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College of Agriculture
> Dept. of Animal & Range Sciences
>
Meat Science Lab >
Meat Judging
Department of Animal and Range Sciences
Beef Carcasses
Placing beef carcasses and beef wholesale cuts are
normally based on the pricing system for beef. This
involves determining the quality grade and yield grade
of the product. Beef carcasses and quality based wholesale
cuts (loins and ribs) must first grade Choice before
the cutability is applied. The exception would be when
the cutability is low as in Yield Grade 4 and 5. Once
a carcass grades Choice then cutability is the reason
for placing a class.
Cutability in beef is determined by a combination of
trimness and muscling. Trimness is evaluated at the
ribeye, lower rib, over the inside and outside round,
loin, loin edge, rib and chuck (Terminology).
Muscling is first evaluated at the ribeye and then
the round, loin, rib and chuck. Muscular beef carcasses
have thick, plum-cushioned round, a prominent sirloin,
and a thick, expressively muscled chuck. In contrast
a thinly muscled carcass will have a small ribeye, a
small angular round, narrow angular loin and rib and
a thin chuck.
Yield grades are used to group beef carcasses according
to differences in cutability: Yield Grade 1 - highest
cutability to Yield Grade 5 - lowest cutability. When
judging a class of beef carcasses, the Yield Grade of
each carcass should be estimated and used as a basis
for comparing the carcass with respect to cutability.
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