The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Robyn on September 20, 2015, 12:50:44 am
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Hi.
This time of year I take lambs to the abattoir for private kill, leave them hang there for a week and then bring them home to butcher myself.
Last week I had 2 killed, both texel x welsh mule females straight off grass, no dry feed, one 46kg live killing out at 22kg R3H and one 40kg live killing out at 19kg U3L. As I was short of time to cut them up, they were taken to a butcher.
My question is simply what weight of meat should I expect back from each carcass?
Thank you in advance.
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I've just had Jacob X Texels born April back. They were between 27 and 29 kilos, butchered out. All fattened on grass, I was very pleased with them! Hope this helps.
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Sounds about right on those 2 carcasses. Don't forget you lose a little after butchering too. Ewe lambs have a better kill out % than ram lambs. We've sent lambs off 44-47kg and got carcasses back 19.5-23kg and after butchered 9.5-11.2kg this year.
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I think you want to know what weight of meat you can expect back from the butcher from your 22kg and 19kg carcasses. Good question. I use the butcher at the abattoir and have always been disappointed at the low weights I get back. Most recent examples are 2 Lleyn x Hampshire ewe lambs (45 and 42kg respectively) came back labelled 19kg and 17.7kg. However when I actually weighed a bagged half of the 17.7 one, it was barely 7 kg! I had already sold the larger one for £120, so I am now concerned about how much that one weighed!!
I think I need a conversation with the butcher next time I go.
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I think you want to know what weight of meat you can expect back from the butcher from your 22kg and 19kg carcasses. Good question.
Yes Slimjim, that's exactly what I'd like your opinion on.
I picked up the 2 packs of meat yesterday and was very disappointed to say the least.
The 22kg carcase is now 17.4kg and the 19kg carcase is now 15.6kg.
Where has the other 4.6 and 3.4kgs gone? That's 8kgs in total or 19.5% of dressed carcase weight disappeared.
But comparing them to half your 17.7kg carcase ending up at barely 7kgs, then maybe they're about right.
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If you normally cut up yourself what weight would you have expected from those dw's?
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If you normally cut up yourself what weight would you have expected from those dw's?
I've never weighed the meat yield before, but I'm certain that I don't trim off 20% of the carcase weight, that's why I asked for other members' opinion and experience.
When I butcher the carcases I only cut off the hocks (leg ends) and tail and then any excess fat if there is any, everything else is bagged for the freezer.
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I've just had Jacob X Texels born April back. They were between 27 and 29 kilos, butchered out.
devonlady, to have them butchered out at 27 and 29kgs, what were their live weight and dressed carcase weight?
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It depends on your spec or style of butchery. was the aitch bone and tail bone removed from the legs? The fore ribs and neck bones would almost certainly have been removed. kidney fats would have been trimmed. How much fat did they trim away for you?
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Yes Slimjim, that's exactly what I'd like your opinion on.
I picked up the 2 packs of meat yesterday and was very disappointed to say the least.
The 22kg carcase is now 17.4kg and the 19kg carcase is now 15.6kg.
Where has the other 4.6 and 3.4kgs gone? That's 8kgs in total or 19.5% of dressed carcase weight disappeared.
But comparing them to half your 17.7kg carcase ending up at barely 7kgs, then maybe they're about right.
[/quote] AS mcd says some meat will have been taken off the bone and rolled , the leg bones trimmed , EBLEX says that your R3L may have 1.5kg fat trimmed and your R3H 3kg , also if half wt was done hot then after 1 wk the carcass will be lighter
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How much bone has been removed? Are all your shoulders whole, or boned & rolled? Legs as joints - or steaks? All loin as chops, etc. Breast no doubt has been boned. Have you some diced meat? Burgers, sausages, mince? Butchers can't help themselves but trim fat off ::) and bones are heavy ;). Oh, and if the meat was hung, it loses quite a bit of weight as it dries out, too.
Your returned weights, being 80 and 82% of the deadweights, sound completely acceptable to me - good, even. I got a lot less %age than that back from my heifer!
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Thank you for your advice.
The dressed carcase weight recorded at the slaughterhouse I use is always quoted as warm weight less 1.0 to 1.4kgs dependent on actual weight (rounded up to the nearest 0.5kg). Kidneys are always removed on the production line.
I can understand that some fat has been removed on the 22kg R3H, possibly why that carcase has lost 1.2kg more, but the 19kg U3L is what we used to sell as a prime Waitrose Welsh Lamb carcase.
Leg bones have been trimmed, tail bone removed and neck cut level with the shoulder, but the aitch bone is still attached.
Each pack consisted of the following:-
2 leg joints halved but not deboned
2 shoulder joints halved but not deboned
12 double chops, spine is intact but the ribs have been cut out
2 breasts rolled but not deboned (lower parts of the ribs are intact)
No steaks, diced meat, burgers, sausages or mince
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This time of year I take lambs to the abattoir for private kill, leave them hang there for a week and then bring them home to butcher myself.
Have you ever compared abattoir deadweight to the weight returned after hanging for a week?
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Have you ever compared abattoir deadweight to the weight returned after hanging for a week?
I haven't, but I'll certainly check next time.
