Buying a whole cow. Which cuts?


 

Darrell_K

New member
I got a lot of mouths to feed here. We buy a whole cow at a time. This smoking thing is new to me. Time to buy a cow has come. I get to decide how to have the bovine butchered. The question I have is now that I want to smoke more which cuts should I go with? I still want to grill some good steaks and we need lots of hamburger. Any suggestions on what cuts to have made from a cow. :confused:
 
Here are a few I have smoked: Chuck roast, tri tip, brisket, ribs, sirloin tip roast, eye of round roast.

Those and some steaks and burger ought to do it.
 
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I'm not a butcher, nor do I have much knowledge of HOW to butcher what I'm about to say, but this is simply how I'd proceed. A lot of it is give and take.

I'd say get the neck, rump/round, and most of the clod turned into large cuts or ground/stew meat (if you can grind yourself, that would be ideal for these cuts, as whole cuts would last longer and be easier to manage than all of it ground up frozen. Could also cut them down for some roasts.

Then I'd say keep the briskets, tongue, some chuck slices, and maybe one side of the short ribs for smoking (and the other side of short ribs for some good korean bbq). You could ask for some of the rib to be cut into the ribeye (forget the term for this), which makes the huge brontosaurus rib when bbq'd.

Then of course get the flanks/loins, and ribs for steaks (tenderloin, NY strip, and ribeyes). Oh and don't forget the tri tip from the sirloin. Also, no sense in sacrificing any of the tenderloin for smoking or grinding (if not obvious), but also you may want to get some Porterhouse (ny strip & filet - center cut) cut instead of a tenderloin roast or steaks.

Don't forget to ask for some of the trimmings to be labeled from where they came, to be used for either stew meat or kabobs. The meat that runs along the spine is GREAT for rough chopped steak sandwiches or kabobs. Also you could ask for some boutique cuts like the culotte (rib cap), but you'd be sacrificing some of the ribeye steak.

That leaves hind leg and shin for some stew meat or specialty dishes. Also the tail for some oxtail soup!

Save the raw bones and make some killer stock!

A really good idea is to watch some youtube videos on whole beef butchery, it'll teach you tons of info on how you may want some of your animal cut.
 
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OH! I almost forgot, definitely get the cheeks! Braise them for a bit and serve with fresh pasta or some sort of "fancy pot roast"!
 

 

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