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Primals vs Retail Cuts

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Overview

  • Primals vs Retail Cuts
  • Primals per Specie
  • Specie By-Products
  • Tying a Butcher Know
  • Cut Test/Yield Test

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Vocab

Primal: Large “main” section or area of a carcass

    • They can vary in names per specie

Sub-Primal: One step smaller than a primal

    • Small portion taken from a specific primal

Individual Muscle Cuts (IM): Individual whole muscles taken from a primal

    • Tenderloin Roast- Psoas Major
    • Flat Iron- Infraspinatus

Retail Cuts: Primals, Sub-Primals, or IM cuts cut into individual portions

    • Tenderloin Steaks
    • Flat Iron Steaks

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Vocab

Posterior:

    • Further back on an animal or carcass. Towards the rear of an animal.

Anterior:

    • Near the front of an animal or carcass. Towards the head of an animal.

Dorsal:

    • Upper half of a carcass or a top view of a carcass or animal. (Back)

Ventral:

    • Lower Half of a carcass or animal or floor view/bottom view of a carcass or animal. (Belly)

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Pork Carcass

Shoulder

“Boston Butt”

Loin

Picnic Shoulder

Belly

Ham

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Pork Primal Cuts

Boston Butt

Loin

Ham

Belly

Picnic Shoulder

Jowl

Neck Bones

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Beef Carcass

Round

Brisket

Rib

Loin

Chuck

Plate

Flank

Sirloin (Dashed Line):

Loin Sub-primal

or

Stand Alone Primal

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Beef Primal Cuts

Brisket

Plate

Flank

Round

Rib

Loin

Chuck

Sirloin (Dashed Line):

Loin Sub-primal

or

Stand Alone Primal

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Lamb/Goat Primals

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Poultry Carcass �to �Primals

Thigh

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Drumstick

Wing

Breast

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Primal Posters

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By-Products� = �Variety Meat �= �Offal

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What are By-Products:

  • What are By-Products?
    • Everything of economic value other than the carcass obtained from an animal during harvest
      • Inedible By-Products
      • Edible By-Products
  • What Animal Species do By-Products Come From?
    • All Animals can produce variety meats!
    • Most Common Species that we Consume Variety Meats From:
      • Livestock
        • Beef
        • Pork
        • Lamb
      • Poultry
        • Chickens

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By-Products are divided into 2 categories

By-Products

Edible

Used for human consumption directly or as ingredients

Inedible

NOT used for human consumption

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What are By-Products?

EDIBLE BY-PRODUCTS/VARIETY MEATS

  • Tongue
  • Sweet Breads
  • Oxtail
  • Liver
  • Chitterlings
  • Heart
  • Fat
    • Lard
    • Tallow
  • Stomach
    • Honeycomb Tripe

IN-EDIBLE BY- PRODUCTS

  • Hide/Skin
  • Pizzles
  • Gallstones
  • Bones
  • Blood
  • Percardiums
  • Pancreas
  • Ears
  • Teeth
  • Hooves

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Common Edible Beef By-Products:

  • Tripe
    • Ruminant Stomach Compartment
      • Honeycomb Tripe🡪 Reticulum
      • Omasum
  • Tongue
    • Different Colors
  • Heart
  • Ox Tail
  • Liver
    • Sliced
  • Fat
    • Tallow
  • Intestines
    • Sausage Casing
  • Beef Necks
  • Marrow/Soup Bones

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Common Edible Pork By-Products:

  • Liver
  • Heart
  • Intestines
    • Sausage Casing
    • Chitterlings
  • Fat
    • Lard
  • Skin
    • Pork Rinds
  • Pork Hocks
    • Fresh or Smoked
  • Pork Necks

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Other Common Variety Meats:

LAMB VARIETY MEATS

  • Liver
  • Heart
  • Marrow Bones/Soup Bones
  • Tripe
    • Ruminant Stomach Compartment
      • Reticulum🡪 Honeycomb Tripe
  • Shanks
    • Fresh
  • Intestines
    • Sausage Casings
    • Chitterlings

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POULTRY VARIETY MEATS

  • Chicken Feet
  • Gizzards
  • Hearts
  • Necks

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Inedible By-Products

    • What do we do with everything we don’t eat?

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​

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    • How do we extract value from what we can’t eat?

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Inedible �By-Products

Hides, Skins, and Pelts

    • Uses:
      • Leather
        • One cowhide can be made into either 144 baseballs, 20 footballs, 18 soccer balls, 18 volleyballs or 12 basketballs
      • Glue and adhesives
      • Hair used for felts, plaster binder, and upholstery
      • Wool used for Dryer Balls, Felted Hats…

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Inedible By-Products

Tallows and greases

    • General uses:
      • Oils, soaps, glycerin, asphalt, animal feeds, paint and plastics

Animal Feed

Fertilizers

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Pharmaceuticals

    • Animal tissues serve as sources of hormones, enzymes, and ingredients in pharmaceutical products
      • Here are a few:
        • Adrenal gland – epinephrine
        • Ovaries – progesterone and estrogen
        • Bone – calcium and phosphorus supplement
        • Intestines – surgical sutures (Catgut)
        • Lungs – heparin
        • Stomach – (special to the calf) rennet

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Yield Test

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Yield Test Importance:

Percentage that meat cutters can utilize to see how much product they are losing

vs

What they are able to sell and what to charge customers

Steps of Conducting a Yield Test:

    • Weigh Whole Cut (AP Weight)
    • Process the Whole Cut
      • Trim
    • Weigh the Cut After Processing (EP Weight)
    • Calculate the Yield Percentage
      • Yield Percentage= (EP Weight/AP Weight) * 100
    • Determine the Cost of the Usable Product
      • Cost per Pound of Usable Meat= Cost Per Pound of Whole Cut/ Yield Percentage

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Yield Test Example:

  • Whole Cut/ AP Weight (lbs): 10lbs
  • Whole Cut Cost: ($100)
  • Usable Cut/EP Weight (lbs): 7lbs

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  • What is the Yield Percentage?

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  • What is the Cost per Pound of Usable Product?

Yield Percentage= (EP Weight/AP Weight) * 100

​

Cost per Pound of Usable Product= Cost per Pound of Whole Cut/Yield Percentage

(7/10)

0.7 * 100

Yield Percentage= 70%

(100/0.7)

Cost per Pound of Usable Product= $142.86

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Tying a Butcher Knot

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Butcher/Roast Knot:

  • What is a Butcher Knot?
    • The Knot is used from food safe twine
      • Slip Knot Variation
    • Knot that meat cutters use for roasts and rolled/stuffed retail cuts
  • Why do We Use a Butcher Knot?
    • To hold a roast or a rolled/stuffed retail cut together during retail presentation and cooking
      • Stuffed Flank Steak
      • Chuck Roast

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Butcher Knot Practice:

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Try Your Hand at Knot Tying