ANSCI 4205 (Slaughtering of Animals and Processing of their Products)
Prepared by: ALONA T. BADUA
E-mail Address:
[email protected] Central Luzon State University
Science City of Muñoz 3120
Nueva Ecija, Philippines
Instructional Module for the Course
ANSCI 4205 SLAUGHTERING OF ANIMALS AND PROCESSING OF THEIR
PRODUCTS
Module 7
Fabrication and Identification of Meat
Cuts
Overview
After slaughtering the animal, the next step is the fabrication or
cutting of carcass into standard cuts. This module will discuss first the
different factors that could affect the carcass yield, then the principles
of doing meat fabrication and the actual fabrication of pork and beef
carcasses and identifying their cuts.
I. Objectives
After finishing this module the student will be able to:
1. Discuss the different factors that affects carcass yield
2. Define meat fabrication and explain its principle
3. Discuss the fabrication of pork, beef and goat/sheep carcass and identify the
fabricated meat cuts and their local names
II. Learning Activities
A. Factors Affecting Carcass Yield
Carcasses of meat animals are generally evaluated commercially in terms of yield
and quality of lean. Yield refers to the percentage of closely trimmed, boneless retail
cuts (edible lean) on a carcass weight basis. The carcass yield or dressing percentage
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ANSCI 4205 (Slaughtering of Animals and Processing of their Products)
could be derived by dividing the unshrunk liveweight into the hot carcass weight after
the visceral organs, feet and head were removed and expressed as percent values.
Dressing percentages are highly variable because they are influenced by factors such as
live weight, fat level, age, gender, diet, breed, distance trucked, amount of gut fill at
slaughter and body condition.
B. Meat fabrication defined
Meat fabrication – is the cutting of carcass into standard wholesale and retail cuts.
Proper fabrication leads to:
Lowering of cutting losses
Making buyers conscious of what they are buying
Giving confidence to both producers and consumers
General principles of fabrication:
Tender meat is separated from tough meat
Thick portion must be separated from the thin portion
Muscles are cut across the grain or meat fibers so that the grain breaks and
separates fast while chewing.
Cheap parts must be separated from the expensive parts.
Importance of bone structure in meat fabrication
It acts as a guide in cutting carcasses
Serves as a clue to the tenderness of the cut
Majority of the wholesale and retail cuts are identified and named after the bone
present
Examining the bone could identify if the animal is old or young
Beef and carabeef carcass fabrication
a. Steps in fabricating the frontquarter
1) The first step in fabricating the frontquarter is to separate the rib and the
plate portion by cutting between the 5th and 6th ribs.
2) Remove the plate from the rib by cutting the center midway the ribs.
3) Remove the brisket and foreshank by cutting perpendicular to the ribs just above
the arm and elbow joint.
4) Separate the shank from the brisket by cutting through the natural separation
between the foreshank and brisket.
Wholesale cuts of the frontquarter
1) Ribs – include the portion of the back bounded by the 6th and 12th ribs
2) Plate or short plate – thin portion of the frontquarter and lies opposite the ribs
3) Brisket – piece containing the sternum
4) Foreshank – portion below the arm and elbow joint
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ANSCI 4205 (Slaughtering of Animals and Processing of their Products)
5) Chuck – shoulder portion and includes the parts of the blade bone, arm bone,
five ribs, thoracic vertebrae and neck bones.
Retail cuts of the frontquarter
1) Ribs (costillas or tadyang)
Short ribs
Rib steak
Rib roast
2) Plate or short plate (liempo)
Short ribs
Plate stew
3) Brisket (punta de pecho)
Brisket stew
Boneless brisket
4) Foreshank (kinchi)
Foreshank stew
Soup bones
Lean trimmings
5) Chuck (batuk)
English cut
O-bone roast or arm pot roast
Chuck roast or blade roast
Neck soup stock
b. Steps in fabricating the hindquarter
1) Remove the flank by trimming slightly over the face of the round and continue
cutting down the flank so as to remove the greater portion of the thick flank
region. The 13th rib should be cut at a point approximately one inch from the
eye muscle of the loin.
