Have you bought meat in bulk?

[Aufilia]

I'm thinking about "bulk" as in going in for one-quarter (or better yet, 1/8 if I can arrange it!) of a slaughtered cow, which I understand is often 75-100lb of beef.

I keep reading lately about how the price of meat is going to go up, and really, it's pretty high already! I don't like to buy meat that isn't lean and with a young child and plans for another, I'd really like to buy organic beef exclusively -- but whenever I look at the price of organic meat in the grocery store, I cringe and reach for the non-organics.

Has anybody done this? We have a family friend who raises more-or-less naturally raised cows so I probably wouldn't have to look to hard for a cow... I'm just not sure if it's worthwhile to try it.

[Alyantavid]

We raise our own but its so much cheaper and healthier than the stuff in the stores. Obviously organic's different but I've never bought it so I don't really know.

Unless you can get a good deal from your friend, it'd be cheaper to buy 1/4 or 1/2 and split it with someone else. Those meat prices are only going to get higher too with the cost of grain, fuel and hay going up so much. Even if you buy grassfed, the prices will still be higher simply because of the fuel.

Its definitely worth it if you eat much beef in my opinion.

[Amys1st]

We bought a 1/4 from another MDC I know IRL. Her father is a hobby farmer and the meat is/was awesome. A few of us families went in on it with one family splitting their quarter with another family.

We are doing a side next year. It has taught us to learn about new cuts of meat and make new meals. I also have notes of what I want cut and how, how the lbs will be as well as what should be ground and in what quantitiy for next year.

If you like to eat beef, its well worth it. IF you will be clueless what to do with 5 or so roasts, its not for you.

[Aufilia]

Unless you can get a good deal from your friend, it'd be cheaper to buy 1/4 or 1/2 and split it with someone else.

Yes, I'd definitely prefer to some someone (or several someones!) to split with. I was hoping my parents would be game but they're not sounding too enthusiastic -- without any kids in the house they don't go through as much meat as they used to.

We do eat plenty of beef. DH is a real red-meat sort of guy. My parents were also beef-eaters so I can do quite a bit with beef (which is saying a lot considering I'm a pretty pathetic cook, in general).

[p.s]

we rarely eat beef, but we got 1 and a half organic lamb last Nov, that we are still eating down. tastier than what we could get at the grocer, and lots cheaper.

[CarrieMF]

I don't buy it, but we get about 1/2 a beef in our freezer from my parents. They raise the cows & give us the beef for free. We do sell some to other people here.

[lifeguard]

We've bought 1/4 of organic beef off a local farmer & also 1/2 a dozen chickens off another lady. Our biggest difficulty was that we would get some cuts we don't normally buy & were unsure what to do with them. But then we discovered we could ask for just the cuts we wanted & for the rest to be ground & that worked much better.

[annethcz]

Yep, we've done this several times and the price savings are really amazing. We can get organic grass-fed beef for $3/lb, including processing.

[jentilla]

My dh's great cousin? is a hobby farmer as well and we are just now finishing up an 1/4 from last year. It is organic, but not certified. Well worth it. We split a 1/2 with my inlaws.

[holidaymama]

We buy beef from a family farm as well and woudn't have it any other way! It is SOOOOO much better than store bought.

It does last a LONG time if you have to buy the whole half or even 1/4. We are a family of 4 and a 1/4 will last us a year.

[bwylde]

I'm on the look out for some . I know of one butcher who often has local half a pig on sale. I'm going to call to see if they offer anything else too and try to find other sources. I heard of an organic farm close by, although I have no clue where it is.

[annethcz]

Originally Posted by bwylde

I'm on the look out for some . I know of one butcher who often has local half a pig on sale. I'm going to call to see if they offer anything else too and try to find other sources. I heard of an organic farm close by, although I have no clue where it is.

www.localharvest.org is a good place to find a local farmer.

[bwylde]

That doesn't work for Canada and I have never used a "find food" type site that worked for my area. It's pretty remote.

ETA: I'll take that back. I found a couple of places through http://www.selectnovascotia.ca/ that I emailed to get some info. Whoo!

[blueridgewoman]

We're picking up ours tomorrow!

[Belleweather]

Yup. We buy it from various farmers on craigslist, and pay between $1.30 and $2.00/pound hanging weight and generally have to drive out to pick it up from the processor. It's SOOO worth it, though

[dogmom327]

Originally Posted by Belleweather

Yup. We buy it from various farmers on craigslist, and pay between $1.30 and $2.00/pound hanging weight and generally have to drive out to pick it up from the processor. It's SOOO worth it, though

Same here. I like buying from "hobby" farmers. You get a better deal and it's local

[Aufilia]

Originally Posted by holidaymama

We buy beef from a family farm as well and woudn't have it any other way! It is SOOOOO much better than store bought.

It does last a LONG time if you have to buy the whole half or even 1/4. We are a family of 4 and a 1/4 will last us a year.

And it stays edible for a year? The Internet has been telling me you can only freeze beef without freezer burn for 6 or maybe 9 months... even in a deep freeze. I think we could do a 1/4 in a year but I don't think we can go through that much in 6 months or less.

[SAHDS]

We've bought 1/2 cow off DH's friends who raise cattle. It's not "organic" but I do know, first hand, that they're grain-fed w/ no antibiotics, etc. Saves a TON of money and the meat was AWESOME.

We also looked into organic beef (again, 1/2 cow) and it's in our state, so we could drive and pick it up so delivery would only be gas prices.

[velochic]

Originally Posted by Aufilia

I'm thinking about "bulk" as in going in for one-quarter (or better yet, 1/8 if I can arrange it!) of a slaughtered cow, which I understand is often 75-100lb of beef.

Coming from a long line of farmers on my dad's side, I will tell you one thing... once you taste beef that was raised near you by someone you know, you will forever be spoiled of mass-produced junk they sell in the store. It is truly much better tasting, better for you, and it's nice that you can customize your cuts.

We now get our beef from a beef cattle farmer that lives about 30 minutes from us. She grass feeds her beef, which makes it a little bit tougher than grain fed, but (IMHO) much better tasting.

Typical beef cattle weights are 1200 lbs. or so. (Last year, the one we got was quite small at just over 800lbs. but in the past they've usually been about 1100 - 1200 lbs.). There are two main ways of buying sides of beef.

Almost always, you are charged by the pound "on the hoof"... that means that you are charged pre-processing weight. So if you get a quarter of an average beef, you'll pay for 300 lbs. of beef. This acquaintance charges us only current market value. Find out what you will be charged - some people charge like market + 20% or some other increased price). Then on top of that you will be charged for processing. This is the fairest way to buy your beef. Pay for the beef, pay for the processing. Usually you will get about 60% - 65% of the beef, so you'll end up with about 180lbs. - 195lbs. of beef.

I've seen other places that simply charge you a flat rate per quarter/side/whole beef. That seems like just a rip-off! They have the ability to greatly mark up the price. Try to make sure you pay based on the day's market price.

[annethcz]

Originally Posted by Aufilia

And it stays edible for a year? The Internet has been telling me you can only freeze beef without freezer burn for 6 or maybe 9 months... even in a deep freeze. I think we could do a 1/4 in a year but I don't think we can go through that much in 6 months or less.

I'm not terribly picky, so maybe I shouldn't be responding. But we've eaten beef that had been in the freezer for YEARS and it was okay.

If you are worried about freezer burn, just make sure you eat the better cuts first, leaving the hamburger and such for later.