Buying hormone/steroid free beef

[Motts Landing]

I have an opportunity to purchase anywhere from a 1/4 to a whole cow somewhat locally. It is advertised as organic, hormone free, no dyes etc. Currently they still have hanging 1/4 that can be cut to order, wrapped & processed etc. Owner told me cows are 2 yrs old when slaughtered and grass fed w/ a small bit of corn supplement.

I am curious as to what is considered a "good price/deal" on beef like this? I am used to paying under $2.00/lb in grocery store for NON organic ground beef for example & was told that the 1/4 cow would price out at $400.00 TOTAL (including process, wrap etc). Averaging approx. $3.25/lb across the board. Includes roasts, ribeys, ground beef, steaks etc

Is anyone familair with going rates??? I have in the past up in Indiana purchased a portion of a cow (non organic) but that was over 8 years ago & don't remember prices. Does this sound reasonable to you?
Thanks for any help
BTW............ does grass fed beef taste good??? Is it tender??

Julie

[Ragdoll24]

Originally Posted by Motts Landing

]BTW............ does grass fed beef taste good??? Is it tender??[/b]

Julie Grass-fed beef tastes great. You don't want to overcook it or it will not taste as good. I used to pay up to $8.00 per lb for chopped beef but thanks to a link on this forum can now purchase for half the price. I would be careful of the corn supplement added to the diets of the grass fed cows.

[Motts Landing]

in what way re: be careful corn supplemet?? TIA

She said it was just very little of the corn

[pooticus]

I love our grass fed beef!

We get a variety pack (50lbs) and it's $4.60/lb processed.

Go to Paidom Meats online and read about their prices.

[BeThin]

WE pay 1.69 to have it cut and wraped and then we pay 2.50 lbs to the person who had the cow. I will not eat store purchased meat. Next year I think were going to raise our own cow, Chickens and pigs.

[Ragdoll24]

Originally Posted by Motts Landing

in what way re: be careful corn supplemet?? TIA She said it was just very little of the corn

Per the Paidom website: they are never fed any grain, not even grain that is certified organic. Because our livestock spend their entire life on pasture, our meats have higher levels of vital nutrients like Omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acids (CLA's). These and other beneficial nutrients decline the longer an animal consumes grain (Utah State University research).
I want all the nutrients that I can get from the beef I'm eating. HTH, Barbara

[cleochatra]

I buy Laura's Lean ground beef and we love it! If you have the opportunity to buy part of a grass-fed cow, I'd definitely do it! (I pay $3.50-$4.50 per pound)

[brittone2]

I recently paid $700ish for a 1/2 of beef, hormone/antibiotic free and 100 percent grass fed. It was around 4 or 4.50 a pound I believe.

I'm in an area of NC w/ several grass fed beef farms and there's a pretty big demand among the health-conscious consumers here (lots of organics, etc.). I used to be able to get grass fed for 4.00/lb for hamburger (and that was biodynamic, which is like uber-organic ) Prices have increased and it is hard to find anywhere for less than $5 a lb now. Costco sells organic (but not grassfed) ground beef for $4/lb.

Part of the pricing depends on total weight, what mix of ground beef/patties to steaks, roasts, etc.

[pooticus]

Originally Posted by Ragdoll24

Per the Paidom website: they are never fed any grain, not even grain that is certified organic. Because our livestock spend their entire life on pasture, our meats have higher levels of vital nutrients like Omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acids (CLA's). These and other beneficial nutrients decline the longer an animal consumes grain (Utah State University research).
I want all the nutrients that I can get from the beef I'm eating. HTH, Barbara

They will ship anywhere in the U.S. I think. They are pretty awesome and very accomodating. The meat actually smells sweet and almost and absence of "meat" smell. It's double wrapped. There is this thick plastic wrapped on the surface of the meat (not saran like at all, thicker), then it is wrapped in butcher paper.

We had one steak that spent 4 months in our freezer, wrapped in their packaging and the fat still tasted great. No nasty flavor at all.

[rosethorns]

Grass fed beef is the best. I never got sick living on our farm as a kid. Hormones hurt a lot of people. I thinks it;s a good deal.

