Buying a 1/4-1/2 a cow? What's your experience?

[Nick Burkhardt]

I hope that when you guys say that you are buying a cow or half a cow, what you actually mean is that you are buying a steer.

For reference - https://carnivorestyle.com/steer-meat-vs-cow-meat/

Ours was named Clyde, so I guess it was a steer.

 

[Tlock]

Ours was named Clyde, so I guess it was a steer.

It's 2024.....you never know

 

[NeoBlackdog]

Do a googly search for '1/2 beef for sale sw washington'. You'll get lots of answers and probably find a good place to buy.

 

[zachnastasiuk]

Im picking up 1/4 today. Should be about $1200 . Roughly 140 lbs of meet supposedly

 

[Stomper]

@Stomper doesn't currently have mad cow disease, but he's a carrier.

True... two ex-wives DEFINITELY qualifies me as a mad cow disease carrier!


Those beatches be ---->

 

[Knobgoblin]

Im picking up 1/4 today. Should be about $1200 . Roughly 140 lbs of meet supposedly

You're paying well over $8.50 lb
Hopefully getting a full 7 bone rib roast in the mix.

 

[bionic knees]

I hope that when you guys say that you are buying a cow or half a cow, what you actually mean is that you are buying a steer.

For reference - https://carnivorestyle.com/steer-meat-vs-cow-meat/

heifers eat pretty good, we raised several over the years.

 

[Knobgoblin]

I hope that when you guys say that you are buying a cow or half a cow, what you actually mean is that you are buying a steer.

For reference - https://carnivorestyle.com/steer-meat-vs-cow-meat/

A high percentage of " grass fed beef" sold at retail is old used up dairy cows.

 

[fredridge]

Do a googly search for '1/2 beef for sale sw washington'. You'll get lots of answers and probably find a good place to buy.

I've been seeing some on Craigslist with decent website, but just wants $100 deposit but no info on roughly how much meat, final cost and was unsure about the butchering, packaging and fees.

Lots of experience on this site with good people, so as with many things I checked here.

 

[Joe13]

Cash n carry is now US chef store. Our warehouse company bought them a while back. There beef prices ( and quality) are getting worse.

They're selectively gouging on random stuff all the time now.

We paid $101 for a gallon size plastic container of granulated garlic yesterday. That's maybe 6 or 7 lbs. That price is ridiculous.

You could have gotten a lot of granulated garlic from Costco for $101!!!!!!

 

[Joe13]

Shopping the sales at winco and other grocery stores seems to be the cheapest way to get choice beef.

US Chef Store sells Select quality beef but depending on what you want and what they have on sale it's a good way to go. When I went carnivore I would buy the New York or ribeye large roasts and cut my own steaks but a majority of the time I could get the slightly better meat at Winco for the same price per pound.

Large chunks of beef slow cooked will likely be your cheapest option every time though.

 

[fredridge]

Just got back from Costco, bought a giant pack of ribeyes, separated them out, seasoned and vacuumed sealed and placed in the freezer.

Ready for some sous vide and then a nice sear.

That will hold me over for a bit.

 

[Member 24198]

I'm pretty sure I paid $550 for the half, plus another $225 for kill and wrap; this was a few years ago. Try to stay local.

 

[boattail]

I raised my own for 15 years. I controlled everything they ate and my meat was always top notch, tender, and tasty. They were fed grass hay and finished off with grain. A grass fed only animal won't taste very good.

I had access to cheap hay and I put mine in the freezer for $2.50 a pound. We even got a deal right around year three for a second auction heifer so we kept her and tossed her in with the neighbors bulls every year for a free calf. We had free calves for many years until we sold the cow. We stopped raising our own as we were not eating as much meat and our partner did not want to do it anymore. We split every one half and half.

A few years ago we helped out a friend and bought a half that they needed to sell. It was grass fed only. I ended up with a freezer full of $7 a pound beef that was tasteless and tough. That is the gamble with buying unknown beef....you could have a bunch of crap meat. They also misled us on price as it had to be cut and wrapped by their slaughter house. The price they gave me was on the hoof not cut and wrapped like they eluded to. I was on the fence for the price I thought was cut and wrapped and when the final bill came in I was a bit taken back. I did not say anything and just never bought from them again. This year we are buying another 1/2 from someone I know but I do not know how it will be finished. It will be $1300 cut and wrapped for half a 900 pound steer. If this one does not work out we will just continue buying from our local meat market and hand selecting what we want. It is costlier but the butcher we use has top notch beef.

 

[Stomper]

Just got back from Costco, bought a giant pack of ribeyes, separated them out, seasoned and vacuumed sealed and placed in the freezer.

Ready for some sous vide and then a nice sear.

That will hold me over for a bit.

Mmmmm..... I love me some Costco prime grade ribeye & NY strip packs!

I picked up a big ol' nice prime grade rib-roast for Christmas dinner that set me back $100..... I'm gonna slow cook that sucker in the pellet grill!

 

[Alexx1401]

Another for the US Chef's store if you have one around you. Used to be called Cash N Carry here. Wife and I have been using them for a long time. You can pick and choose just what you want and price is FAR cheaper by buying larger amounts. When we go to get some meat we always seem to end up with a few other things. Have those large cans of different things like restaurants use. So if its something you can use price is nice.

