Anyone ever buy half a cow?

[iabowhunter]

I bought a quarter in March and got 200 pounds of meat from it. We paid 400 bucks for the quarter and locker fees. Sure is nice eating T-bones or ribeyes at 2 dollars a pound! Plus you know where your beef came from.

[OurLuvsFromAbove]

WHERESSSSSSSSS THE BEEF?

sorry had to

(sits in corner)

[hadenuff]

Originally Posted by SashimiMark

How long did a quarter or half cow last you? Mind you, I'm single and childless. Though I do have two poor roommates whom I feed at least once a week.

I buy a quarter at a time. the last cow we got was huge though! 850lbs. We have to pay hanging wieght so 212 lbs roughly, not sure how much we actually get back but it nicely filled our med size chest freezer with plenty of extra room for chicken and whatever. It lasts my family of four about 9 mo. but we eat red meat 4-5 times a week. I have little kids so spaghetti and meatloafs and stuff like that were it is using burger. You can not pick the fat content of you burger where we go but it is perfect. Some fat but not like cheap burger where it all cooks away. Def worth it!

[Bluqq]

does the butcher fee cover the butcher actually cutting the whole thing into steaks, roasts etc?

[BeThin]

For 21 years now this is how we have purchased our beef. We just set aside 500-600 dollars a year for the purchase of a WHOLE cow, or a very large half. That takes care of hanging weight and butcher freezing and wrapping fees.

It is the only way we will purchase meat.

[SashimiMark]

Okay. I'm so gonna do this. Sounds like a quarter cow would be good for just me along with sharing a meal with the boys once a week. My landlord's father would prolly split a half cow with me. Now I just need to find me a chest freezer on craigslist to put it all in. Is my understanding that they only do this in the fall correct?

[Mommie22boys]

Originally Posted by SashimiMark

Okay. I'm so gonna do this. Sounds like a quarter cow would be good for just me along with sharing a meal with the boys once a week. My landlord's father would prolly split a half cow with me. Now I just need to find me a chest freezer on craigslist to put it all in. Is my understanding that they only do this in the fall correct?

My farmer starts the butchering in January when the previous spring's cows are big enough to go. Call around and I'm sure you'll find someone who has cows ready to be butchered, or will in the very near future.

[Prozak]

I have a rancher friend (ranches hormone free, antibiotic free Herefords.. hand picked for the butcher when each one is ready).

They have 5 kids ranging in age from 6-14 (4 boys) and they go through ONE beef a year.. so I figure seeing as they eat probably more beef that most people do, that 1/2 beef would for sure last us a year.

I am next on the list.... and how funny for me to not even think of him for beef until we were out at his ranch a few weeks ago.

$2.80/lb hanging weight... approx 300-400lbs for 1/2 beef. Seeing as I definitely spend more than $100 a month on beef at the grocery store.. this will not only be cheaper, but better for us and better tasting too!

I do need to find out if I need a new freezer though.. my small upright I have is for the dog's food.

[Bigsky]

We buy a whole one about every16 months- no hormones. Love it -beats the store bought meat anytime. Have it cut and packaged just the way we want.

[SashimiMark]

When you're getting toward the end of your cow, do you find a lot of it is freezer burnt? What do you guys do to prevent or lessen that?

[OurLuvsFromAbove]

im so interested in all of this..

[Sarajewel]

Me too! Thanks for all the replies and the tip to check out the Eat Wild site.

I love that I can get grass fed beef that travels less than 20 miles to get to my freezer. I love that it supports local people. I love that I could feed my family the highest quality of meat. I love that I could save some money.

[Mommie22boys]

I get mine wrapped and vaccuum sealed. . .never had a problem with freezer burn. Ask if your processor does this. . .you may have to pay a few cents more per pound, but it's totally worth it to protect your investment.

[SashimiMark]

Good advice, Mommie. Now if I can just get the farm I emailed to reply to me. I may need to go low tech and call them.

[iabowhunter]

Originally Posted by Bluqq

does the butcher fee cover the butcher actually cutting the whole thing into steaks, roasts etc?

Yes. I pay so many cents per pound and that covers kill, cut and wrapped. Steaks cut as thick as you want them, roast cut to what ever size you want and hamburger wrapped to what ever weight per package you want.

I have never had any issues with freezer burnt meat and mine is just wrapped in plain white butcher paper.

[Bigsky]

Ours is vaccuum sealed in a clear plastic. Haven't had that problem since they stopped wrapping in freezer paper.

[hadenuff]

Originally Posted by SashimiMark

Okay. I'm so gonna do this. Sounds like a quarter cow would be good for just me along with sharing a meal with the boys once a week. My landlord's father would prolly split a half cow with me. Now I just need to find me a chest freezer on craigslist to put it all in. Is my understanding that they only do this in the fall correct?

My farmer will do as soon as he has enough people to take two cows in. Price of gas and whatever he won't do it for one cow. But anytime during the year is fine with him.

[SashimiMark]

Okay, I finally got an email response...

We charge $4.75/lb hanging weight. A side of beef usually costs about $750 and we ask for a deposit of $350 at the time of orgering. The balance is paid when the meat is picked up in late October. The beef will be custom cut and frozen. The actual weight of the meat will vary depending on how you have it cut, but is usually around 100lb. Please let me know if you have any more questions.

That seems pricey to me.

[hadenuff]

Keep looking. Even if you have to drive a little bit. That's not a great deal at all! Especially since a lot will be burger....at 4.75 a lb, don't think so!

[wannabeslim4life]

Originally Posted by OurLuvsFromAbove

im so interested in all of this..

me too

[Mommie22boys]

I agree it sounds pricey. . .especially since he says that the ACTUAL weight, though it varies, is around 100 pounds. If you're paying $750, that's more like $7.50 PER POUND of actual meat.

Keep looking, Mark. . .