break beef

break beef
 v. phr.— «Every Friday, he picks up a carcass or two from Redwood Meat, then brings the meat back to the store and cuts it into rib-eyes, prime rib, filet mignon—just about every cut you can think of. What’s not used in the cuts is turned into ground beef. And what’s not used for ground beef—including some of the internal organs—goes into Reed’s side business: A line of grass-fed beef products for cats and dogs called “Heartfelt Foods.” ”We use the whole cow,” Reed said. This process—called “breaking beef”—isn’t easy. ”It’s physically demanding,” Reed said. “I don’t think the average person knows what it takes to get that little steak.” Reed was taught how to break beef by Nick Stiles, the previous meat cutter at the Co-op, who was responsible for getting the store’s grass-fed beef program started.» —“Local cows make short journey to the dinner table” by Ryan Burns Times-Standard (Eureka, California) Mar. 24, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)