Buying half a cow?

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Had I asked for the whole tenderloin (which I've cut up myself in the past), I would have sacrificed some t-bones and porterhouse steaks--correct?

In a manner of speaking. With those cuts, one side of the bone is tenderloin, the other is actually just New York Strip. A Porterhouse is basically just a T-Bone with a larger portion of tenderloin. They both leverage what is known as the tail of the tenderloin, but the other half of the tenderloin (the butt) being free of such things (rests near the sirloin) is unaccounted for. So yes, you would be sans porterhouse, but you would be +strip steaks and filet mignon, essentially. The larger overall point remains, however, that you're short at least 1/2 of a tenderloin, and actually the best part of it.

Most of your ground meat should have been chuck (near the neck) and round (tail end). You should have gotten what's known as a "7 bone roast" from the chuck, as well. The brisket (which I didn't see on your list) rests just below the chuck, and you should have gotten one of those, too. Skirt steaks come from just below the ribs, you should have received one. Other things you should have received that I don't recall you mentioning include blade roasts, and flat iron steaks You should have also gotten a flank steak (from just below the short ribs). Didn't see anything about shanks, either. Something else I'm not sure if you got or not (don't wanna look it up right now) is the rib roast. You should have a 12 bone roast (aka "prime rib", though it's unlikely it's actually prime).

If you're happy with your purchase, that's great. You just need to be aware you seem to be missing some cow.
 
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In a manner of speaking. With those cuts, one side of the bone is tenderloin, the other is actually just New York Strip. A Porterhouse is basically just a T-Bone with a larger portion of tenderloin. They both leverage what is known as the tail of the tenderloin, but the other half of the tenderloin (the butt) being free of such things (rests near the sirloin) is unaccounted for. So yes, you would be sans porterhouse, but you would be +strip steaks and filet mignon, essentially. The larger overall point remains, however, that you're short at least 1/2 of a tenderloin, and actually the best part of it.

Most of your ground meat should have been chuck (near the neck) and round (tail end). You should have gotten what's known as a "7 bone roast" from the chuck, as well. The brisket (which I didn't see on your list) rests just below the chuck, and you should have gotten one of those, too. Skirt steaks come from just below the ribs, you should have received one. Other things you should have received that I don't recall you mentioning include blade roasts, and flat iron steaks You should have also gotten a flank steak (from just below the short ribs). Didn't see anything about shanks, either. Something else I'm not sure if you got or not (don't wanna look it up right now) is the rib roast. You should have a 12 bone roast (aka "prime rib", though it's unlikely it's actually prime).

If you're happy with your purchase, that's great. You just need to be aware you seem to be missing some cow.

Thank you my meaty friend for all the information and names for the missing parts. Even with studying up a bit on the net, of pictures of the cow cuts, I couldn't have known what's missing.
It's going to be a difficult talk with my friend, which will be a little easier with this information.

About the shanks--can the shanks be the soup bones?--the soup bones (labeled that) are very meaty, round, with a bone in the middle or close to it?

I went to Angie's List--but they didn't have a category for 'meat cutters', 'butcher's', 'meat processors', or anything similar that I could find.
 
Andy M--I just looked at them (the soup bones) again, they look like the pictures you posted. This is very educational! I really need the pictures, so thank you!
 
I just google the animal part (beef shank) and click on IMAGES. More pictures than you can count.
 
I just google the animal part (beef shank) and click on IMAGES. More pictures than you can count.

True, sometimes that works, sometimes it's not so easy. That's why googling anything isn't straight forward on some things. Add to that --that--most cuts of meat can be called one thing, or another, making it more confusing.

A 7 bone roast or steak comes up on Wikipedia, with no picture, so I go to google images and get images of all different kinds of roasts and steaks, and not all of them are 7 bone roasts or steaks. It's my understanding that a 7 roast has a '7 shaped bone' and not 7 bones.
Same problem with a 12 bone roast--though I know what prime rib looks like.

I DO appreciate your help, sincerely, I just find that googling about food is not as good as asking a trusted friend--someone that has tried a recipe, someone that has knowledge of beef cuts, someone that's willing to share their actual experience, like people on DC.

