Thank you for ordering your beef from our farm! The information contained on this webpage is meant to help guide you in the cut selection process, as well as some basic cooking instructions for 100% grassfed beef. It is by no means a complete and all inclusive set of instructions, but if you take the time to read what we have provided, we feel that you will have a very solid understanding of what cuts are available and what you would like and dislike.
I would like to stress that you do not need to call the butcher at this time. We will send you a specific email with your invoice in the coming weeks letting you know when to call in your cuts.
First Time Buyers
It goes without saying that if this is your first time thru this process, it will be a bit daunting. But we are here to help, so if you have questions – ask! One of the many things that makes our farm different is that we walk you thru the cut selection process. We don’t just drop off your animal, send you and invoice and tell you to have a nice day. We want you to have the best experience possible, and with that you get our personal service and attention. If you need to spend 30 minutes on the phone with us getting questions answered, we are happy to do that! Also, you will probably find after the fact that there are some things you will do differently next time, and that is all part of the learning curve. But hopefully with this information and our answering you questions, we will minimize that and help you get the most out of this for your family.
Learning Cuts
Below is a link for you to begin familiarizing yourself with the cut possibilities on your beef. The number one thing to remember is that basically, anything you don’t want to keep (such as a particular type of roast, soup bones, short ribs, etc.) you can simply turn it into hamburger or stew meat. However, the one lesson that we learned a few years ago was that having your short ribs ground into your hamburger adds quite a bit of fat. If you want lean burger, leave the ribs as ribs! And there is nothing wrong with lathering up some slow cooked beef ribs with BBQ sauce and making a fun mess.
http://www.foodsubs.com/Meats.html
I really like the website above because you can click on one section of the animal and learn what comes from that area. There is a lot of good reading here, so spend some time on this site. They list a lot of specialty items, which are a one shot deal (a standing rib roast for instance vs. lots of rib steaks). So be careful not to get too crazy, especially your first time thru this process.
Calling the Butcher
When you call in your cuts, the butcher will go thru each section one at a time with you, so try not to jump around as it makes it difficult for them to record all of your requests. We have provided a copy of their cut instructions down below. Print this off, make notes about what you want and don’t want and have them ready when you call. You can even fill out as many of the cuts as you can in advance. This makes for good practice and will really help you out. If you have questions about something in particular while on the phone, ask! That is what they are there for and they are more than happy to help. The butcher might use a different term than you are used to or read about, so be sure you are talking apples and apples. Also, be prepared to tell them how thick you want your steaks and how many per package you would like, or how big of a roast you want. How many people are in your family? How much do you normally cook? Do you want leftovers when you make a roast or do you really want to stretch things? Also, you can have the various types of steaks cut and packaged differently, but each type of steak will need to be done consistently. For instance if you want 1/2” sirloins and 3/4” t-bones that should not be a problem, but don’t ask for two different thicknesses on your t-bones for instance.
One cut that we would encourage you to consider having ground into burger are the round steaks. These can be a bit tricky to keep tender, especially with 100% grassfed beef, and generally require slow cooking for long periods after tenderizing. If you are unsure about what to do, keep a few packages of the round steak and grind the rest. The butcher can also tenderize those for you (cube steak) and this might be a good option for you to choose. One section of the round that is worth keeping is the eye (center) of the round. We have the butcher take this cut and make a nice rolled rump roast, and have it placed into a net.
As for your roasts, try some different things. You can also request sizes on your various roasts to meet your needs (like 2-3lbs or 1-2lbs). I would also encourage you to keep your brisket, flank steak and skirt steaks. There are some fun recipes to try that call for these specific cuts of meat, and you only get one from each half of the cow! So have fun and experiment with something new. Also, the butcher offers different sized hamburger packages. Sometimes it’s handy to have 1lb and 2lb packages in the freezer. Also, you can have burger patties pre-formed if you would like to do so. There is an added fee for this, but it isn’t much typically and it can be nice to have those on hand as well. One option to add to your ground beef is in the soup bones from the legs, you can also have it removed and added to your burger (or leave it on as “soup bones”). It simply depends on if you want to make pure broth, or want to have some meat to peel off and toss into whatever you are making as well. This is a drier, tougher meat but we chip it up with a food processor when done simmering and you can’t tell.
What we personally do for our cuts
This is what we do, and you can use this as a guide – but please do what works for you!
Generally speaking, we keep chuck roasts at 2-3lbs each, and turn the arm roast into 1lb packages of stew meat. The rolled rump roasts (which are rolled and netted for a small extra fee) are about 2-2.5lbs each, but we only use the eye of the round for these and the balance of the round goes to ground beef. This ends up being a miniature roast beef and is extremely lean. We also keep the brisket, sometimes whole and sometimes whole but cut in half for two smaller cuts. We also have them leave the “sirloin tip” roasts instead of making burger with that, it is one of our favorite roasts to cook and eat. If you are wanting more burger, our suggestion is to keep all of the above but have the arm roasts made into burger.
