Come in if you buy your beef in halves or quarters

[chocolatechips]

We're considering doing this, but it feels like a lot of money to spend on beef all at once. Do you find that it's worth it? How many people are in your family? How much beef do you buy? What proportion of different cuts do you end up getting (ground beef vs. stew beef vs. roasts vs. steaks)

We would be investing in a chest freezer as well, which makes this feel like an even bigger decision...

[chocolatechips]

Ack, I just realized that this will be a very lame and boring thread. Like, the kind of thread that 50 people read but nobody bothers answering. Feel free to add any tangentially related beefy advice. Thanks.

[bonquiqui]

I have no idea what this really means, but Hi again.

Like if we are having steak, H buys a few filets


Yeah, I know this helps not at all

[sawyerthedestroyer]

It's okay Bon, I was going to type a response about H going turkey hunting, which has nothing to do with beef, but it will put a chest freezer to good use. I'm no help either.

[Bonita]

Ooohhh I don't buy it that way now because I don't really have anyone to buy it from here...BUT I previously did this for beef, and piggy too

It was really great beef, and I liked that it was readily available in the freezer. I don't remember specifics as far as stew meat, ground, roasts, and steaks - I know I always had a few roasts, several steaks and then quite a bit was ground. Some of that depends on what you cook/eat now I would think, or what you think you might make in the future - hamburgers, tacos, steaks, roasts, etc.?

There were only 2 of us, but I always looked at it as a good deal...I believe we only ever bought 1/4 though.

Sorry that my details are fuzzy, it's been a while since I've bought beef this way since I moved

[dcannie]

there are two of us and we buy a quarter. i don't know the ratio of what we get. it goes a long way and is worth it to us. we know the farmer and the processor, which is important to us. we already had a freezer in the garage, so that wasn't an issue.

[jssymom14]

If you can find a good price go for it! Not sure what avg cost of beef in your area is but here under $4 hanging weight is the cheapest i think. Also our upright freezer was on of our best financial decisions bc of other costs savings when chix breasts etc are on sale.

[Bonita]

Oh...And regarding the chest freezer, I agree with jln - I don't think you'd regret purchasing one They're wonderful!

[chocolatechips]

Sept 1, 2012 13:52:19 GMT -5 tators said:

My family has a ranch so we always have beef. If it ever happens that we cant I will buy a half/quarter beef. It is sooo much better because then you arent getting 100 different cows in your hamburger. I think it is totally worth the investment. I mostly use hamburger when I cook so I dont know what to tell you on cuts. I also like roasts, but both of these I get because they are easy and I am lazy!

OK, that's a good point about 100 different cows. Gross.

Does your family do grass or grain fed cattle? Can you taste the difference between finishing raising the cattle with grain vs. grass? I have one rancher telling me that they finish with grain and it makes for MUCH better beef, and another rancher telling me they finish with grass and it makes for MUCH better beef. I can definitely taste a difference between the two, but they also use different breeds of cattle...? Is one leaner than the other? I don't like fatty meat.

Explain this to me like I'm just learning about meat. Because I am. I was a vegetarian for the first 20 years of my life and it's all new to me.

[chocolatechips]

Sept 1, 2012 13:52:19 GMT -5 bonquiqui said:

I have no idea what this really means, but Hi again.

Like if we are having steak, H buys a few filets


Yeah, I know this helps not at all

Hi!!!! *waves frantically as if the cool kid at school noticed me in the cafeteria.*

From what I understand, buying a "quarter" means buying a quarter of an entire animal. It's much cheaper, but you end up with meat proportionately to what's actually in the animal. I think. And you walk away with, like, 150 pounds of that animal.

[ooglie26]

We are going to start buying beef and pork this way. We have a chest freezer to store it all in, though we may have to get a bigger freezer next year since I plan on doubling or more our garden.

There are a couple of places within 10 miles of our house.

[chocolatechips]

Sept 1, 2012 13:53:50 GMT -5 sawyerthedestroyer said:

It's okay Bon, I was going to type a response about H going turkey hunting, which has nothing to do with beef, but it will put a chest freezer to good use. I'm no help either.

Haha. out of curiosity, do you get sick of having turkey, or is it little enough of the turkey that you can portion it out over time. Day #3 after Thanksgiving, and I'm sort of over turkey.

