62 terms in seven groups. If you only learn three, make them hanging weight, custom-exempt, and primal. Those three explain most of the surprises first-timers run into.
Inspection and the law
- Ante-mortem inspection
- The USDA inspector's examination of every animal while it is alive, before harvest, for signs of illness, injury, or recent treatment. An animal that does not pass is held or refused. Drop-off day →
- Custom-exempt
- A plant that processes animals only for the animal's owner, without an inspector present at harvest. Its packages are stamped NOT FOR SALE and may be eaten only by the owner, their household, non-paying guests, and household employees. USDA vs. custom-exempt →
- Custom processing
- Processing an animal you own, to your specifications, and returning the beef to you. You own the animal; the plant harvests, ages, cuts, wraps, and freezes it the way your cut sheet says. How to fill out a cut sheet →
- Establishment number (EST.)
- The number the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service assigns to a federally inspected plant. It appears in the mark of inspection on every package and is public in the FSIS inspection directory. Ours is 2918. USDA vs. custom-exempt →
- FSIS
- The Food Safety and Inspection Service, the USDA agency that inspects meat plants and staffs the inspector on our floor. Its directives govern residue testing, labeling, and humane handling. USDA vs. custom-exempt →
- Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA)
- The federal law governing how livestock are handled and stunned at harvest. The USDA inspector verifies compliance every time a plant runs. Drop-off day →
- Mark of inspection
- The round USDA stamp, containing the establishment number, that appears on every package from a federally inspected plant. It is what makes the beef legal to sell and what a buyer or market manager checks first. Selling your own beef →
- NOT FOR SALE
- The stamp required on every package from a custom-exempt plant. Beef carrying it cannot legally be sold, donated, or served to the public, regardless of quality. USDA vs. custom-exempt →
- Post-mortem inspection
- The inspector's examination of the carcass and organs after harvest. Residue screening on show animals happens here. Drop-off day →
- State-inspected
- A plant operating under a grant of inspection from the Texas Department of State Health Services, with a state inspector at harvest. Its beef may be sold to the public inside Texas only. USDA vs. custom-exempt →
- USDA-inspected (federally inspected)
- A plant with a federal grant of inspection and an FSIS inspector present for every harvest. Its beef carries the USDA mark and may be sold anywhere in the United States or exported. USDA vs. custom-exempt →
Weights and yield
- Boxed weight (take-home weight)
- The total weight of the packages you carry home after cutting, trimming, and packaging. Typically 60 to 65 percent of hanging weight, depending on the cut sheet. Hanging vs. take-home weight →
- Dressing percentage
- Hanging weight divided by live weight. A finished beef steer dresses about 60 to 64 percent; thin animals, dairy breeds, and cull cows dress lower. Hanging vs. take-home weight →
- Hanging weight (hot carcass, rail, or dressed weight)
- The weight of the carcass right after harvest, with hide, head, feet, blood, and organs removed and bones still in. It is recorded on the rail, appears first on your weight report, and is what per-pound plants bill on. Hanging vs. take-home weight →
- Live weight
- The animal's weight on the hoof, the day you haul it in. We do not weigh live animals; if you know this number from your own scale, dividing hanging weight by it gives you the dressing percentage. Hanging vs. take-home weight →
- Package count (itemized inventory)
- The list on your weight report of every package by cut, with counts. It confirms the cut sheet was followed, makes splitting a half honest, and is the best input for next year's sheet. Reading your weight report →
- Shrink
- Weight lost between the rail and the box: bone removed, fat trimmed, and water given up during aging. None of it is meat you would have eaten. Hanging vs. take-home weight →
- Weight report
- The document that comes with every animal here: hanging weight at harvest, boxed weight at pickup, and the itemized package count. It is included in the flat fee. Reading your weight report →
- Yield
