The rule of thumb, by our butcher, is; live weight =50% hanging weight=50% edible packaged meat. So that is approx 1/4 of the live weight. That is the low side as many will hang at 60%. 62% is what the USDA charts say. Do you believe what the gov't tells you????
. The angus assoc also has the 62% rule, but it doesn't always happen.
I had a jersey steer that weighed 1100+ lbs. Hung at 790 lbs. (72%) and got about 350 lbs edible meat. They are more lean and I was very pleased with what it figured out as. Always figure 50% of the hanging weight as the "take home" meat. There is deboning and alot of trim of fat and non-usable sinews etc. So regardless of the live weight, figure 50% of the hanging weight. It also will depend on what the animal has been eating, as to the ratio of fat on the carcass, and the frame of the animal as to the finish on the carcass also.
If you are taking it to be done and this is the first time couple of things; LOOK at a chart of where the different cuts come from and ASK questions; the thicker the steaks the fewer you will get, so many people tend to forget that; T-bones can only be done on animals less than 27 months due to the BSE (mad cow) ruling with the backbone/spinal cord contamination stuff; don't bother with t-bones as the bone takes up alot of room, get filet and N.Y. strips instead. Sirloins are good steaks especially if the animal is marbled . If you like much stew meat and want to get as much as you can, tell them that you do stir fry and you want them to throw the smaller pieces from trimming into the stew meat instead of the ground beef. If the animal is less than the 27 months, get the backbone cut up to use as barbeque "ribs". There is alot of odd pieces of meat on them and they cook into great BBQ pieces. Get all the bones you can if you have dogs. Some will be soup bones and will have some meat on them for making beef broth/soup. If you make soap, or have venison, get all the fat back. It will taste better in the venison for hamburger and it can be rendered into "shortening", or used to feed the birds (suet), or used for soap making (tallow).
Get all the odd stuff back, "ox-tail", tongue, liver, etc. and find recipes to at least try it once. It will still be good for the dogs/cats if you don't like it.
If you are not big on roasts only get a few and do things like cube steaks.
Approx 1/4 to 1/3 of the meat will be in hamburger. There are alot of scraps and they will put it into burger. Get it lean and don't overcook them.
You will not believe the flavor of real meat, especially if it is not overfed feedlot type beef.
