First, let me say this is not my first meat processing experience. I have had several steer, pigs and sheep processed at a facility west of Austin that has never taken my meat and always cut it exactly as I asked. I moved from Austin so I needed to find a different processor closer to us. I chose Prairie Dell because after reading their website and some reviews, I thought they were a reputable place. Boy was I mistaken. I brought in 2 steer, a 1000 lb Jersey and an 800 lb hereford/angus. We received only 228 lbs of meat from our jersey steer and about 275 lbs from our other steer. The last time I had an a jersey done, we got the whole thing in ground, it was 800 lbs and we received 222 lbs of ground, no bones, so of course I am wondering why such a difference in finished weight. Second, when does a very beefy hereford/angus cross only produce 29% finish weight? Now lets move onto the cuts. My cut sheets were completely ignored. I ordered 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 steaks and got ribeyes that were only 1/2 - 3/4 thick. A lot of it wasn't even marked to let us know what the cut was. we asked for plate ribs but got a bunch of short ribs instead. We asked for brisket and got only a 1 1/2 inch thick 8" x 12" not even 2lb brisket. When I asked where the rest of the brisket was, the young man told me that is the way they cut their meat, with not even a sliver of fat left on it. We ordered 1 1/2" fillet mignons and were told they would come bacon wrapped, because that's the way they do it. I got four 3/4" fillets that were not bacon wrapped, where the heck are the other fillets anyway, there should be more than four! I asked for all ground to be in 1 lb packages, I received half of the ground in 1 1/2 lb packages. We asked to keep all the bones, but when we got there they told us we would have to take bones from some other steer because they threw all ours away.
Now, where in the world was the man who took in my steers when we dropped them off? He was great. But according to the the kids that I picked the meat up from, they did the processing themselves. I don't know what they did with the rest of my meat, but what I do know is that I have never had such a low yield before. I know that it is their word against mine on the yield, but as for the cuts, I have all the cut sheet copies and pictures of the meat I received. I was sick all night and could not sleep after I picked up my meat. I cried for hours. When you spend hours a day with your animals, expecting a great return only to be so disappointed, it really breaks your heart. read more