- How much packaged beef an animal produces, usually stated as boxed weight as a share of hanging weight. Bone-in cut sheets yield more pounds of box weight; boneless sheets yield less but the same amount of meat. Hanging vs. take-home weight →
The animal and the cuts
- Arm roast
- A cross-cut roast from the shank containing the marrow bone. Very flavorful; one of the roast choices on our sheet. How to fill out a cut sheet →
- Chuck eye steak
- A steak cut from the chuck next to the rib, sometimes called the poor man's ribeye. Choosing chuck eye or Denver steaks means no chuck roast from that side, because they come from the same subprimal. How to fill out a cut sheet →
- Cut sheet
- The form that tells the plant how to turn a side of beef into packages: steaks or roasts from each primal, thickness, grind ratio, and which bones and organs to keep. One sheet per half. Ours is a free PDF. How to fill out a cut sheet →
- Cutlets
- Tenderized 8-ounce portions from the round, the chicken-fried-steak cut. A yes-or-no on the cut sheet, about three to five pounds per side. How to fill out a cut sheet →
- Denver steak
- A well-marbled steak cut from the chuck. Like the chuck eye, choosing it means the chuck roast is not available from that side. How to fill out a cut sheet →
- Dino ribs
- Full-length bone-in plate rib slabs, the showstopper barbecue cut. One of five rib options on the sheet; the others are short ribs, tablitas, half and half, or grind. How to fill out a cut sheet →
- Grind ratio (80/20)
- The lean-to-fat ratio of your ground beef. 80/20 is the all-purpose default; leaner grinds are drier on the grill. How to fill out a cut sheet →
- Kidney fat (suet)
- The hard fat around the kidneys, the best fat for rendering tallow. It is discarded unless you check yes on the cut sheet. How to fill out a cut sheet →
- Offal (organs, fifth quarter)
- The edible organs and extras: heart, liver, tongue, oxtail, cheek, and the kidney fat. Each is a yes-or-no on the sheet and is discarded unless requested; availability is subject to USDA rules. How to fill out a cut sheet →
- Picanha
- The top of the top sirloin with its fat cap left on, the Brazilian steakhouse cut. Available whole, as steaks, or ground. How to fill out a cut sheet →
- Pikes Peak roast
- A boneless variation of the rump roast from the round. One of the roast-or-grind choices on the sheet. How to fill out a cut sheet →
- Primal
- One of the large sections a side of beef is first divided into: chuck, rib, loin, sirloin, round, brisket, plate, and flank. Each primal can be cut only one way, which is the rule behind every choose-one line on the cut sheet. How to fill out a cut sheet →
- Side (half)
- One half of a carcass, split down the backbone. We cut and bill by the side, one cut sheet per side. Whole, half, or quarter →
- Subprimal
- A primal broken down one step further: the strip loin and tenderloin from the short loin, the top sirloin from the sirloin. We age beef as subprimals in vacuum bags. How long beef should hang →
- Tablitas
- Cross-cut short ribs, a quarter to three-eighths of an inch thick, for the grill. One of the rib options on the sheet. How to fill out a cut sheet →
- T-bone and porterhouse (the 30-month rule)
- Bone-in steaks from the short loin that include a section of the vertebral column. Under USDA rules they are not available from animals over 30 months of age; the same meat is cut boneless as strips and filets instead. How to fill out a cut sheet →
- Tri tip
- The bottom sirloin roast, popularized in California. Available whole, as steaks, or ground. How to fill out a cut sheet →
Pricing
- Disposal fee
- A charge for disposing of the inedible parts of the animal. A separate line at many plants; included in our flat fee. What processing costs →
- Flat fee
- One price for processing an animal regardless of its weight. Ours is $850 for a whole and $450 for a half, with inspection, harvest, disposal, rail weight, packaging, cut sheet, and weight report included. What processing costs →
- Harvest fee (kill fee, slaughter fee)
- A per-head charge for harvesting the animal, separate from cutting. At per-pound plants it is billed on top of the per-pound rate; here it is part of the flat fee. What processing costs →
- Minimum charge
- A floor on the per-pound processing bill at some plants, so a small carcass does not come in cheap. Common minimums are several hundred dollars. What processing costs →
- Per-pound processing
- The common pricing model: a harvest fee plus a rate per pound of hanging weight, plus line items. The total is not known until the animal is on the rail. What processing costs →