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You said you haven't weighed your butchered meat at home but how did what you had back from the butcher compare to your own home butchered experience in terms of joints, size of etc.
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You said you haven't weighed your butchered meat at home but how did what you had back from the butcher compare to your own home butchered experience in terms of joints, size of etc.
As I'm not a fully trained butcher, I split the carcase in half first, then joint it out, so it's not correct of me to speculate.
Next time I'll butcher the same way as these were done and I'll be able to confirm whether there are cuts of meat missing, but I'd like to think that there aren't any.
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but I'd like to think that there aren't any.
It seems to me from the initial topic and that quote alone that you're not entirely convinced.
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I've just had Jacob X Texels born April back. They were between 27 and 29 kilos, butchered out.
devonlady, to have them butchered out at 27 and 29kgs, what were their live weight and dressed carcase weight?
I haven't a clue as to live weight, they were stonking great lambs though and I trust my butcher absolutely. If he fancied a chop or two he would be welcome, he knows.
Maybe best to learn how to butcher your animals yourself. As long as you have the right equipment you can't go wrong (or so my nephew, a master butcher tells me!)
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You said you haven't weighed your butchered meat at home but how did what you had back from the butcher compare to your own home butchered experience in terms of joints, size of etc.
As I'm not a fully trained butcher, I split the carcase in half first, then joint it out, so it's not correct of me to speculate.
Next time I'll butcher the same way as these were done and I'll be able to confirm whether there are cuts of meat missing, but I'd like to think that there aren't any.
I'd have thought you wouldn't be doing things much different, a lamb is a lamb, so I'd have thought a comparison possible. I guess you either accept you got what you got or talk to the butcher.
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Thank you for your advice.
The dressed carcase weight recorded at the slaughterhouse I use is always quoted as warm weight less 1.0 to 1.4kgs dependent on actual weight (rounded up to the nearest 0.5kg). Kidneys are always removed on the production line.
I can understand that some fat has been removed on the 22kg R3H, possibly why that carcase has lost 1.2kg more, but the 19kg U3L is what we used to sell as a prime Waitrose Welsh Lamb carcase.
Leg bones have been trimmed, tail bone removed and neck cut level with the shoulder, but the aitch bone is still attached.
Each pack consisted of the following:-
2 leg joints halved but not deboned
2 shoulder joints halved but not deboned
12 double chops, spine is intact but the ribs have been cut out
2 breasts rolled but not deboned (lower parts of the ribs are intact)
No steaks, diced meat, burgers, sausages or mince
You're missing neck on that list? You should have had that back. But apart from that I think that's about what a lamb should come back as cut up unless the butcher has had a few double chops- our lambs normally come back as 12-14 chops. The breast if it's been rolled I'm sure would have had some deboning, have you tried rolling a breast that's boned :roflanim: Does seem low though so may be worth having a word with the butcher...
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Ask your butcher for all the trimmings and bones back (you can use them for stock and stews anyway), then you can work out the total weight. Mine actually charges to dispose of them so I happily take them back in a separate bag.
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I think you want to know what weight of meat you can expect back from the butcher from your 22kg and 19kg carcasses. Good question. I use the butcher at the abattoir and have always been disappointed at the low weights I get back. Most recent examples are 2 Lleyn x Hampshire ewe lambs (45 and 42kg respectively) came back labelled 19kg and 17.7kg. However when I actually weighed a bagged half of the 17.7 one, it was barely 7 kg! I had already sold the larger one for £120, so I am now concerned about how much that one weighed!!
I think I need a conversation with the butcher next time I go.
Our abattoir gives us half lambs , butchered, complete with weight tags .... so we know exactly what each half weighs to sell on.
and I would have thought butchered, less bones from some areas, that losing less than 2kg per half was about right?? and £120 for what I understand was a whole one at about 15Kg ... ie £8 /Kg sounds a bargain for the buyer to me.
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It seems to me from the initial topic and that quote alone that you're not entirely convinced.
I do trust the butcher or I would have taken them elsewhere, it's the weight loss which I found hard to accept, that's why I asked for your opinions and it seems unanimous that the weight is pretty much what it should be at 80% of dressed carcase weight.
You're missing neck on that list? You should have had that back. The breast if it's been rolled I'm sure would have had some deboning, have you tried rolling a breast that's boned :roflanim:
Yes the neck was missing and the breast was rolled with the lower part of the ribs still intact, more of a 'slow roast for casserole' joint.
Maybe best to learn how to butcher your animals yourself.
As I posted previously, I normally butcher my own lambs, but time is not on my side at the moment. However I've never weighed the carcase or the butchered joints before, hence why I asked for your advice.
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It would surely depend on how much bone is taken out.
The pic is of our first home butchered lamb. The 'waste' is on the left. My brother also took home some of the larger bones (and a shoulder :hungry:) for stock. I can see how the weight of bone removed can add up.
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The pic is of our first home butchered lamb.
That seems to be lean.
What breed or cross was the lamb, what weight alive and dead?
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That seems to be lean.
What breed or cross was the lamb, what weight alive and dead?
Sorry, we didn't weigh it. It was a 15 month Ryeland.