How to Butcher a Cow

Raising and butchering your own cows is one way to be self-sufficient. It is also a way to gain some control over the production of the meat you will eat, as you control what the cow eats and how the meat is processed. Butchering a cow is easier than you think. It takes time, but the end results can feed you and your family for a long time. Read on to learn more about butchering a cow.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Butchering the Cow

1. Wait until fall to butcher your cow. At that time, you won't have to deal with the flies, and the meat won't spoil as quickly.

2. Have the cow castrated if you are going to raise it for meat. If not, be certain to remove the testicles soon after slaughtering it. This prevents the meat from being spoiled.

3. Do not feed the cow 24 hours before butchering.

4. Try not to frighten other members of the herd when you capture the cow you are butchering.

5. Avoid butchering the cow within view of the other members of the herd.

6. Decide what parts of the cow you will save. As Dynah Geissal wrote: "Ears and [the] tail can flavor a pot of beans...hooves can make gelatin...stomachs can hold blood sausage…lungs are edible, intestines can be used to make sausage casings or cooked in some other additional dishes."

7. Shoot the cow with a .22 caliber gun at the point where lines from eyes to opposite ears intersect, approximately the middle of the forehead at a point above the eyes.

8. Sever the arteries and main veins of the throat by putting the point of your knife into the skin and cut outwards.

9. Use a meat saw to remove the cow's head.

10. Cut slits into the Achilles tendon and insert a gambrel, a tool for lifting and hoisting your cow carcass.

11. Remove the feet at the joint.

12. Hoist the cow into the air with a winch.

13. Begin the major part of the butcher process by using a short pointed knife to cut into one of the slit in the Achilles tendons, and cut a line down the center of both legs to the center-line.

14. Slice down the body to the cow's neck.

15. Hold the skin at one hand and begin skinning the cow where the leg meets the centerline. Work from the center out.

16. Keep the hind intact if you intend to use it, but if not, do not worry if you cut portions from it as you're working.

17. Leave as much fat on the cow as you are able. The fat helps make the skinning process easier.

18. Continue slicing between the hide and the skin, and work around to the front of the leg. Work your way to the tailbone, and give the tail a sharp pull. This will separate the vertebrae.

19. Skin the rest of the cow's body. Raise the cow higher to make it easier for you to do your work. Work on the outside of the foreleg to the inside. Remove the large intestine from the body. Cut around the anus, then pull the out intestines and tie them off. Use a short, pointed knife to cut down the belly. Hold the guts back with your hand as you do so to avoid puncturing them. Cut down to the sternum through the fat of the belly, then cut the meat between the legs. Remove the penis if the cow is a male.

20. Put a large container beneath the body to catch the guts, and sever any tissue attaching them to the body cavity. Pull the anus from the inside of the body and out. Take your time separating the intestines form the body. Do not rupture the bladder. Lift the intestines and bladder out from the body, and lift the stomach out as well. Strip away as much of the body fat as you can, and put the intestines and whatever you wish to keep aside in a separate container.

Cutting the Meat

21. Cut off the hind leg with a meat saw, making the cut run from the tail to the hip.

22. Make the top cuts, which are round steaks. Thicker cuts make the round roasts. The back end or heel of the cut is the heel of the round. Use the shank bone for soup.

23. Remove the muscle flap and fat from the belly to reveal the flank steak.

24. Cut through each section of the back bone for more steaks. Some butchers feel that having the bone in the steak while it's cooked improves the flavor.

25. Make a sirloin roast by not cutting the area behind the ribs.

26. Butterfly or cut the meat beneath the backbone for the tenderloin or filet mignon.

27. Cut from back to front to create the sirloin, porterhouse, and T-bone. If boned, separate into them into filet mignon and New York strip.

28. Remove the front leg by cutting beneath the leg and working your way to the top until it comes away from the body.

29. Make a blade roast by cutting the meat from the shoulder.

30. Remove the top part of the leg for chuck meat.

31. Use the lower part of the leg for either burgers or bones for soup.

32. Keep the neck meat for making soup as well.

[generate]

on 10/27/2009 What about hanging the cow for a few days after skinning? I have heard anything from 4 days to two weeks?

[messenger987]

on 6/14/2009 continued part 3 of 3... Also, an animal that is killed instantly will be much more tender than one that is in pain and tensed and has a lot of adrenaline running through the body immediately before death. There are many reasons to use a larger gun, and there are no downsides to using too much gun.

[messenger987]

on 6/14/2009 continued... Do not ever use varmint bullets of any caliber, as they do not penetrate but just expand (blow up) on the surface without getting through to the brain. A young animal has a relatively thin skull plate, and that protective plate of bone in front of the brain continues to get thicker and stronger as the animal gets older. Thus there's more to stop the bullet from penetrating through to the brain as the animal ages. An old cow requires a larger, more powerful rifle and a more solid, penetrating bullet, for sure. I've even seen 2 young heifers, 1 year old, not go down after being shot with a .22 Long Rifle in the perfect spot in the head. They bled lots and were in great pain, but still lived. Use enough gun and bullet to kill the animal instantly and humanely. Also, an animal that is killed instantly will be much more tender than one that is in pain and tensed and ha...

[messenger987]

on 6/14/2009 I've been involved in butchering many animals. A .22 Rimfire (.22 Long Rifle) is not enough in many cases. A .22 Short or .22 Long is definitely not enough, for the sake of being humane, don't even try with them. A local farmer used a .22 Long Rifle a few weeks ago and it took 9 shots in the same spot to eventually get through the thick skull to the cow's brain. It was horrible, the worst I've ever seen in my life, as the cow was in extreme agony through the entire time. Vets, slaughter houses, and butchers confirmed to me, any .22 Rimfire is not enough, no matter how powerful they claim to be. The minimum they would consider is a .22 Magnum, which is a totally different gun and cartridge, and not very popular. Best is to use an actual big game hunting rifle (minimum .243 or 6mm caliber) with good, solid bullets that are penetrating and not for expansion. Do not ever use varm...

[barnman73]

on 11/18/2008 I used this article to butcher my first cow over the weekend. It was great. I am glad that eHow allows to exchange of ideas even when they may not be 'popular'. Knowledge is knowledge.