What’s in a name….
….apparently quite a bit, according to “leaders” in the mainstream meat industry. Enough that simply “pork chops” will no longer do. Here’s the article:
We’ve found that, generally, our meat customers remain suspicious of anything that isn’t one of the most familiar steaks: NY Strip, T-Bone, Porterhouse, Filet Mignon. So we mostly grind the rest for hamburger, setting aside just a few cuts such as Silver Tip steaks for family use.
On occasion a family that orders a side of beef will specify a rarer cut and our butcher can handle that. For instance, we recently had a request for “clod steaks”, a term we hadn’t heard before. But the folks at Blue Ridge meat were familiar with it: it’s Yankee for a chuck eye steak.
We’ve found that the major problem we face is keeping inventory in balance with supply. We’re hoping we’ll maintain a broader inventory once we begin harvesting a greater number of steers in late Spring.
2 Comments
mike ortwein
How many animals (beef) are you harvesting a year?
David
As a general answer: we have about 12 to 15 bull calves a year. We typically will save 3 to 5 promising young ones to watch them mature, holding off a decision until they’re about two.
Of the steers, we keep six to 10 for ourselves and sell the rest.