Our cattle really do not get large enough to justify having separate filet and strip steaks made, so we strongly encourage you to have t-bone steaks made. Our personal steaks are all 3/4″ thick, but you can have them made any thickness you prefer. We also keep boneless sirloin and bone-in rib steaks that are also 3/4” thick. A note about rib steaks: We have this left with the bone in, which makes it a “rib steak” (boneless = “ribeye”). In our book, bone adds flavor and really enhances the steak. It also gives you some extra fat to work with when grilling. You can have the bone removed, and that is a “ribeye steak”. You will only get one flank steak from each half cow, but it’s great for making fajitas. We also like to keep some stew meat, but you will give up some roasts to do this. Please note that your steaks are best grilled medium rare at most. We generally grill at about 4000 for a maximum of 4-5 minutes per side. 100% grassfed beef is very lean, and an overcooked steak is not an enjoyable one.
Lastly, please consider keeping your organ meats and soup bones. The bones make an excellent broth! Simply roast the bones in the oven until they are charred, and then cover with water in a large stockpot and slow simmer until you get a rich broth. We like to make lots of broth at one time and freeze it in pints or quarts to use later. You can also leave some of the soup bones with meat on them, these are basically the very bottom of the arm roasts and end up being about 50/50 bone and meat. We simply slow simmer these in water for 3-4 hours to make a bone broth, and then remove the meat and toss it back in for our beef stew.
As for your burger, you can get 1lb, 1.5lb or 2lb packages – and you can mix and match to get some of each. Options that will cost a little extra are having burger patties made (we like the 3 to 1 packs, giving you three 1/3lb patties in a package).
Regarding the short ribs: If you want to increase your hamburger, you can have the short ribs turned into ground beef. However, if you do this be aware that the fat content can go up quite a bit! Ask the butcher about removing the fat and bones from the ribs and just adding in the meat for a leaner burger.
This is by no means a complete guide, but a general idea of what we like to do.
What to expect and the value of buying in bulk
Most of your cow is burger, followed by a good amount of roasts. The steaks are obviously the prime cuts, and there are not as many of them as one might think. The greatest number of steaks are the rib steaks, followed by the sirloins. After that are strip steaks, with the fewest amount of steaks of course being the t-bone. Please note that most of the animals we raise only get up to about 900-1000lbs, so we’ve listed the following information to give you an idea of what to expect:
- 25-30lbs of t-bone, ribeye and sirloin steaks
- 25-30lbs of brisket, chuck roast, sirloin tip roast and mini roast beef (rolled rump roast)
- 7-10lbs of premium stew meat
- 10lbs of beef short ribs
- 75lbs of lean ground beef in one pound packages or patties
- 15-20lbs of bones, marrow bones, organ meats, etc.
Please note that every cow is different, and these results are not meant to give you an exact ratio, but rather an idea of what to expect. Also, we encourage you to keep the whole cow! Our bulk pricing estimates are based on your using and cooking with everything from steaks to bones for broth. The less you keep, the higher your price per pound ticks up! Usually, our bulk customers end up spending about $12.50/lb for the product that ends up in their freezer.
You will have five days from the Monday we drop off your animal to call those cuts in. The beef will age for 8-10 days. We will send you and email reminder as well with your invoice to call in your cuts.
Some Cooking tips
Cooking with grass fed beef is different! It is not like conventional beef, so below we have provided a couple of links for you to read thru and gain some tips about how to prepare this beef and avoid the dreaded overcooking!
This link (below) is a bit commercialized, and I’m not advocating using their meat tenderizer (I have no experience with it) nor do I think every steak must be marinated or seasoned. In fact, the best fillet in my book is to simply let it get up to room temp, place on grill, add salt and pepper at that time, grill for 2-4 minutes per side, and let rest with a big dollop of butter melting on it! But there is some very good info to be garnered from this site. They give some good info and some very good tips:
http://www.americangrassfedbeef.com/tips-for-cooking-grass-fed.asp
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us! That is what we are here for and it’s all part of what you receive when you choose our farm for your families beef purchase.
Thanks again for your patronage!
About our processor Odon Locker:
Please note that all items will be wrapped in white freezer paper and marked “not for resale”. All items are frozen in metal trays, and it is suggested that you take a cooler or bags with you to the butcher. They will provide bags or boxes upon request however.
Cut Selection From Odon Locker (they’ll walk you thru this on the phone):
**Choices for beef cuts**
STEAKS:
Thickness of Steaks ½” ¾” 1” 1 ¼” 1 ½”
Number of Steaks Per Pkg
RIB-EYE: bone-in or boneless
T-BONE or NEW YORK STRIP & FILET MIGNONS
SIRLOIN: bone-in or boneless -> serving size pcs
ROUND: whole or boneless & tenderized(MINUTE STEAK)
ROASTS:
Size of Roasts: 2# 3# 4#
CHUCK OR CHUCKEYE STEAKS
ARM OR BEEF GRILLERS
RUMP OR MINUTE STEAKS
SIRLOIN TIP – ROASTS OR STEAKS
RIBS
BRISKET: B/I OR BNLS
STEW MEAT
SOUP BONES
GROUND BEEF: 1#, 1 ½# or 2#
PATTIES: 1/4# or 1/3# (10# MINIMUM)
ORGANS ARE PUT WITH BEEF
THIS IS A GUIDE ONLY. PLEASE CALL THE STORE AT (812)-636-4242 TO SPEAK WITH SOMEONE ABOUT THE INSTRUCTIONS.
Generic Cuts Diagram Sheet
Click on Image to Enlarge