[mom2twoboys]

Our stores do not sell any grass fed beef. I would love to try it before I bought a mass quantity of it. I was reading that grass fed butter is so much better but I can not find that locally either.

[pooticus]

Originally Posted by mom2twoboys

Our stores do not sell any grass fed beef. I would love to try it before I bought a mass quantity of it. I was reading that grass fed butter is so much better but I can not find that locally either.

Mom you can order a single cut even from Paidom. They let you either purchase in variety packs to save money overall or you can buy "by the cut" which varies depending on the cut. One of the cuts I love from them is their short ribs ($3.something/lb) if I remember correctly...

[tink81]

if you live in AZ or CA go to sprouts.com to find the nearest location to you. Sprouts sells grass fed beef and other non hormonal meats like chicken and pork. They even sell their own made sausages. You want to look at their ads. They get great deals.

[Dreamchaser]

Originally Posted by pooticus

Mom you can order a single cut even from Paidom. They let you either purchase in variety packs to save money overall or you can buy "by the cut" which varies depending on the cut. One of the cuts I love from them is their short ribs ($3.something/lb) if I remember correctly...

pooticus - That Paidom site is really nice. I wish so much that we had a nice place like that to order from with great prices in my area (southern Indiana). I considered trying something from Paidom but it says that if it's being shipped, the total weight of the order must be roughly 50 pounds. I checked the price and unfortunately it would be a $61 shipping fee to have it shipped to where I live.

[ItsNot2L8]

Originally Posted by Motts Landing

BTW............ does grass fed beef taste good??? Is it tender??

It is awesome. I pay about $1.50/lb more on average (I think, I'm really bad about tracking that kind of thing) for grass-fed, hormone and antibiotic-free beef, also get the organic eggs, chicken (HUGE difference in chickens), and pork. Pork I can't tell much difference, but I feel better about eating it if I think the pig had a decent (albeit short) life.

[ItsNot2L8]

Originally Posted by Dreamchaser

pooticus - That Paidom site is really nice. I wish so much that we had a nice place like that to order from with great prices in my area (southern Indiana). I considered trying something from Paidom but it says that if it's being shipped, the total weight of the order must be roughly 50 pounds. I checked the price and unfortunately it would be a $61 shipping fee to have it shipped to where I live.

Do you have a Super Target? The one here carries organic beef, chickens, and eggs.

[Dreamchaser]

Originally Posted by ItsNot2L8

Do you have a Super Target? The one here carries organic beef, chickens, and eggs.

Unfortunately not. We just have a regular Target. We don't have anything good around here. No Whole Foods or Trader Joe's either. Not even a Costco's. Just Sam's. And I looked at all of the meat in Sam's the other day and couldn't find anything organic.

[Rory8343]

I buy grass fed GB at Target. Today I really scored and got organic chicken breasts for 3 dollars off a package, so it was between three and three fifty a pound.

[Dreamchaser]

Originally Posted by Rory8343

I buy grass fed GB at Target. Today I really scored and got organic chicken breasts for 3 dollars off a package, so it was between three and three fifty a pound.

I'm jealous!

[Prozak]

I would gladly pay double or triple for grass fed, hormone free beef.

I just recently found a supplier of grass fed whole raw milk.. (and cream if i want it) and get this, she charges $3.50 for 2 gallons! That is cheaper than the crap at the store!! She laughed when I talked to her about it, she said I am the 6th person this year to ask to purchase her milk.. perhaps she will branch out into the meat business LOL

On that note, my sister had a grass fed beef steak on Mom's day and said it was the best tasting meat she has EVER had.

[pooticus]

Originally Posted by Dreamchaser

pooticus - That Paidom site is really nice. I wish so much that we had a nice place like that to order from with great prices in my area (southern Indiana). I considered trying something from Paidom but it says that if it's being shipped, the total weight of the order must be roughly 50 pounds. I checked the price and unfortunately it would be a $61 shipping fee to have it shipped to where I live.

You should call and ask him if he would make an exception. He's a really nice guy.

[Motts Landing]

well this gal is doin' the "happy dance" I just got home from picking up my fresh grass fed hormone/dye free beef!!! I wound up splitting a 1/4 of a cow with an aunt/uncle. I have approx. 60 lbs. of meat in the freezer and my portion of cost was $208.00. That's not too bad now is it?? I have never tasted grass fed au natural beef so in a day or so after I cook up some of the old ground beef that was already thawed out.... I will give this a whirl!!!!!

