EXERCISE XLII. 



* RETAIL CUTS OF BEEF. 



DIRECTIONS. 1. Make a careful drawing of the retail cuts of beef as shown by the 

 diagram on page 150. Number each cut. Also give a key to the numbering. 



2. By reference to the table of cost prices, page 151, determine which part of the beef is 

 the more valuable, the fore quarters or hind quarters. 



3. (a) Which is the most valuable cut of meat, as judged from retail prices given? (b) 

 Where located? (c) Describe the width of back and depth of fleshing of an animal well fitted 

 to carry a large quantity of this cut of meat. 



4. Why is it desirable to produce beef animals with short necks and legs? 



5. The net cost of lean meat present in any of the cuts may be taken as a basis of com- 

 parison for steaks and roasts, since they are purchased and used primarily for the lean they 

 contain; but in comparing boiling, stewing, and similar roasts, the cost of lean meat and fat 

 combined should be used as a basis, because the fat is more completely utilized in these cuts. 

 For example, meat loaf, hash, hamburger, and corned beef are well-known ways of utilizing 

 the fat and lean of the cheaper cuts of beef. Soup bones being valued for flavoring matter as 

 well as for the nutritive substances they contain, are more difficult to compare with other 

 cuts in respect to relative economy. Since the various soup bones differ in the quantity of edible 

 meat and in the per cent of waste, it will be profitable to make comparisons between them. 

 Analysis shows that the cheaper cuts of meat are as valuable as the higher priced cuts from 

 the standpoint of protein content and of energy produced. This statement does not, however, 

 take into consideration tenderness, or the relation of fatness to the palatability of the meat. 



(a) If you are buying protein** in the form of lean meat, what cuts are most economical? 



(b) From the standpoint of protein and fat (tissue-building food and energy-producing food) 

 combined, which cuts of meat are the cheapest? 



6. (a) Is there much difference in the price per pound of soup bones as they are sold on 

 the local market? (b) When the proportions of bone, lean meat, and fat are considered, is 

 there much difference in their value? (c) Which soup bones are the cheapest as judged from 

 the quantity of lean meat present? (d) As judged from the quantity of lean meat and fat 

 combined? 



7. (a) What are the cheapest meats for boiling and stewing, when judged from the 

 standpoint of lean meat present? (b) When judged from the standpoint of lean meat and fat 

 combined? 



8. Which roasts are the cheapest? 



9. How do you explain that the steaks, especially those from the hind quarters, are so 

 much higher in price than other cuts of meat, even though their food value is about the same? 



10. (a) Between what cuts is there the greatest range in nrice of lean meat present? 

 (b) Of lean and. fat combined? 



11. Since the relative food values of the various cuts of meat are about the same, which 

 cuts, cheap or high priced, are the more economical sources of both lean and total edible 

 meat? 



* Adapted from Illinois bulletin on retail cuts of beef. 

 " Protein as a food is very important as a tissue builder, while fat is more important as a source of bodily 

 energy. 



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