Abstract: A method for controlling the cutting depth of drums of shearers used as recovery equipment in underground coal mining. A cut of drums into country rock is detected by measured values, from which the drum cutting depth is adjusted by control signals. In particular, during a recovery or shearing operation, the current consumption of cutting motors that drive the drums, and the traveling speed of the shearer, are detected as measured values, from which, in a computer, the respective specific cutting energy is determined as a ratio of the current consumption to the traveling speed. For different mining conditions, a respective characteristic value for the specific cutting energy is determined as a function of the compactness of coal that is to be recovered and of an outcrop of country rock. When this characteristic value is exceeded, a cut from the country rock is assumed. Corresponding control signals for a correction of the cutting depth of the drum are generated.