 

[thorborg]

I've never been happy with other folks butchering and packaging meat for me.
Major beef:
1. Packages too much/ large
2. Steaks not uniform thickness.
3. Giant roasts oddball roast.
4. Some use only butcher paper so when they thaw out its a bloody mess.
5. Tons of hamburger when I'd like more stir fry or stew meat size pieces I can always turn into jerky or sausages if need be..
6. Not scraping the bones clean.
7. If the meat is poor quality, now you have a tone of it.
I've butchered dozens of Deer and elk over the decades so if I was to buy beef on the 1/2 again I buy it whole unbutchered. buy a sheet of plywood, set up the saw horses in the garage, sharpen the knives, hang the chunk from the ceiling joist so you can cut off handle-able size pieces and butcher it myself. get a giant pan or a cooler and fill it with water along with a couple old towels so you can wash off your hands once in a while or clean off the knife handle. Wear an apron.
The wife and I make a pretty good team, I cut she wraps and seals.
I butcher faster than she seals so I help her out
Helpful tips;
Make sure the meat has been hung for a week or so , Spread a 4x4 across several rafters to hold the weight of a 1/2 beef. A half can weigh as much sometimes more than a full mature elk. pre cut and seal one end of a bunch of vacuum bag for the size of packages you want. (steak, hamburger, roast, scraps) takes a little experimenting to figure what's right for you.
We like to wrap the meat in cellophane before putting it in the vacuum bag this keeps any juice from escaping into the vacuum port. take your time don't try to do more than a 1/4 at a time then take a break. plan ahead freezer space. In my young days nearly all small stores with a butcher shop had lockers to rent at very reasonable prices, we took advantage of that, mostly long gone now so buy your own freezers. better to have a couple reasonable size ones than one giant one, Take inventory of your packages and consume them equally or you'll end up eating all the good stuff and have a freezer full of hamburger left.
Lastly and important; The size stake you put in the package will be smaller when you pull it out of the freezer and thaw it due to fluid loss so cut them 10 percent or more bigger than you think. After you are done cleaning up, fire up the bbq and cook the best, mostly marbled stakes you found for dinner as a reward for a job well done.

 

[NeoBlackdog]

I've never been happy with other folks butchering and packaging meat for me.
Major beef:
1. Packages too much/ large
2. Steaks not uniform thickness.
3. Giant roasts oddball roast.
4. Some use only butcher paper so when they thaw out its a bloody mess.
5. Tons of hamburger when I'd like more stir fry or stew meat size pieces I can always turn into jerky or sausages if need be..
6. Not scraping the bones clean.
7. If the meat is poor quality, now you have a tone of it.
I've butchered dozens of Deer and elk over the decades so if I was to buy beef on the 1/2 again I buy it whole unbutchered. buy a sheet of plywood, set up the saw horses in the garage, sharpen the knives, hang the chunk from the ceiling joist so you can cut off handle-able size pieces and butcher it myself. get a giant pan or a cooler and fill it with water along with a couple old towels so you can wash off your hands once in a while or clean off the knife handle. Wear an apron.
The wife and I make a pretty good team, I cut she wraps and seals.
I butcher faster than she seals so I help her out
Helpful tips;
Make sure the meat has been hung for a week or so , Spread a 4x4 across several rafters to hold the weight of a 1/2 beef. A half can weigh as much sometimes more than a full mature elk. pre cut and seal one end of a bunch of vacuum bag for the size of packages you want. (steak, hamburger, roast, scraps) takes a little experimenting to figure what's right for you.
We like to wrap the meat in cellophane before putting it in the vacuum bag this keeps any juice from escaping into the vacuum port. take your time don't try to do more than a 1/4 at a time then take a break. plan ahead freezer space. In my young days nearly all small stores with a butcher shop had lockers to rent at very reasonable prices, we took advantage of that, mostly long gone now so buy your own freezers. better to have a couple reasonable size ones than one giant one, Take inventory of your packages and consume them equally or you'll end up eating all the good stuff and have a freezer full of hamburger left.
Lastly and important; The size stake you put in the package will be smaller when you pull it out of the freezer and thaw it due to fluid loss so cut them 10 percent or more bigger than you think. After you are done cleaning up, fire up the bbq and cook the best, mostly marbled stakes you found for dinner as a reward for a job well done.

You have not had very good processors. The folks that butcher our 3 beef a year do an excellent job. All seven things you complained about they do just about the opposite of what you've described.

 

[Nick Burkhardt]

I'm pretty sure I paid $550 for the half, plus another $225 for kill and wrap; this was a few years ago. Try to stay local.

Prices have doubled since a few years ago. This summer we bought a half and paid $1226 total for 203 pounds cut and wrapped. That included steaks, roasts, ground and stew meat.

 

[thorborg]

You have not had very good processors. The folks that butcher our 3 beef a year do an excellent job. All seven things you complained about they do just about the opposite of what you've described.

I've met good and bad in every profession. up till the 80's there used to be lots of good butchers before all the mom and pop markets were run out of business. a half a cow is an awful lot of meat to screw up. I guess I'm more persnickety than others. Old now, just my wife and myself so I buy my meat now from the Meating place, Gartner's or Carlton Farms, they all have good meat and good butchers and will butcher others meat or game too (except Carlton i think) but there are many small farms around here selling their cattle as they mature and offering butchering. May or may not be good at it. Because of this, one should thoroughly check out references preferred before buying more than a 1/4 from them