I have recently been wrestling through the pros/cons of buying regular grocery store beef vs. grass fed, hormone free, antibiotic free beef. I am trying to go through some of my options, and I came across the option of buying a half of a cow. I would just love to know whether or not this is actually more beneficial and cost-effective than just buying it pre-cut and packaged, as needed. -Abby
Long-time readers here may remember that we attempted to buy a quarter of a grass-fed cow one time and it ended pretty disastrously. In fact, I still have visions of four inches of blood at the bottom of the deep freeze. Eww!
However, if you are smarter than us, and put your freezer somewhere where the outlet won’t shut off and spoil your meat while you’re on vacation, then I definitely think buying half a cow can be a very good investment. In fact, we’re hoping to do that ourselves sometime soon now that we have space again for a deep freeze.
To be completely honest, we’re still trying to work up the courage to makes such a big purchase again after it failed so miserably last time. However, we would really like to be able to use higher-quality meat and buying it in bulk makes it much more affordable, so I think we’re going to take the plunge. This time around, though, we’re going to invest in a freezer alarm, we’re keeping the freezer somewhere other than the garage and I’ll probably be a little OCD about checking to make sure the freezer is running. 
Have you invested in a side of beef before? Did you think it was a good investment? Any pointers or tips for Abby and our family to consider (other than the obvious of don’t plug your freezer into a weak garage outlet!) I’d love to hear!
photo by Skinnyde
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We bought a whole cow last time (I love it when I tell people, “Hey, I bought a cow!” and before they can say “Really?!?!” I pipe up “It’s in my freezer!”) (Yeah, I’m a bunch of laughs that way…….) I think its a great deal, we figured out we paid $2.00 a pound for leanest of the lean hamburger, steaks, roasts, Tbones (!!!) New York strips, ribeyes, oh yeah! The butcher/processor also made their own jerky—2 DIE 4! My mother in law asked me afterwards if I got the filet mignon, that some butchers snitch it to sell because it is high valued meat—I don’t know if I got it or not, but I would ask next time!
We were going to do this, but somehow ended up with 5 yearling+ cows instead. So we’re going to have beef for the next few years.
I live in the heart of Illinois (and farm country) and I wanted to weigh in since we raise beef cattle and chickens. I think most people are shocked when they taste fresh beef, especially grass fed because it tastes like BEEF!
Good beef should have a rich…slightly livery taste. A lot of things contribute to the taste and tenderness of the meat. Obviously the diet is a big factor. Animals raised on corn will be fattier and have less of that liver taste. Age will affect tenderness. Prime slaughter age for tenderness is under age two generally, but most ranchers sell off their older breeding animals at some point, so that is what you haven gotten when you buy a package of steaks at the store that are tough. An animal that has been frightened before slaughter will have more blood in the meat and be more tough. Someone above mentioned that their meat tasted like a barn. That is common from animals that have been raised in severe confinement situation. Beef does not tast gamey. Lockers have been known to sell deer meat as beef since they are so similar in appearance/texture and even taste. Deer meat IS gamey tasting. I know a problem with some meat lockers is that they don’t give you back the cow you took in, so you want to be sure you have a trustworthy business butchering the animal. Taste/texture does vary slightly between breeds. We raise White Park ourselves and some people are sold on the flavor of it. You mostly hear of Angus and possibly Hereford in the mainstream though.
I’m a strong proponent of grass fed cattle. Grass is what God intended cattle to eat. The media hypes grain fed cattle up, but grain fed cattle are only a benefit to the rancher. It allows the cattle to get fat quicker so they can be sold quicker. Higher weight quicker=faster/bigger bottom line. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to pay for fat that I’m just going to trim off and throw away or that will just melt away in the pan anyway. I like lean, pure red meat with just the right amount of marbling through out. If you buy 2 pounds of hamburger from the store and cook it, how much do you have left over ? Now go to a good butcher and get 2 lbs. of hamburger, cook it and see how much MORE you have left over. When you look at it that way, it’s very easy to justify paying a few cents more.
Grass fed animals are healthier, happier and make better meat. Animals standing in a feedlot situation in knee deep mud with no grass to graze on is not ethical and it just does not make good flavor. Like I said before, the consumer has for so long been fed that fatty, bland meat from the grocery store that has water added/injected (as well as fillers) that they are quite shocked to discover what beef really tastes like! And it’s all the same for chickens (meat as well as eggs) and hogs too. Natural is always better for the animal and the consumer.
@Brenda, Awesome comments Brenda…. I was raised on a beef ranch and know a little about butchering and you just posted a ton of stuff I was thinking about.
@Brenda,
Just curious–where in Illinois? Are you on eatwild.com? I’ve been looking into this issue myself this year!
