Broken Horn D Ranch
Beef Processing F.A.Q.’s
“What does the meat taste like?” All grass fed beef is leaner and usually dried than its grain fed
counterpart, BUT the beauty of the Criollo beef is it stays moist and tasty! It has fine muscle fibers and
most people like its natural beefy flavor. If you have never tasted grass fed Criollo beef, we recommend
you try a few individual cuts before purchasing a whole animal.
“How much meat will I get?” Criollo or Corriente cattle are a smaller, lighter framed animal typically
processed around 24 months of age, when they will weigh between 650 to 850 pounds on the hoof.
Traditional English beef breeds of cattle are butchered at 1,200 pounds. Due to the lighter skeleton and
hide, your “yield”, or amount of actual meat back to you will be greater. Whole animal example: live
weight 820 lbs., meat back 270 lbs. So, a WHOLE animal will give you approximately 250 to 280 lbs. of
meat. A HALF, 125 to 140 lbs. and a QUARTER, 60 to 70 lbs. A whole animal fits in our 16 cubic foot,
typical upright freezer. 50 lbs. of meat will generally take up 2 cubic feet of freezer space.
“What does it cost?” We sell you the animal on the hoof at current market price per pound. (and
transport it to the processor) You pay Perkinsville Meat Processing directly for the processing. There is
a kill fee of $60 and the base cut and wrap charge of .69 per pound. Extras are patties, sausage, chorizo,
tenderizing and offals. At current pricing, you will have about $7.20 - $7.55 per pound average in the
meat.
“How many steaks will I have?” This depends on how you have the animal processed! Typically, if you
order the best steaks and roasts, and grind everything else, you’ll end up with approximately 19%
steaks, 18% roasts and 63% ground.
“When can I purchase beef?” Due to the nature of the grass fed process, cattle are ready to process
beginning in late spring and through the fall, before the frost. But it all depends on the grass! We try to
always have individual cuts on hand in the freezers at the ranch!
“How is the meat processed?” At slaughter time, the meat is hung and dry aged about 14 days at
Perkinsville Meat Processing. It is then cut to your specifications, double wrapped and labeled and
placed in freezer storage until you pick it up.
“I want to purchase a whole beef! Now what?” We’ll select an animal, weight it and deliver it to
Perkinsville Meat Processing in Chino Valley, AZ and handle all the necessary inspections and transfer
paperwork for you. We’ll notify you of the weight and the amount you owe us. You will communicate
directly with Perkinsville Meat Processing regarding just how you’d like your meat cut. We will be very
happy to assist and advise you on this as well! Perkinsville will call you when your meat is ready to be
picked up at their lockers and you will pay them directly for the processing.
November, 2014