whole or half hog
A whole hog varies in hanging weight depending on the live weight of the animal. We try to raise our hogs to around 250lbs, this give us a hanging weight of about 175lbs. This results in a take home weight of about 140lbs. Processing varies depending on the cuts you choose. Try to plan on between 0.80/lb to 1.20/lb hanging weight for processing a hog.
Where does the meat go from hanging weight to take home weight? During the butchering process, the extra fat is discarded as are some of the bones. Weight is also lost due to moisture loss from hanging and from any smoking or curing that is done. The more curing, the less take home weight, but the same amount of meat. Same with bone-less cuts, less take home bone weight, same take home meat.
whole, half, or quarter beef
Hanging weight is varies with the size of the animal. An average steer is processed at around 1200lbs. This gives an average hanging weight of about 720lbs or 40% of the live weight. Take home weight is about 60-65% of the hanging weight of a steer, about 440lbs of a whole steer.
Why is there a difference in hanging weight verses take home weight? The weight is lost in 2 ways. About 4% is water weight lost during the 10-14 day period that the carcass is hung (or “cured”). Then about another 30-35% is lost during the cutting process. This amount is variable based on 2 factors – one is the amount of fat in the meat, and the other is the cuts that a customer requests. Higher fat means more loss. (Our grass-fed beef animals tend to be lower fat, so the loss tends to be closer to 35%.) Also , the more boneless cuts requested by the customer, the lower the final weight. (Note that the lower weight doesn’t mean that you are receiving less meat – rather, you are receiving fewer bones).