[chocolatechips]

Sept 1, 2012 13:54:28 GMT -5 Bonita said:

Ooohhh I don't buy it that way now because I don't really have anyone to buy it from here...BUT I previously did this for beef, and piggy too

It was really great beef, and I liked that it was readily available in the freezer. I don't remember specifics as far as stew meat, ground, roasts, and steaks - I know I always had a few roasts, several steaks and then quite a bit was ground. Some of that depends on what you cook/eat now I would think, or what you think you might make in the future - hamburgers, tacos, steaks, roasts, etc.?

There were only 2 of us, but I always looked at it as a good deal...I believe we only ever bought 1/4 though.

Sorry that my details are fuzzy, it's been a while since I've bought beef this way since I moved

That's OK...this is very helpful. One of my questions is actually whether this is a good idea with just two of us, or if we should split with a friend. Did you go through the amount you bought in a year?

[chocolatechips]

Sept 1, 2012 13:54:30 GMT -5 dcannie said:

there are two of us and we buy a quarter. i don't know the ratio of what we get. it goes a long way and is worth it to us. we know the farmer and the processor, which is important to us. we already had a freezer in the garage, so that wasn't an issue.

This is really helpful, thanks. I've been wanting a freezer for YEARS so I don't feel too badly about that, but DH has been kind of dragging his feet because he wants other stuff first.

[chocolatechips]

Sept 1, 2012 13:55:56 GMT -5 jssymom14 said:

If you can find a good price go for it! Not sure what avg cost of beef in your area is but here under $4 hanging weight is the cheapest i think. Also our upright freezer was on of our best financial decisions bc of other costs savings when chix breasts etc are on sale.

Here, we can get organic/hormone free/antibiotic free/grass fed etc. etc. etc. for just under $4 hanging weight.

Out of curiosity, why did you choose the upright freezer over a chest freezer? Do you think it's easier to access or clean? I see that they're slightly more expensive...

[chocolatechips]

Sept 1, 2012 13:57:36 GMT -5 Bonita said:

Oh...And regarding the chest freezer, I agree with jln - I don't think you'd regret purchasing one They're wonderful!

Excellent. I will tell DH that the internet overwhelmingly agrees that the freezer is a great idea.

[sawyerthedestroyer]

Sept 1, 2012 14:05:28 GMT -5 chocolatechips said:

Sept 1, 2012 13:53:50 GMT -5 sawyerthedestroyer said:

It's okay Bon, I was going to type a response about H going turkey hunting, which has nothing to do with beef, but it will put a chest freezer to good use. I'm no help either.

Haha. out of curiosity, do you get sick of having turkey, or is it little enough of the turkey that you can portion it out over time. Day #3 after Thanksgiving, and I'm sort of over turkey.

We'll portion it out over the year between holidays, sandwiches, and turkey burgers mostly.

[chocolatechips]

Sept 1, 2012 14:03:43 GMT -5 ooglie26 said:

We are going to start buying beef and pork this way. We have a chest freezer to store it all in, though we may have to get a bigger freezer next year since I plan on doubling or more our garden.

There are a couple of places within 10 miles of our house.

That's where we're at too. I can everything possible from the garden, but we still end up having to eat nothing but vegetables at the end of the season because I'm out of freezer space. Also, ditto having places within 10 miles of the house. Maybe we live in similar climes.

[chocolatechips]

Sept 1, 2012 14:08:24 GMT -5 tators said:

Umm so its my gparents ranch. I have no idea how they do it. I honestly think it doesnt really matter. I will tell you when you buy it in the store "lean" often comes from cows that have been sick. K gross I know sorry. If I HAVE to buy it, I buy the medium fat kind and just drain it with water in a strainer.

Gross. You might be turning me off of ever buying grocery store meat.

[chocolatechips]

Sept 1, 2012 14:10:13 GMT -5 sawyerthedestroyer said:

Sept 1, 2012 14:05:28 GMT -5 chocolatechips said:

Haha. out of curiosity, do you get sick of having turkey, or is it little enough of the turkey that you can portion it out over time. Day #3 after Thanksgiving, and I'm sort of over turkey.

We'll portion it out over the year between holidays, sandwiches, and turkey burgers mostly.

I see. That sounds much more manageable than my once a year turkey-glut.

[chocolatechips]

Sept 1, 2012 14:12:12 GMT -5 tators said:

I know I know. I should stop. I try not to be like that. My mom does it to me and it really pisses me off!

Yeah, but honestly, it really is better to know now. Rather than in ten years. When I'd be like, "why didn't anyone TELL me about this SOONER?"

[chocolatechips]

Thanks, everyone! It sounds like we should really go for this.

