Approximately how much packaged meat is expected after cutting and trimming loss?

ANSWER – It varys with the individual animals as well as the way you want your meat cut and packaged.  On average,from hanging weight (carcass weight) to packaged weight, you can expect about a 25 -30% loss for the usual cuts, and a high as 50% if you request all boneless cuts.  

EXAMPLE— A 450 pound side of beef minus 30% (135) = 315 pounds packaged, more or less. 

Approximately how much room will I need in my freezer?

ANSWER—A good way to figure freezer space is to divide the carcass weight by 60 to get the cubic feet needed for the usual cuts;  or you can plan that 40 pounds of packaged meat will take about one cubic foot.

EXAMPLE – 450 pound hanging side of beef didided by 60 =7 ½ cu ft of freezer space needed, more or less.