Cow share people please come in

[emilyinchile]

I know a few people on here have done a cow share before (and not just because of the WSJ article that mentions it!). There's a guy here who's starting up a cow share program. I'm considering it - although we'd have to find somewhere to put an additional freezer - but have some questions. Cuts are somewhat TBD and also obviously dependent on the size of the share, but obviously I'll want to know what I'd be getting before signing up.

- About how much of a discount do you end up with over buying beef at the supermarket? I am mostly interested in having grass-fed, quality beef, but I understand it's also "supposed" to be cheaper.
- How much is a non-crazy amount for two people? I could do a 1/8 share, but since that won't fit in my current freezer anyway it may make sense to go bigger.
- Would you have concerns about being a customer for the first ever iteration of something like this? I don't know if there are things that usually get worked out with experience or questions I should ask to make sure the butcher and organizer know what they're doing.
- Anything else you'd want to know before signing up?

Thanks!

[oreos]

I can't comment on the price as DH and I get beef for free from a family friend, but we tend to get 1/4 of a cow once per year and it easily fits in our small chest freezer (4-6 cubic feet, not exactly sure the size of ours).

[Mashara]

I read this as cow people and was all ready to share my cow desktop vacuum

[emilyinchile]

oreos, is it just the two of you eating 1/4? The guy organizing this sent a link to an example 1/8 share from a place in the US, and it didn't seem like THAT much food when you consider it over a year. For example, it had 18 packs of ground beef at 1 lb each, and we use about that much ground beef most weeks.

[oreos]

Nov 26, 2014 11:31:07 GMT -5 emilyinchile said:

oreos, is it just the two of you eating 1/4? The guy organizing this sent a link to an example 1/8 share from a place in the US, and it didn't seem like THAT much food when you consider it over a year. For example, it had 18 packs of ground beef at 1 lb each, and we use about that much ground beef most weeks.

Yep, just two of us. We tend to eat meat with every meal we cook at home together so when we have this beef, I'll just base more meals around beef versus chicken or pork. 

I want to say the meat usually lasts 6 months or so. 

[Deleted]

For a family of 6, we typically butchered 1 cow, 1 pig, and then some wild meat (usually 1+ deer and some gifted moose and elk).

So for a family of 2, I'd say 1/4 cow would be fine if you remember to eat it. I grew up on "meat and potatoes" pretty much every single day, so it took a lot of meat.

I want to get my brother to sell more meat direct, but I don't think he's interested in the hassle.

[nomad100]

We get 1/4 steer and it lasts up about a year, just the 2 of us but we do entertain a fair bit. We have a separate freezer for the beef.

Averaged out over all the cuts the cost is about the same as the regular beef you get at the store but what we get when we buy our share is organic, grass raised and grain/hay finished. If we were to buy the individual cuts of that quality at the store, we likely couldn't do it.

I think, if I remember correctly, 1/4 steer equals a little over 100 lbs of meat in the various cuts. We actually will be getting another 1/4 in

[emilyinchile]

hamster am I right in remembering you've done this?

[hamster]

Nov 26, 2014 15:08:58 GMT -5 emilyinchile said:

hamster am I right in remembering you've done this?

Yes! I tried to reply earlier but got called away. I'll be home in 45 minutes or so and can give an in-depth answer then!

[Deleted]

We used to get a 1/2 and that was a lot of us, 1/4 would have been better for two people. I can't remember how much it cost per lb, it varied year to year depending on the market. I remember it being a lot higher than ground beef, but much cheaper than roast or steak, so it came out in the wash. We called the butcher to tell him what we wanted the cuts to be. I wouldn't worry about being one of the first customers. The meat will obviously still be the same, the process of how it's done just may get changed as they sell more.

[hamster]

I found an old post that outline the price we pay and what all we get:

We buy half a cow every year. Last year we spent $2.75 per pound hanging weight, plus 60 cents per pound to the butcher, and $50 towards the kill fee.