- Rail weight fee
- A charge for weighing the carcass on the rail. Billed separately at some plants; included here. What processing costs →
Aging, packaging, and freezing
- Aging
- Holding beef cold for a period after harvest so the muscle's own enzymes break down connective tissue and tenderize it. Most of the gain happens in the first 10 to 14 days. How long beef should hang →
- Blast freezing
- Freezing packaged beef fast in a high-airflow freezer. Fast freezing makes smaller ice crystals, less cell damage, and less purge when you thaw. How your beef is packaged →
- Dry aging
- Aging a carcass or primal exposed to controlled cold air, forming a crust that is trimmed off. Concentrates flavor at a cost of 10 to 20 percent of the weight. We do not dry age. How long beef should hang →
- Mil
- One thousandth of an inch, the unit for packaging film thickness. Our rollstock film is 6 and 9 mil, much thicker than the industry runs, which is why the packages do not puncture or freezer burn. How your beef is packaged →
- Rollstock
- A packaging machine that forms a package from roll film, seals it, and sends it on to be labeled. Steaks and all ground products here are rollstock packaged, one steak per package. How your beef is packaged →
- Vacuum sealed
- Packaged in a chamber vacuum bag with the air removed. Roasts, ribs, brisket, stew, cutlets, bones, and organs are vacuum sealed here. How your beef is packaged →
- Wet aging
- Aging beef sealed in vacuum bags in its own juices. Same tenderizing as dry aging with almost no weight loss. Our standard is a 14-day wet age on subprimals. How long beef should hang →
Show steers
- Beta-agonist
- A class of feed additive that increases lean muscle growth, including ractopamine, zilpaterol, and the illegal clenbuterol. Many Texas shows ban them, and the USDA can tissue-test show animals for them. Show steer processing →
- KIS test (kidney inhibition swab)
- A rapid on-site screen for antibiotic and sulfa residues that USDA inspectors perform on show animals as standing procedure, and on any animal that looks suspect. Show steer processing →
- Market steer (show steer)
- A steer fed to a hard finish for a 4-H or FFA show. After the show it either goes through a terminal sale to a packer or comes to a plant like ours for processing, where it gets extra USDA residue scrutiny. Show steer processing →
- Residue
- Any drug or prohibited compound remaining in the meat at harvest. A confirmed violative residue condemns the carcass. Withdrawal times exist to prevent it. Show steer processing →
- Terminal sale
- A show sale in which the animal goes directly to a designated packer after the sale. The alternative is the family or buyer keeping the animal and having it custom processed. Show steer processing →
- Withdrawal time
- The number of days that must pass between the last dose of a drug or feed additive and harvest, printed on the product label. It is measured to harvest, not to show day. Show steer processing →
Scheduling, splitting, and selling
- Booking lead time
- The time from your call to the harvest date you are given. Our target is within 21 days, usually met; fall and post-show weeks run longer. When to book →
- GS1 barcode
- The scannable barcode a store's register reads, issued under a company prefix you register with GS1 US. Needed only if your beef will be scanned at a register; we print the codes on private labels. Private label →
- Locker plant
- An older name for a small local meat processor, from the days when customers rented freezer lockers there. Most lockers are custom-exempt. USDA vs. custom-exempt →
- Mixed quarter
- A quarter share that gets an even mix of the front and hind of the animal, so both families get steaks and roasts. Since a half is cut to one sheet and then divided, a mixed quarter is simply splitting every category of package in half. Whole, half, or quarter →
- Private label
- Packaging your beef under your own brand name with all the elements federal rules require on a retail label. Quoted separately from the flat fee. Private label →
- Quarter
- Two households sharing one half of an animal. They agree on one cut sheet, the half is cut to it, and they divide the boxes. Whole, half, or quarter →
- Turnaround
- Time from drop-off to pickup. Ours is two to three weeks: about a day for harvest and chill, 14 days of aging, then cutting, packaging, and freezing. How long beef should hang →
A word we did not define?
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