And sometimes a picture's worth a thousand words.:yum:

And I may appear to be blissful, I'm not happy with missing part of the tenderloin.:( A lot of meat was ground for the ground beef but I think there might be an 11th commandment that say something like 'thou shalt not grind up tenderloin nor take it for yourself'.
 
...And I may appear to be blissful, I'm not happy with missing part of the tenderloin.:( A lot of meat was ground for the ground beef but I think there might be an 11th commandment that say something like 'thou shalt not grind up tenderloin nor take it for yourself'.

I really doubt they ground up the tenderloin for ground beef. It would benefit them for you to have it whole as part of the package. That would enhance their reputation.

I understand that Google isn't always the best but often works great. It's a reasonable first try. Here's a 7 bone roast.
 

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I really doubt they ground up the tenderloin for ground beef. It would benefit them for you to have it whole as part of the package. That would enhance their reputation.

I understand that Google isn't always the best but often works great. It's a reasonable first try. Here's a 7 bone roast.

Andy M--you are forcing me to hunt everything down--thank you!
There are chuck blade roasts with the 'L bone' = "7 bone" in them (that was an attempt at humor, the L bone thing, not the chuck blade roast thing).

There isn't a prime rib--or a 12 bone roast that I can find.

Hallmark makes 'thank you cards', why not 'you're welcome cards' for occasions like this with the meat processors?
 
Is the prime rib = 12 bone roast, accounted for in the rib steaks and rib eye steaks?
 
Never heard of a 12 bone roast. The standing rib (also called the prime rib) roast is part of the front portion of the ribcage, usually comprised of seven ribs total (on one side). Towards the rear of the animal, the T-Bones and porterhouses follow.

Rib and ribeye steaks would come from the same area as the standing rib roast.
 
Never heard of a 12 bone roast. The standing rib (also called the prime rib) roast is part of the front portion of the ribcage, usually comprised of seven ribs total (on one side). Towards the rear of the animal, the T-Bones and porterhouses follow.

Rib and ribeye steaks would come from the same area as the standing rib roast.

Meat is an animal? People Eating Tasty Animals--I belong to this.

Thanks--your information helps!

I've been suffering a meat coma. We had a hamburger with macaroni creamy dish, followed by a sirloin steak and green salad w/ranch dressing, followed by a L bone roast with onions, potatoes, carrots, green beans and mushrooms. I've just woken up from the coma.

I hope to make a full recovery soon. Prayers are welcomed.
 
Ha ha--@hotdogs. Frank Z you are right about understanding the parts of the cow.
I've cut up deer for years. The tenderloin, fried quickly, in butter with onions--well--we usually ate that the day we cut it up. Yesterday after getting the beef, we called it a 'meat celebration day'. (yes we are lame)

I'm sorely tempted to butcher half a cow myself the next time--just pay for the kill fee, gutting and cutting it in half. A deer only usually takes 4 hours 2 people, a cow--hmmm, 12 hours 2 people, 8 hours 3 people?

Oh and the freezer--it looks like something out of a supermarket--'tis beautiful! It's the 'I feel richer' effect (after going without for so long).
I'm doing 1/2 deer tomorrow--road kill--gutted within 10 minutes, been hanging to age for 10 days....I want those tenderloins and roasts!
 
I'm doing 1/2 deer tomorrow--road kill--gutted within 10 minutes, been hanging to age for 10 days....I want those tenderloins and roasts!

When I lived in the country, DH (now ex) shot a deer and hung in a tree. He figured it was cold out, so why not. Then he got me to help haul it home. There were no tenderloins! The crows got them (and the eyes, but we didn't care about that).
 
When I lived in the country, DH (now ex) shot a deer and hung in a tree. He figured it was cold out, so why not. Then he got me to help haul it home. There were no tenderloins! The crows got them (and the eyes, but we didn't care about that).
This was a "bump" on the way home from Food Basics...leave it or bring it home...the tenderloins are MINE. The chickens can have the eyes. It has been hanging in an outbuilding...the dogs have been guarding the door.
 
This was a "bump" on the way home from Food Basics...leave it or bring it home...the tenderloins are MINE. The chickens can have the eyes. It has been hanging in an outbuilding...the dogs have been guarding the door.

Oh no they aren't...they are muttering about not having opposable thumbs...:ROFLMAO:
 
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