What's in a quarter?
The amount of meat in a quarter varies of course with the animals weight. After the meat is prepared into halves the weight is recorded.This weight is termed as the "rail weight", because it is then aged while hanging on the rail mounted in the cooler. Due to this process there is a bit of weight loss.
The meat is aged for about 28 days to allow it to tenderize to its fullest. Then the butcher will do his cutting and wrapping to make your meat into the proper cuts for your needs. This is when he separates the half's to quarters. The butcher mixes the front and hind quarters so that there is an equal amount of meat and quality in each. We find that this is a good way to divide the meat as each customer gets a fair share of the select meats as well as the secondary cuts. The closer the meat is to the bone the more flavour it has, but the less palatable.
The time to serve your guests is near and a good way to prepare this lean meat is to start with defrosting it in the fridge. When it is defrosted, before you marinate it, tenderize it a bit using a tenderizing utensil. The meat needs moisture and oil while cooking as it has no fat. Prepare a marinate blend either available in stores or create your own, that's the fun part. We use a mix of tomato sauce, HP sauce, Montreal Steak spice, a bit of Olive oil, sliced onion, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, peach and pear juice, a squeeze of lemon, and a nice liqueur adds a special touch. Let soak in this mixture for a few hours. You won't need BBq sauces if you marinate and do not use the marinate while cooking as a sauce. The lean hamburger needs an egg and milk added to bind and moisturize it as well as your favorite flavouring and spices. Medium rare will give the most tender meat. Meat should be cooked to 160 degrees Fahrenheit internally.
Roasts should be coated with Virgin Olive oil and seared quickly then turn down your oven to cook them slowly.
An average typical quarter may contain;
To better understand the table various cuts can be seen on the meat chart at the web site of http://www.beefinfo.ca
Packages (some steaks Packages contain 2 pieces) |
Type of Cut |
Lbs. |
Oz's. |
Kg's
|
2 |
Cross Rib Roast |
7 |
6 |
3.345 |
2 |
Rump Roast |
6 |
2 |
2.778 |
1 |
Sirloin Tip Roast |
3 |
9 |
1.165 |
6 |
Chuck Steak |
10 |
2 |
4.59 |
4 |
T-Bone Steak |
6 |
0 |
2.721 |
4 |
Round Steak |
5 |
4 |
2.381 |
4 |
Rib Steak |
6 |
15 |
3.146 |
4 |
Sirloin Steak |
4 |
14 |
2.211 |
3 |
Short Ribs |
4 |
9 |
2.06 |
26 |
Ground Beef |
25 |
5 |
11.481 |
4 |
Stewing Beef |
4 |
0 |
1.841 |
6 |
Soup Bones |
6 |
3 |
2.086 |
1 |
Liver or Heart |
1 |
2 |
.051 |
2 |
Beef Sausage or Beef and Onion |
2 |
1 |
.0935 |
Total Weight |
93 |
10 |
41.25 |
The average person eats 63 lbs. of beef a year.
