Who Buys Meat by the 1/4, 1/2 or more Cow?

My cousin just picked up a 7.2 cuft chest freezer from a friend. They are purchasing a 1/4 or 1/2 cow. Under the circumstances, this makes sense to me. Never mind the circumstances the more I read and learn about how our beef is mass-produced and handled, the less I want to buy store-bought meat.

We are now trying to get a chest freezer around the same size and looking at local farms to purchase a quarter or half a cow. Any advice or information you can share would be appreciated.


Thank you

Jason from RI

 

Look for local farmers. We get a half a cow a year. Chaz works with a guy who's dad raises cattle just for that. Can't beat the prices compared to the store.

 

I don't buy beef this way yet, but I should.

 

We raise our own. Last year it came out to right around $3.50 a pound for beef. Pork is usually around $2.50 a pound and chicken is usually less than $2 a pound. Our chest freezer is 22 cubic feet.

 

Last I heard chest freezers were backordered until fall.

 

Do it. We split a cow 4 ways with 3 others, so we get a quarter per year. Ours is grass fed and supports the local famer. No regrets, great quality, good price.

Choose well the processer (if you have a choice), we have used two different ones, and one just does a better job than the other with the cuts and packaging. If you want the bones for dogs, make sure they know this in advance.

 

Yep. Get the freezer before you commit to the beef.

 

That has been the issue so far. Looking everywhere. We are on several waitlists. BestBuy has their Insignia brand with a 7.0 cu.ft. that we have delivered on the 26th. It would be better than nothing. Everywhere else it's brands I've never heard off. Lowes near us has some. I'll need to go there tomorrow to see. It's one of those deals that you cannot purchase online.

Jason from Ri

 

I raise black angus beef cattle from calf all the way to finish, and sell them for freezer beef. Did you know that due to the way factory meat processing is done that in a pound of ground beef at the supermarket, you could actually be eating 100 cows?! I’m proud to sell the same beef as what goes in my freezer for my family- those cows are on pasture (almost) their whole lives, eating pasture grass and a daily ration of brewer’s grain which I source from a brewery. It’s human food-quality grain and is a great protein source for the cattle. Come feeding time, you do NOT want to be in between the steers and the feed bunk that is holding that grain! In the last 120 days of their lives, the “finishing process” starts. They move into a small pasture so they can still have pasture grass (which also reduces naturally occurring E-Coli bacteria by over 50%), but they get a calculated ration of hay, grain and cracked corn. Each week the corn gets increased so during the last month they are eating 20 pounds of corn, 7.5 pounds of grain and 10 pounds of hay daily. That formula gets them finished at about 1,300 lbs, and has the flavor that the American consumer wants.
I care about my animals, and they live a very good life. When it’s time to take them for processing, they get trailered 15 minutes down a back road to the processor (which is on another state-inspected farm). That keeps stress issues at a minimum. They get off the trailer into a holding pen, and walk down the alley where they are dispatched. It’s not a bad way to go.
The head, hide, intestines, tail, knees-down legs are removed and saved for state inspection, and then the carcass is split in half lengthwise. Then they go into the cooler for 2 days. On the 3rd day they are picked up to go to the butcher. They are kept in a large refrigerator for 14 days, which allows the meat to be more tender and flavorful. Then the half cow is processed and packaged according to your (the buyer) specifications, such as how many steaks in a pack, how thick, hamburger in patties, packs or rolls, vacuum sealed or butcher paper, etc. Then, you pick them up (or I deliver. I even have a group that buys 2 cows in NYC!). I’m happy to have built a few good customers, don’t advertise, and have kept growing. It’s something I really enjoy.
Price-wise, I keep it lower than market for a better product. You end up paying market price for your hamburger...and also pay hamburger price for your roasts, sirloins, flat irons, NY strips, ribeyes, filet mignons, roasts, brisket, etc. That’s why buying a whole cow/half-cow is an economically sound thing to do. The only catch is that you do need a freezer to hold it once it’s home. Generally speaking, a half cow will feed a family of four for a year. I have a couple of folks that give beef to family members for Christmas-
I hope that I wasn’t too long-winded and was able to give a good overview of the “buy a cow” process. I’m happy to answer additional questions...and, the store’s open, Lol!

 

I would strongly recommend a stand upright freezer as opposed to the chest freezer for this purpose, since you don’t have “stuff” getting buried and forgotten about down in the bottom that you go on a mining expedition to see what’s in the bottom later in the year. Also, you gotta go frost free with your freezer- pulling everything out in order to defrost and then put it all back is the definition of insanity...as far as size, go with the largest freezer that you can find. You’ll use it.

 

I used to get 2/2 cow and 1/2 pig and split it with my sister. Now that the youngest of both of our kids is in college we don't anymore

 

Sounds like a great operation you're running.

X2 ^^^

We have an upright in our pump room, and a small chest freezer in the kitchen.

And yes, we've had to do the "deep dive" many times.

 

Chest freezer is more efficient, and in an extended power outage will keep your stuff frozen longer than an upright.

 

I prefer the chest freezer over the standup because I’ve heard of too many stories where people lost everything in their freezers because they “thought” they had closed the door tightly. They come back down to the basement days later only to find a pool of water and blood on the floor and all of their meat spoiled. With the chest freezer you don’t have to worry about things sliding off shelves when you open the door either. We label everything and include the month/year it was processed. I keep the meat in cardboard boxes which are light enough for my wife to pick up to access anything at the bottom. I do spend 15-20 minutes a few times a year bringing older meat up to the top but it’s totally worth it to.

 

Something to be aware of, GFIs and freezers. Through the years I’ve seen several freezers thaw out because they were on a gfi circuit. I’ve seen garage freezers that ultimately are fed through a bathroom GFI, a blow dryer trips the gfi and then the freezer stops working. I’ve seen some very strangely wired homes! Be sure what you are plugged into.

 

I lost a 1\4 cow one year to a lightning strike taking out my freezer. I got another freezer (stand-up) and made sure I have an alarm on it. They live in my basement so I don't always check it. Now I have a wi-fi alarm and can check the temp from anywhere.
I get half a cow every year! I also tried to get a hog but the two butchers by me are booked solid for months to come. My beef farmer told me Sunday that most spots for steers to be processed are taken up for almost a year!

 

Oh yeah, my price per pound the past couple years (after paying the farmer and the processor) has been between 2.65 and 2.95 per pound!

 

Dang GFI outlets wear out even when not used- becomes a real egg hunt when trying to identify which one went south. Likely have had just about anything that can happen with a freezer happen over the years particularly with uprights. Long term storage a chest is best. Like everything else nowdays they are not built to last a lifetime like the old days particularly those package compressor systems they use in them. If you go with an upright make sure you have easy access to the coils, fan and compressor for cleaning . Actually same applies to a chest type. ( same applies to refrigerator). Besides coils becoming clogged with whatever the next most popular item to fail is the fan motor. KISS system is the best thing to apply to a freezer, bells and whistles are just asking for trouble in short order. As with all appliances nowdays it is best to have a good surge suppressor and filter inline - cheap insurance.

 

I know you can do it...have been around when it was done, but have no idea how to go about it...is it much like canning fruit/veggies? I have helped with that plenty growing up, but not since then...