How much ground beef is there in an average cow?

Answer 1

That really depends on the breed. A Belgian Blue steer will have a heavier carcass weight (and thus a higher dressing yield) than an Angus steer if finished at the exact same weight. Cutability will also be more on a Belgian Blue than an Angus.

The rule of thumb to remember for most beef cattle slaughtered for meat is that the warm carcass weight or dressing yield (head, feet, viscera and hide removed before being cured in the cool room) is typically 50 to 58% of the liveweight of that animal. Dairy cattle like Jerseys and Holsteins will have a lower yield than beef cattle breeds like Angus. Old canner cows also typically have a lower dressing yield than finisher cattle do. Belgian Blues, on the other hand, by comparison to the conventional dressing yield, can have a carcass weight as high as 67%. Piedmontese are also known to have higher-than-"normal" dressing yields.

The edible portion of that carcass (which is cutability) is typically 49% of the carcass weight. Belgian Blues can have at least 8% more cutability than other breeds can possess, including Angus.

So to give an example, lets compare three breeds across the board as far as dressing yield and cutability is concerned. I am going to use Jerseys, Angus and Belgian Blues for this example. Let's say all three are steers and are finished at 1000 lbs, and we calculate their dressing weight:

For a Jersey steer, the dressing yield would likely be 50% of its liveweight. That gives us 1000 x 0.50 = 500 lb carcass weight.

For an Angus steer, the dressing yield would likely be around 58% of the liveweight. This gives us 1000 x 0.58 = 580 lb carcass weight.

For a Belgian Blue steer, the dressing yield would likely be around 66% of the liveweight. This gives us 1000 x 0.66 = 660 lb carcass weight.

Now for the cutability yield:

The Jersey steer would have a cutability yield of around 50% of the dressing yield, since it wouldn't have as much meat as an Angus or Belgian Blue would have. This gives us 500 x 0.50 = 250 lb of meat

The Angus steer would have a cutability yield of around 48% of the dressing yield because of the higher fat content that is on the carcass. This gives us 580 x 0.48 = 278.4 lb of meat.

The Belgian Blue steer would have a cutability yield of around 57% of the dressing yield since it has the double-muscling advantage and a much leaner carcass than either the Angus or Jersey steer. This gives us 660 lb x 0.57 = 376.2 lb of meat.

Now lets just go average, just to make things easier, from the numbers expressed above.

A 1000 lb cow has a dressing yield of 0.58%, which gives a warm carcass weight of 580 lbs. The cutability of that carcass is 49% of the carcass weight, which gives us 284.2 lbs of edible meat.

We could conclude that the dressing and cutability percentages depend on the breed, but typically give us an average of 270 lbs of meat. (This average would increase significantly if we included the cutability yield from Belgian Blue cattle...by as much as 30 pounds!) However it doesn't end there. How much meat a "cow" gives also depends on the finished weight of that "cow." For example, a 1400 lb cow will give more meat than a 1000 lb cow.

Because of that, the best way to determine how much meat a cattlebeast will truly give not only depends on the breed, but also the finished weight of that animal.

Answer 2

The carcass weight is always around 50% of the live-weight. Finished live-weight depends on the size and muscling of an animal. A mature 1400 lb slaughter cow may yield around 700 lbs of beef.

Answer 3

In a live cow, it is around 80%, when you count all the protein molecules that make up skin protecting the muscle and bones of the cow as well as the membranes and "skin" that lines and is in the organs of the cow, all the hair, muscles, brain, neurons and spinal column, cartilage and tendons that are in the cow. Even fat and some layers of bone have protein in them.

Answer 4

The portion of a "cow" (if you are directly referring to a beef steer and not a mature female bovine that has been culled as a slaughter cow) that can be eaten is approximately 49% of the raw product or the carcass of a slaughtered animal. The carcass weight is 58% of the liveweight of that animal. Since liveweight of every beef steer is different, you will have to use the percentages to calculate how much of a steer is considered "ready-to-eat" as far as yield of an edible product is concerned.

Answer 5

A dressed market beef carcass in the United States averages about 900 pounds, bone-in. The boneless portion of this is about 650 pounds. If all of this were to be ground, you could get approximately 2600 quarter-pound Hamburgers from a single cow.

However, most carcasses are not completely diverted to ground beef. Ground beef is generally made from the trimmings from more expensive cuts of meat (sirloin, tenderloin, ribeye, etc.). A reasonable estimate would be only 150 pounds of trim from a single carcass, which would be approximately 600 quarter-pound hamburgers from a single cow.

Answer 6

If you take the entire animal and use all the meat for hamburger, then the pounds of meat derived from the animal is 1/4 the live weight of the animal.

Answer 7

45-50% of the cow is used for meat products.

Answer 8

lots of burgers

Answer 9

They range from 1000 to 2000 lbs.