For a total of $900, here's what we ended up with in our freezer:
Ground beef - 41 packages, approximately 1 pound each
Stew meat - 7 packages
Soup Bones -5 packages
Heart - 1 package
Liver - 7 packages
Brisket -1 package
Rump roast - 3 packages
Chuck roast - 9 packages
Cross-rib roast - 2 packages
Flank steak - 1 package
Round steak - 8 packages
Sirloin tip steak - 7 packages
T-bone steaks - 7 packages
Ribeyes - 5.5 packages (one only has a single steak)
Short ribs - 7 packages
Round Bone roast - 3 packages
Oxtail - 1
Dog bones - 10 to 15 pounds
Suet - 10 pounds

It's just two of us, but we can eat through it in a year if we make a very conscious effort. We got our cow in January, but are pretty much out of ground beef. I haven't done an inventory in a while, but if you want, we can do one this weekend. We did opt not to feed the dog bones though, as they were weight bearing.

We just e-mailed the lady, so are due for a new cow in January.

[Norticprincess]

We buy through a local meat market, they raise their own beef. We split the order with one of DH'S coworkers. There are two of us and three of her family one is a toddler. The last order we paid $3.80 a pound final weight for 1/4 of a cow ~ 180 pounds We get it cut varies by time of year and what each of us want at the time. Last order was 30 pounds of ground beef. The rest was mix of steaks, roasts. We do get the dog bones tossed in, but those are $0.75 a pound and not in the total weight. So our 1/8 is about 6 months give or take. We do usually run low on ground beef - but it is a $3.69/pound currently so it is cheaper to get separatly if we run low. The steaks are usually half or more lower price than the grocery store or buying separately at the market.

Ours we didn't have much set up - you fill out the order form with what you want cut wise, that make those and turn the rest into ground beef. We do the same with half a hog. Re order they pull the sheet and ask if you want to change anything.

[ohyouknow]

In DC we just had one quoted and it was $6/lb.

[Deleted]

We ordered 1/4 of a cow and requested a smaller cow. We paid $2.75/ lb for hanging weight and it came to around $300 total. Then we paid another $60 to the butcher. Those prices vary a lot from farm to farm though.

I don't do organ meat or bones. Our butcher basically ran down the list of cuts and I told him yes or no. We chose to have some of the fattier cuts (like stew meat) made into burger instead. They also packaged everything for two people. We got about 25 lbs. of ground beef, several small packages of various steaks, one big ass brisket, short ribs, four massive roasts and various small roasts. I can't remember all the cuts but it's a big variety. It will probably last us about a year, and that's with giving away some to family. I frequently only use a fraction of what most recipes call for though. It all fits in our small square chest freezer.

[emilyinchile]

Thanks, guys! This is all really helpful info.

hamster, don't worry about doing an inventory, although that's very sweet of you to offer. I have a better idea now of how much the various portions of cow come out to in terms of overall meat, so I think it's just a question of figuring out if we have anywhere to put an additional freezer - somehow I feel like this is an item that shouldn't go in the guest room where we do have space! - and then if that works I'll figure out more of the specifics of cuts and everything. I will however ask you one thing: why are weight-bearing bones bad for dogs, and how did you know they were weight-bearing? Did the butcher tell you?

[hamster]

Nov 27, 2014 8:16:14 GMT -5 emilyinchile said:

I will however ask you one thing: why are weight-bearing bones bad for dogs, and how did you know they were weight-bearing? Did the butcher tell you?

Weight bearing bones are denser, and more likely to end up in a chipped tooth. Some people feed them, some don't. I haven't researched very heavily though, it's just something I've seen enough on passing to think it's not a good idea. Especially when the bones in question held up a 1000 pound animal.

The butcher didn't specify what they were, but they looked obviously like knees and such if I recall. I'm sure others would feed it, but Wyatt is clearly coddled.