MARKET CLASSES AND GRADES OF DRESSED BEEF. 
33 
Table 2 shows the extreme ranges of percentage yield of the 
various wholesale cuts of beef under the Chicago system of cutting, 
all based on carcass weight. It also shows average percentage yields 
for each cut. The variations shown in this table are due partly to 
the fact that even in the same general method of cutting there are 
bound to be slight variations in the exact point at which the knife 
is applied. Cutting up carcasses is hand work, and can not be done 
exactly the same in every carcass. Variations in yields are partly 
due also to differences between the various classes, and, probably, 
also to differences between grades. 
Table 
-Percentage relations of wholesale beef cuts to the carcass. 
Loins. 
Ribs. 
Rounds. 
Chucks. 
Plates. 
Flanks. 
Shanks. 
Suet. 
15-19 
17 
8-11 
9 
20-25 
23 
21-27 
23 
12-16 
13 
2-5 
4 
3-7 
4 
2-7 
4 
STANDARD GRADES OF BEEF CUTS. 
Although the absence of standard classes and grades for beef 
carcasses has been a source of confusion to the trade and to others 
interested, there is still further complication when the carcass is 
divided into the customary wholesale cuts. Apparently following 
along lines of least resistance, many in the trade have adopted num- 
bers to designate the grade of cuts, as No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3, of 
loins, ribs, rounds, chucks, and plates, the class name usually being 
inserted between the numeral and the name of the cut, as No. 1 steer 
round, etc. Unfortunately weight has, as a rule, been the dominant 
factor in determining such grades, as will be seen by an inspection 
of Table 3. 
Table 3. — Average weights of straight beef cuts (pounds). 1 
Loins. 
Ribs. 
Rounds. 
Chucks. 
Plates. 
Flanks. 
Shanks. 
No. 1 
50-85 
40-60 
25-40 
20-30 
30-50 
25-35 
20-25 
15-20 
75-110 
60- 80 
40-60 
30- 40 
75-110 
60- 80 
40-60 
30-40 
40-80 
30-50 
20-35 
15.20 
15-20 
10-15 
10-20 
No. 2 . 
5-10 
No 3 
i Hall, Louis D., Market Classes and Grades of Meat, Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 
147, p. 193. 
Apparently in this scheme of grading the heavier-weight cuts are 
accepted as the best without regard to quality, finish, and conforma- 
tion. This system penalizes the light-weight cuts from well-finished 
yearlings and 2-year-olds and baby beeves which now are very com- 
mon on the market, while the same cuts from rough, rangy, matured 
steers and cows of inferior quality are ranked above them in grade. 
Just as the class of the live animal determines the class of its 
carcass, so the class of the wholesale cut of beef is the same as that of 
the carcass from which it is cut. A loin of beef, therefore, is re- 
ferred to as a steer, heifer, cow, stag, or bull loin, according to 
the class of the carcass. 