2) Remove the round by sawing ½ inch below the aitchbone. The saw blade will cut
through the third sacral vertebra.
3) The left portion is the loin composed of the short loin and sirloin.
Wholesale cuts of the hindquarter
1) Flank – it contains part of the 13th rib and the abdominal muscle
2) Loin – it contains the back bone which consists of the spine bone (spinous
process), chine body (body of the vertebra) and finger bone (transverse
process)
3) Round – this contains the hindshank and bone of the thigh
Retail cuts of the hindquarter
1) Flank or navel (kanto)
Flank stew
Flank steak
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ANSCI 4205 (Slaughtering of Animals and Processing of their Products)
2) Loin (cadera)
Sirloin steak
Porterhouse steak – the most expensive cut of beef
T-bone steak
Club steak
3) Round (pierna corta or tapadera)
Rump roast
Sirloin tip
Round tip
Round steak
Heel of round
Soup bones or cross cut shank
Pork carcass fabrication
a. Step in fabricating pork carcass
1) Separate the shoulder from the rest of the carcass by cutting across the side
between the second and third ribs and right angles to the general top line.
2) The ham, pig’s feet and tail portion are cut by sawing across the carcass at a
site of about two inches anterior the protruding pubic bone.
3) The tail is removed by cutting along the coccygeal bones and the pig’s feet are
cut at the joint between the hindshank bones and the hind feet.
4) The loin is separated by cutting the ribs from a point as close as possible to the
remaining tip of the blade bones at the shoulder and to a point just below the
tenderloin muscle at the other end.
5) The left portion will be the belly or side.
Three categories of pork cuts
1) lean cuts – composed of the ham, loin and shoulder
2) primal cuts – composed of the ham, loin, belly and shoulder
3) miscellaneous cuts – composed of the pig’s feet, tail, fat and lean
trimmings, neckbones and spareribs
Wholesale cuts of pork carcass
1. shoulder
2. ham
3. loin
4. belly or side
Retail cuts of pork carcass
1) shoulder (batuk)
shoulder butt or boston butt (paypay)
picnic (kasim)
clear plate
neck bones (buto sa leeg or buto-buto)
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ANSCI 4205 (Slaughtering of Animals and Processing of their Products)
jowl
2) ham (pige)
trimmed ham
ham shank
ham butt
center slice
3) loin (lomo)
pork chop (kostillas)
loin end
center loin
blade end of the loin
4) belly or side (liempo)
spare ribs (tadyang)
trimmed belly
Goat and sheep carcass fabrication
Goat carcass seldom undergoes standard fabrication. In the singed method of
slaughtering goat and sheep, the whole carcass is sliced while it is singed. Carcass
dressed using flayed method of slaughtering seldom undergoes standard fabrication.
Goat carcasses are handled this way probably because of the marketing system in the
Philippines. Most goat are sold on a per-head basis and are used as a delicacy item by
some ethnic groups but not as a regular meat item in the market.
The fabrication procedure for goat carcass suggested here is revised from the
standard fabrication system for lambs used by the Americans. There are five cuts
derived from goat carcass:
1) Leg – it is separated by a cut at the tip of the pelvic bone perpendicular to the
underline when the carcass is extended. The posterior portion of the carcass
is the leg.
2) Loin – it is the region of the carcass from the tip of the pelvic bone to the 12th rib
3) Rib – it is the cut from the point where the loin is separated and between the third
and fourth rib
4) Shoulder – it includes the regions from the third rib and second cervical vertebra.
The shank portion is included in this cut.
5) Neck
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ANSCI 4205 (Slaughtering of Animals and Processing of their Products)
FIGURE 1. WHOLESALE CUTS OF BEEF CARCASS
FIGURE 2. WHOLESALE CUTS OF PORK
CARCASS
III. References
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ANSCI 4205 (Slaughtering of Animals and Processing of their Products)
Ibarra, P.I. 1983. Meat Processing for Small and Medium Scale Operation. University of
the Philippines, Los Banos, Laguna
Bureau of Philippine Standards – Pork Cuts (2018)
Bureau of Philippine Standards – Beef Primal Cuts (2018)
