts out of them. Be a fun class for a lot of us to take, especially me!

 

[wihint]

Norm best advice I have is a super sharp knife (long boning/filet blade or long thin chef knife (French style)) CUT glove (steel is best, kevlar is 2nd) and follow the lines in the meat. The fat truly separates the cuts in the big parts and the "prime cuts" will appear. Patience is key and use smooth strokes of the knife to make clean cuts. There are some really good videos out there, Epicurious and YouTube.
You have amazing beef so even a sawzall won't ruin it!

 

[Norm]

I do have all of the butcher knives and a pretty good sharpening system. Good advice to follow the muscle's, I'm learning as I go.

 

[Happy Hapgood]

Between stray pigs and gimp cows, you are Set Sir! :becky:

 

[Titch]

Lucky your not vegan mate, that's a full cooler

 

[WareZdaBeef]

If i lived nearby and wasn't suck a D-head i would love to learn about buying whole/half sides of beef and how to package them.
But, you would most likely beat me up or chase me out. I don't have one of those off switches most people have when it comes to criticism.

Nice looking chunks of beef in that cooler though.

 

[Norm]

No worries WZB, I can be the same way.

I'm learning as I go, if I remember right it's the 4th beefer I've done. All the rest I had help with but she passed away some time ago.

 

[wihint]

No worries WZB, I can be the same way.

I'm learning as I go, if I remember right it's the 4th beefer I've done. All the rest I had help with but she passed away some time ago.

Aw brother you got this. Best tribute we can ever do is never forget!

 

[Big George's BBQ]

Very Nice Norm If I was close I would be over That looks like some really nice meat

 

[cowgirl]

Good lookin' beef Norm! Between that and the recent pigs, you're going to be eatin' mighty fine this winter! :thumb:

 

[pjtexas1]

awesome stock pile.i cannot imagine how long it would take to eat all of that but i bet it would be a whole lot of fun cooking it all up.