The next best thing to getting this meat is that I finally convinced dh to spring for a new upright freezer (mine gave up the ghost about 6 months ago)

[debkeversole]

Originally Posted by Dreamchaser

pooticus - That Paidom site is really nice. I wish so much that we had a nice place like that to order from with great prices in my area (southern Indiana). I considered trying something from Paidom but it says that if it's being shipped, the total weight of the order must be roughly 50 pounds. I checked the price and unfortunately it would be a $61 shipping fee to have it shipped to where I live.

Dreamchaser ...check to see if there are any Mennonite communities living near you the one close to here has wonderful meats..i like theirs and we have had a new meat place open 15 miles from here(lots closer) with grain-fed pasture raised and even if the price was way higher it is so much better...i remember hamburger prices are the same as wally world so i haven't even compared the other prices, but the meats are wonderful!

[melehundele]

I just got some grassfed beef burgers from a company in Montana that sells online. I was disappointed. To me, the patties were the wrong color, the wrong texture, and smelled weird when I cooked them. When I cleaned the pan the next morning (lazy bum..) the smell of the grease in the pan just about gacked me.

What is up with that? Am I just conditioned to LIKE to eat medicated, grainfed cows? Or did I get some funky burger? Or? They arrived beautifully sealed (like they could survive a nuclear war) and on dry ice, so they shouldn't have gone funky in transport.

BTW, if that description hasn't turned anyone off yet, that place has pretty high prices (I think) but sells burger for about $3.75 a pound if you buy 16 pounds (in 1 pound packages) at a time.

[Murph]

I've been visiting these boards frequently over the last couple of months, just reading through all of the information. Not much on posting, but just wanted to ask Motts Landing where you purchase your beef and eggs. I live in Navarre and haven't been able to find any grass fed beef in the area (with exception to Publix at $7 per pound). I found a little farm that sells raw cheese in Elberta called Sweet Home. It's good, but a little on the expensive side at $10 a pound

[nonstickpam107]

We buy a calf (just purchased the one that was born last Wednesday...she's cute too!!) from the neighbor and grass feed it. The only time we got one that tasted 'funny' was when we left it up to the neighbor to pen it before slaughter and he didn't get it penned fast enough (they need to be unfed for awhile before slaughter or they can taste like the grass smells after they eat it...sorry for TMI, but that's what it tastes/smells like).

Pam

[Motts Landing]

Originally Posted by Murph

I've been visiting these boards frequently over the last couple of months, just reading through all of the information. Not much on posting, but just wanted to ask Motts Landing where you purchase your beef and eggs. I live in Navarre and haven't been able to find any grass fed beef in the area (with exception to Publix at $7 per pound). I found a little farm that sells raw cheese in Elberta called Sweet Home. It's good, but a little on the expensive side at $10 a pound

neighbor! Yea... I have also been to Sweet Home. Pretty good cheese but pricey is right!

For eggs......... I get them from a woman directly off Hwy 98 on County Road 93 just in the edge of Lillian Alabama. I have a # if you want to PM me. Sells for $2.00/dzn. She also raises goats & her & dh have 75' shrimp boat (they are shrimping this week & should be back in 3 or 4 more days. They sell fresh BAY shrimp (medium count) for $4.00/lb. (Better than at Joe Patti's!!!)

For beef... I just found an ad in the emerald coast healthy living mag. that stated organic beef, hormone free, no red dye etc. Place is called Buffalo Creek Farm Market in Milton. Woman's name is Sandy. They use the cows for training cutting horses and then at 2 yrs old when they are no longer useful...send them off to Kansas or wherever (she said) and any cows that do not fit on the transport are sent to slaughterhouse locally. So their business is not primarily for raising/selling beef therefore they only have 3 or 4 extra cows at a time...then none for a few months then they have a few more etc etc. Today she said they will have 1 more cow in 2 weeks ready for slaughter then it will be 3 or 4 months until another one is of age. HTH if you need more info...zap me a pm
Julie