How Do Cows Become Hamburger?
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Farm Feed and Raising
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Cows graze on any number of cattle farms across the country but mainly in the Midwest. Corn fed, grass fed and others types of cow farms exist in states like Montana, Colorado, Utah and many others. Each farm raises certain types of cows, that become certain types of beef from steak to hamburg meat, to brisket and filet mignon. Each one requires types of feed. Hamburger cows are typically corn-fed, but as we all know, hamburgers can be made from the most sacred of beef meat like Black Angus.
The Butcher
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Each cow on a farm is used for many different purposes. Although the grade of the meat depends on the feed and other factors, the type of meat (chuck steak, t-bone, brisket) depends on the body section the meat came from. So, when a cow is butchered, certain sections of the cow end up in different packages of meat and are used for different things. The part of a cow that is typically used for hamburger is called chuck steak, which is cut from back of the neck of the cow.
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Meat Sorting
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Cows are butchered in large factories and certain cuts are packaged and sold to grocery stores. Many of these grocery stores will buy large cuts of beef and then butcher these down into smaller cuts that you or I would buy. A grocery store could purchase an entire chuck steak section of a cow and then cut some into steaks and some into hamburger. In some cases, the factory will grind entire chuck sections for hamburger meat and send it to a processing facility, which then turns the hamburger into patties. It sells these to a distributor, which sells them to grocery stores and restaurants.
Buying and Grilling
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No matter what facility the hamburger comes from, it eventually ends up in the hands (or frying pan) or a restaurant or consumer. Anyone can go to the grocery store and buy a pound of hamburger, then mash the hamburger into patties and throw it on the grill to celebrate the fourth of July. Or, you can order a hamburger at McDonald's, and enjoy it just the same.
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