Our first steer processed

[hollydzie]

I thought I would share with you our first experience with butchering. This is a just 2 year old steer. He was grass and hay fed for the most part with just a little grain. He hung at 343lbs. Since it was our first experience we asked the butcher if my husband could stay and watch. We are very grateful for the experience. We are looking forward to the beef. We also brought his head home and when it is cleaned I will share a photo of it as well, his head was just to pretty to get rid of.

Thanks for looking Holly

[zephyrhillsusan]

How fun looking forward to your first beef! Is he one you bred? Maybe I shouldn't ask, but what are you going to do with his head? :0

[hollydzie]

Hey Susan, yes he was born here. I knew from day 1 he was going in the freeze, his mother has one of the worst udders I had ever seen. This was the only calf she had that was hers. She has had 2 embryo calves though. He never got a real name. My son called him Little Face, but I just referred to him as Hornzey. Not sure about the head. It is wired to a fence post right now so the buzzards and ants can clean it. OUT OF MY SIGHT. The butcher cleaned a lot of it already, so they just need to finish the job. It was my son who wanted the horns, then we decided to keep the whole head. It will probably get hung in my husbands shop along with other types of skulls. and strange things...lol

[zephyrhillsusan]

Ok, a skull with horns, I get it!

[lakeportfarms]

The hanging weight seems a bit on the low side, but he is just 24 months and without much grain it is pretty tough to get much weight on in that time frame. But I suppose this is the optimal time that it makes sense in your climate, and so long as he has good cover and some decent marbling you will enjoy your beef a lot. Looking forward to the report on your first T-bone or ribeye!

We sometimes sell our Highland skulls and horns, and there is a market for their hides too. Unfortunately the hides are best done in February, and it's probably warmer in the freezer at the butcher than it is outside sometimes here, so we have to balance the beef vs. hide equation. We've found certain colors are more popular than others, so we choose according to that. The hides must be specially done by a tannery that has equipment capable of doing the Highland hides, but the skull are just put up on the roof for the flies to eat and the sun to bleach. Yours should bleach out must faster than ours do!

[hollydzie]

lakeport he was a pretty small steer. His mother was also a small animal, more of what people would call a dairy type. We have completely changed the bloodlines we are using so I anticipate much larger steers in the future. We are going to be doing our bull in about 2 months, he is a big guy. It will be interesting to see what he hangs at.



Holly

[zephyrhillsusan]

Waldo?!

[hollydzie]

Yes Susan, I have him for sale but if he does not sell that is where he is going to end up. I have my new little guy Pippin, and Waldo has bred everyone. I have kept his daughters. He is not the easiest bull to live with. He is kind of a pain in the butt. He digs holes, moves feed troughs, dumps over water troughs. He is very busy and always into something. So unless someone comes along soon it is freezer camp for him.

[lakeportfarms]

Holly, as long as the little guy had good cover he'll be fine. We have a range of sizes at our farm, including the steers, and the ones that seem to be the most preferred by our customers are the ones at the smaller hanging weights but well marbled and with good cover. I think it has to do with the relief they have when they know their freezer won't be overflowing. When you think about it, many who have purchased other breeds have previously gotten quarters or halves, and the prospect of getting a whole steer must seem daunting until they see first hand how much smaller a Dexter hangs at. Then they are pleased because they know that they got the entire animal. Good luck with finding Waldo a home, but if not, good eating. His mischief will make it easier on you. Frankly, bulls are worth more as beef right now in most cases.

[hollydzie]

Lakeport, I had the exact thought that you have brought up. I was glad he was small because finding a place for too much beef would have been a problem. As for Waldo he is nice looking and has add much needed bulk to my calves. But, I will make as much or more from him as ground beef, so I figure it is a win win with him. I got 2 nice heifers from him so far, and have 5 girls bred to him for next year. He has served his purpose with us.

From what the butcher said about the steer it appears that his fat covering was quite good. I am anxious to see the cuts. We are getting rib eye steak, chuck roast, fillets and the rest ground. Will let you know how it turns out.
Have a great weekend.
Holly

[carragheendexters]

The carcass does look to have a nice even fat covering all over which will be good for hanging. That's about the size of our carcasses, our cattle aren't real big, and mind you we do slaughter at a younger age than you guys. It is plenty big enough to fit in a home freezer for a family, more than enough meat.

I'm just wondering with your cutups over in US, I never hear of anyone mentioning corned beef. Do you guys over there in US corn any of your meat?
We usually get the topside and the silverside corned, and sometimes also get the brisket rolled and corned. I just love it with a nice white sauce.

[hollydzie]

We do have corn beef in the market here. I am not sure what cut they use. It is in a type of brine with spices. I do not think that is the same as what you call corn beef though. Friends from Scotland laugh at what we call corn beef here. www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/corned-beef-recipe.html

Louise I am so glad to hear your comment about yours being smaller. Our steer was only 23 months old. It is just not worth keeping them any longer. The heat of our Summers really takes its toll on them and I did not need any more beef that that. Bigger is not always Better

I will post more pictures when we get him back.

Holly

[carragheendexters]

That does sound like our corned beef. I don't know exactly what goes in the pickling solution as over in here in Aust, the butchers do it and then sell it ready for cooking. Corned meat is quite popular over here, probably due to our heritage, we also have corned mutton and pickled pork.
We then slow cook it up like that recipe you posted, and serve it with mashed potatoes, cabbage, carrots and green peas, with a liberal dousing of white onion sauce over the whole lot. This is comfort food extraordinaire.

Holly, I know exactly what you mean. You have to manage your cattle to suit your climate and environment. Hot and dry is very limiting in what you can do without lots of supplementary feeding.
Isn't that why we have Dexters? BIGGER is definitely not BETTER when talking about Dexters. LOL

I'd love to see photos of the meat when you get it back.

[hollydzie]

Louise now that does sound yummy. I would have to do the pickling solution myself. The butcher we use does not offer that. We can buy it from our grocery store already done. As soon as I get him back I will post pictures for you.

Holly

[hollydzie]

This is just a reference to show what the beef cows in Florida look like. You can see from these commercial beef cows that nothing grows big and fat here. These are Brangus crosses. They are being grass feed and they are selling the ground beef for $10.00 a lb. The price goes up from there for other cuts.
Holly