Before making your first bulk order, it's important to understand the different weight measures used to determine the cost of your whole, half, quarter or eighth beef. First time buyers who don't already understand the weight measures often find themselves surprised that the weight of the meat they bring home (boxed weight) is much lower than the weight of the carcass when it’s hanging in the meat locker (hanging weight).
This is an important distinction, since the industry standard is to charge by the hanging weight. Per WSDA regulations, we are required to sell whole, half, quarter and eight beeves by live weight. This isn’t always feasible, so we are allowed to make a price conversion to hanging weight. However, we are not allowed to charge by final boxed weight.
We recommend you familiarize yourself with the following info and be sure to ask any questions you have before purchasing to avoid any confusion. Here is a breakdown.
Live Weight: Walking around weight of the live animal.
Hanging Weight: The weight of the carcass when it goes into the hanging room to dry age. Hanging weight does not include the head, hide, hooves, blood and innards, which have been removed. It DOES include bones, fat and sinew, much of which will be discarded during processing.
Boxed Weight: This is the net take-home weight of the meat that is packaged and ready for your freezer. It has been our experience that, typically, we lose around 35% to 45% of the hanging weight during processing, though that percentage can go up or down for a variety of reasons.
EXAMPLE: If the hanging weight of your whole beef is 522 lbs, then the boxed weight, on average, could vary from 287 lbs (45% loss) to 339 lbs (35% loss).
The reduced weight is mostly attributed to the trimming of fat, connective tissue and bone, the mass of which is determined by each individual animal’s composition, as well as moisture lost during the dry aging process.
Occasionally, the weight reduction from hanging to boxed can be as high as 65% if the live animal was very fat and the customer’s cut sheet choices lower the boxed weight further.
Custom choices that result in a lower boxed weight:
Opting for more grind than cuts (removal of bone and fat reduces total weight). Grind is also more compact, which results in fewer take-home boxes.
Opting for bone-out roasts and steaks.
Opting out of soup, knuckle and marrow bones.
Opting out of tallow (good fat that can be rendered into lard for cooking or making soap, etc.).
Opting out of offal, i.e. heart, liver and tongue.
If you have any additional questions, we are more than happy to assist.