@Erika, I’m about 50 miles northwest of Springfield, or about 50 miles southwest of Peoria. I live in Schuyler County. No, I’m not on eatwild.com but I’m going to check that out right now…
I’m so happy I bought a cow ! It’s great meat and there’s always something in the freezer ! I posted it on my site http://www.bargainfun.net/2010/08/buying-cow.html
One of my growing-up memories from the 1970′s is of my parents’ butcher calling my mom to tell her that the price of beef was going to increase and was she ready to order some? I think she’d purchase a “side” of beef, whatever that is. A few days after the call, he’d show up at our house with wire crates full of white paper packages, and Mom would show him to the freezer in the basement. He unloaded and stored all that meat for her. Ground beef, steaks, roasts – we never lacked for beef at our house. Mom worked at a union grocery store; every 3 or 4 years the employees would strike during contract negotiations and rather than cross the picket line, she’d go work at our butcher’s little Red and White grocery. I loved going in there – it had creaky wooden floors and the employees were so friendly.
We bought 1/2 cow and split it with a neighbor since we are a family of 3. Best decision ever!! In retrospect, we wish we would have kept the other 1/2. Wonderful to have meat in the house during a Nebraska winter.
We’re purchasing 1/4 of a cow soon, and I was wondering how much freezer space it’ll take up? I’ve been told it should be around 130 lbs or so? Just curious as I have no experience purchasing like this.
I have another half coming this fall. 2$/lb hanging weight. Comes vaccuum sealed and frozen. Cut in the portions I prefer-ie thickness of steaks, weight of roasts, the cuts I dont want (ribs) are deboned and turned into burger.
Totally grass fed, no hormones, no antibiotics, montana beef, grown by people I know personally.
My parents raise beef so I usually know the name and tag number of the beef in my freezer. One tiny clarification about antibiotics. Antibiotics in themselves are not bad. For example, if a calf has scours it will often die without antibiotics. The key is avoiding places that just regularly dose with antibiotics as a preventative rather than places that dose as a treatment for something specific. Just to make that clarification for everyone.
Another interesting thing is the new names for cuts of meat. I had to google some of them to figure out how to cook them. Flatiron?? What the heck is that? Now I know. http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Articles/Cooking-Tips–Techniques-642/beef-cuts.aspx
FYI, you can an inexpensive freezer alarm on ebay, etc that will beep if the freezer temp starts rising.
I was just thinking that I remember something about if the freezer looses power from weather related “disasters” that the loss of food might be covered under your home owners policy. I think I heard that back after the eastern black out in the summer of 2003. The power was out for so long that food was spoiling and the news media reported to check your policy for it. Just something to keep in the back of your mind for just in case. In Connecticut the least expensive grass fed beef I have found so far is $1500 for half of a cow. A huge investment for us.
The processed meat usually figures 60% of the hanging weight. If the price per pound of the same quality of beef purchased outright averaging pricing from prime rib to tongue was $4.50 per lb. then that would translate to $2.70. This does not factor in the cost of owning a freezer or paying locker fees. When I had kids at home we could eat a side of beef in about 1.5 years which was past the ideal storage time so we then went to a quarter…there were some losses due to the door not being closed properly. We also wanted more vegetarian and fish oriented meals so it did not make sense to continue. I buy the cheap beef at the local Dillions from time to time… it is not worth the savings to wonder why it tastes so boring so I look for the deals from the local processor or Satchel Creek Farms store in Wichita KS. Blessings to all!
One more thing I grew up eating beef that my farmer (wheat) father got from another farmer which started me buying beef from the farmer raising the cow and thoroughly spoiled me, in a great way, knowing what beef raised happily on grass and finished on grain also having a relationship with the processor I knew I received the cow that was bought and he was also willing to hang the cow for a full 2 weeks which greatly improves the flavor as well.
This question has really got me thinking. My husband processes (butchers) deer at a Deer Shop located on a local farm. A few years ago he was offered a cow to butcher. It had a messed up leg or something……..the meat would be fine if they killed it and butchered it right away. The catch was he had to kill it himself. He said it was one of the hardest things he ever had to do….but I was so proud of my man for doing it and getting us a freezer full of ground beef for free!
Now, I am wondering if we cold find a grass fed cow to buy (not sure these cows are fed organic) and he could just butcher it himself…..hmmmmm…had not thought of this, yet.
The meat lasted us for at least 2 years….and the taste was fine.
This was my featured blog entry today on Facebook (Bee Robertson). Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. My husband and I have been debating going in with another couple to buy a cow for some time. We have the same concerns about the freezer. I think we may give it a shot, and see if it saves us any money.
Yes, it is worth it to buy a 1/2 cow if you know where it’s coming from and what it’s been eating! My father-in-law purchases a few from our neighbor and lets them graze for awhile before feeding them grain and taking them to the butcher. The meat costs around $1.99 lb. (in TN) after paying for the cow, feed, and the butcher. The meat tastes better than the typical beef I would buy in a store. I know how the cow was fed as well as cared for during it’s life. If you still have doubts, watch the documentary Food, Inc.
Here is an article re: antibiotics in animals . Best to be in the know. HTH
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/09/29/is-this-the-end-of-antibiotics.aspx
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