Carcasses (n=20) were selected from two commercial packing plants, one in the Texas Panhandle and the other in Nebraska, by trained Texas A&M University personnel. Ten USDA Choice and 10 USDA Select, yield grade 2 and 3 carcasses were selected to reflect the approximate distribution found in the U.S. beef supply. Thirteen cuts (in sets of four) were fabricated and assigned to one of four treatments: (1) 0.3 cm external fat trim, raw; (2) 0.0 cm external fat trim, cooked; (3) 0.3 cm external fat trim, cooked; and (4) 0.6 cm external fat trim, cooked. Retail cuts assigned to the cooked treatment were braised, broiled or roasted. Both the cooked and raw cuts were dissected into separable lean, external fat, seam fat, and waste (heavy connective tissue and bone). USDA quality grade or trim level did not significantly affect the cooking yields of most cuts. Retail cuts that were braised had lower cooking yields than cuts that were roasted or broiled. Dissection data suggested that percentage separable lean increased as cuts were trimmed progressively of external fat cover. Cooked USDA Choice retail cuts had a higher percentage of seam fat than Select retail cuts. Arm roasts had the least separable lean, as well as the most seam fat and waste, even if all the external fat was removed before cooking. These data will be a potential source of information to be used by USDA in Agriculture Handbook 8-13 and the National Nutrient Data Bank, the most widely used resource for nutritional information in the U.S. 2000 Academic Press.
