Bulk beef
How to fill out your cut sheet.
When you order a half or whole, the butcher needs to know how YOU want it broken down. Here are the ten questions you'll be asked, our recommended defaults, and a quick framework if you'd rather just point and nod.
What a cut sheet is
A cut sheet is the form a butcher uses to know how to break your animal down into the cuts you actually want in your freezer. The same hanging carcass can be turned into a freezer full of steaks, a freezer full of ground beef, or a balanced mix of both. The cut sheet decides.
Most ranches send the cut sheet to you a few days after harvest, once the animal is hanging at the processor. You have a window (usually 2–3 days) to fill it out and send it back. After that, the processor uses the producer's default cut sheet — which works fine, but isn't tailored to your household.
None of these decisions are wrong. They're tradeoffs. More steaks mean less ground; more roasts mean fewer steaks; thicker steaks mean fewer of them per share. The questions below are the ones every cut sheet asks, and what each answer costs you elsewhere.
The ten decisions
In the rough order they'll appear on the form.
- Steak thickness. Usually 3/4", 1", or 1 1/4". Thicker steaks cook to a better crust without overcooking the interior; thinner steaks fit more meals out of the same primal and cook faster from frozen.
- Steaks per pack. One steak per pack (single person), two per pack (couple), or four per pack (family meal). Choose based on the smallest serving size you'll regularly use — you can always thaw two packs at once.
- Ground beef portion size. 1 lb is standard. 2 lb chubs are better for big-batch cooking (chili, bolognese for the freezer). 1/2 lb is great for taco-tuesday households of two.
- Ground beef vs more roasts. The chuck primal can become roasts (chuck roast, pot roast, mock tender) or get ground for burger. Default is roughly 50/50. More ground = more weeknight flexibility; more roasts = better Sunday dinners.
- Bone-in vs boneless ribs. Bone-in standing rib roast looks impressive and adds flavor; boneless is easier to slice and easier to portion into ribeye steaks. Pick one.
- Stew meat & kabob cubes. The sirloin tip and chuck can be cubed for stew or kept as roasts. We recommend saying yes to a few packs — they're the easiest weeknight slow-cooker meal in the share.
- Short ribs (English or flanken cut). English-cut runs along the bone, ~3 inches long, for braising. Flanken-cut is sliced thin across the bone, Korean-style for galbi. Pick the one your kitchen actually uses.
- Organs (yes/no). Liver, heart, kidney, tongue. All four are nutrient powerhouses. Saying no doesn't lower your price — they get discarded. Default to yes; freeze any you don't think you'll cook to give to a neighbor or your dog.
- Soup bones & marrow bones (yes/no). Same logic. Marrow bones make the best broth on earth; soup bones make the second-best. Default yes.
- Cure or smoke options. The processor can turn brisket into corned beef, trim into beef bacon, or grind into sausage with seasoning. Each is an upcharge per pound, but the results are hard to find elsewhere.
Spring Lake's recommended defaults
If you don't have strong preferences, this is what we'd order ourselves.
- Steaks: 1" thick, 2 per pack.
- Ground beef: 1 lb chubs, ~85/15 lean-to-fat ratio.
- Chuck: half to roasts, half to ground.
- Ribs: bone-in for the standing rib roast, boneless ribeye steaks for the rest.
- Stew & kabob meat: 4–6 packs of 1 lb stew cubes.
- Short ribs: English-cut for low-and-slow braising.
- Organs: yes — at minimum liver and heart. Tongue and kidney optional.
- Bones: yes — marrow and soup. Worth their weight in broth alone.
- Cures: skip on a first share. Try one cure (corned beef from brisket) on a second share once you know what you actually use.
A quick decision framework
First, count up your weekly beef use. Burgers, tacos, weeknight skillets, and chili almost all use ground beef. Sunday roasts, holiday meals, and steak nights use whole-muscle cuts. If your week is mostly the first list, lean ground-heavy. If it's mostly the second, lean steak-and-roast.
Then think about who eats with you. A two-pack of steaks is great for a couple. A four-pack of steaks is great for a family. A single-steak pack is best if you cook for yourself most nights and want to grab one without thawing a second.
Then think about your freezer time horizon. If this share has to last 12+ months, max out the roasts and steaks (longer freezer life) and minimize ground (oxidizes fastest). If you'll burn through it in 6 months, the mix doesn't matter as much — see our freezer storage page for the timing.
Finally — don't optimize for the perfect cut sheet on a first share. Your first share teaches you what your household actually eats. The second share is where the cut sheet gets dialed in.
Ready to talk through a real cut sheet?
We'll walk you through a sample cut sheet on a phone call before you order — no pressure, no commitment, just answers to your questions.