Taking a steer to the butcher

[FlySammyJ]

We're taking one of our steers to the butcher in the next few weeks. No-one bagged an elk this year, so we're falling back on our grass-finished beef; poor us

. I have a pretty good idea of what I want. I'm a use-the-whole-animal type so I'll be asking for cheeks, tongue, tail, neck, shanks, liver, tallow, the whole nine yards, and I found someone who will dry-age the carcass.

I'm curious to see if there are any less-desireable bits that I can feed back to the chickens, such as the kidneys or stomach (I'm not sure if my butcher will do tripe). Thoughts? Would my butcher hate me if I tack on too many particulars for a single beef?

 

[res]

It will totally depend on your butcher/processor.

We used a small Mom & Pop USDA inspected facility when we lived in Oklahoma. In 2011, they processed a heifer for us, and I kept everything, much like you are wanting to do. They did not question me or protest, instead they commented that they wished MORE people valued all parts of the carcass like that, instead of just keeping the "good" parts.

We did not pay an itemized amount for the butchering. We paid a set $ amount per lb. of hanging weight. So I do not think it cost us additional for the extra parts.

 

[donrae]

I've had pretty much the same experience as res--I pay by the pound, and they weigh the whole thing. They've not said a word about all the parts I want, just wrote it down and did a great job.

When we got goats butchered, it was a flat fee, not by the pound. We got every single scrap of those goats, let me tell you! And yes, chickens do love goat kidneys--talk about chicken keep-away!