[Bonita]

For the quarter I think we did usually go through it in the year, or just over a year (I wasn't throwing it out at 12 mos on the date or anything)

As for fat content, I didn't really worry about it much I guess although really any of it that we purchased over the years wasn't super fatty at all...

Now you have me thinking about this - lol

[chocolatechips]

Sept 1, 2012 14:15:23 GMT -5 Bonita said:

For the quarter I think we did usually go through it in the year, or just over a year (I wasn't throwing it out at 12 mos on the date or anything)

Awesome. I wouldn't be super strict about the one year mark either, but I didn't want to end up with WAAAY too much food.

Sept 1, 2012 14:15:23 GMT -5 Bonita said:

As for fat content, I didn't really worry about it much I guess although really any of it that we purchased over the years wasn't super fatty at all...

Now you have me thinking about this - lol

I'm (hoping) that this kind of meat will be, regardless, leaner than most of what I get at the grocery or butcher. I guess I'm just thinking that, since I'd getting some cuts that I'm not used to buying, I might NOTICE the fatty-ness more. Does that make sense? Like, I always buy the super-lean ground beef (which, I just learned from tators, means that I've only been eating sick cow,) but will I be shocked by the higher fat content in ground beef if it's been raised in this better way, not on a feedlot?

[hubes]

Sept 1, 2012 14:11:27 GMT -5 chocolatechips said:

Sept 1, 2012 14:08:24 GMT -5 tators said:

Umm so its my gparents ranch. I have no idea how they do it. I honestly think it doesnt really matter. I will tell you when you buy it in the store "lean" often comes from cows that have been sick. K gross I know sorry. If I HAVE to buy it, I buy the medium fat kind and just drain it with water in a strainer.

Gross. You might be turning me off of ever buying grocery store meat.

What? I don't know where you heard that, but I would say you were very much misinformed.

[chocolatechips]

Sept 1, 2012 14:30:11 GMT -5 hubes said:

Sept 1, 2012 14:11:27 GMT -5 chocolatechips said:

Gross. You might be turning me off of ever buying grocery store meat.

What? I don't know where you heard that, but I would say you were very much misinformed.

Yay! I'm so happy to hear this might not be true! And Hoobs, I know I've been a creepy lurker until last night, so you don't know me from the next crazy lurker, but I am so glad you came into this thread. O knower of all things bovine, please school me on the pros and cons of buying my meat this way.

That might have sounded snarky. I didn't mean it. I am seriously glad you found this thread.

[hubes]

The fat content has a lot to do with the breed of the animal, age and things like that (not if they are sick, although that can make a difference, but lean doesn't mean sick animal). It also has to do with the sex of the animal.

I *think* grass fed is leaner.

[chocolatechips]

Sept 1, 2012 14:33:54 GMT -5 hubes said:

The fat content has a lot to do with the breed of the animal, age and things like that (not if they are sick, although that can make a difference, but lean doesn't mean sick animal). It also has to do with the sex of the animal.

I *think* grass fed is leaner.

Really? The sex of the animal? For some reason, I thought that beef cows were mostly male, no?

ETA: and thanks, I thought that the grass fed might be leaner too, but a rancher today was confusing me.

[chocolatechips]

Sept 1, 2012 14:37:01 GMT -5 namasteak said:

The website of all the farms I have looked at tell you how much of each cut you get with 1/8, 1/4, and 1/2. I plan on keeping a list of what we have received and mark each cut off as we use it.

Also I plan on rationing out the various cuts over the time I estimate it will take us to eat our 1/4. that way we don't end up with a bunch of ground meat at the end.

Ah, the ranches we're considering are pretty small, and their websites are pretty simple (think the do-it-yourself websites from the 90s.) I'll look at some bigger farms' sites for their listings. Thanks.

Good ideas about rationing and keeping a separate list too. I have this fear that we'll "lose" something in the freezer since we're not used to having one.

[hubes]

I am not an expert, but I play one on tv.

We get our beef this way. We usually get an animal that can't go to market (an old cow, a calf that got hurt, and Yes, even sick calves). We have noticed that the processing has more to do with the taste than the animal it came from, so I would definitely make sure you can tell your processor how you want it. (You won't be able to say that you want 100 pounds of steaks, but you should be able to say if you want your ground beef double ground)

We think that grain fed makes them a little more tender, but I think its because it is more marbled (fatty).

I think if you have a good farmer and a good processor, you'll love buying meat in bulk.