| The objective of this study was to evaluate total and individual meat yield of boneless cuts, retail cuts, descarded trimmings and carcass bones of 38 Braford castrated steers, slaughtered at 22 months of age after feedlot finishing. Carcasses were classified in three ranks according to fat coverage: even fat coverage over the carcass, with fat thickness of approximately 6-8 mm on the 12th rib; animals with uneven fat cover, with fat thickness of 3-5 mm and steers with insufficient fat coverage over the carcass, with fat thickness of 1-2 mm. Shrinkage losses decreased as fat coverage increased, and it was 2.57, 2.22, and 1.96%, respectively, for insufficient, uneven, and even fat coverage whereas flank yield increased, reaching values of 13.04, 13.47 and... |
