How Much Is a 1/2 Beef?

Are you lot thinking of buying a cow? Have you lot decided how much?

Most people usually think about ownership half a cow, but did you know at that place other options. You can ofttimes buy a sixteenth, quarter, half, or whole cow from a farmer, so you need to do research and determine what quantity is right for your family.

We've been selling beefiness directly off of our farm for decades. Without a uncertainty one of the outset questions people ask before buying a cow is "how much beef volition I actually get?" That question is normally followed past, "If I purchase a cow, what function am I getting? The front half or back half?"

The goal of this post is to show you lot how much beefiness you get when yous buy a moo-cow. We too have a step-by-stride guide on buying a cow from a farmer, including what questions to ask.

To put information technology in perspective, we've fabricated our habitation refrigerator the star of the video and photos.

We've taken these pictures twice, years apart. The start fourth dimension we just took photos and nosotros had a standard 18.1 cu ft fridge with a freezer on top. The second time nosotros did this, we made a video and we had a newer refrigerator – a 22.i cu ft refrigerator with french doors and freezer on the bottom. Hopefully, seeing the beef in two different refrigerators will assistance put it into perspective even more.

Jump to:

• Is buying a moo-cow worth information technology?
• Buying a sixteenth cow
• Buying a quarter cow
• Buying a half cow
• Ownership a whole cow
• Cuts of beef included
• Freezer space needed
• How much beef practice you actually get?
• Shelf life of frozen beef
• Packaging
• How do you find a local subcontract?

Is buying a cow worth it?

Yes! The benefit of buying a cow is that you will salvage money and get higher quality beefiness.

Every yr, we compare the toll of beef from our farm to local St. Louis grocery stores. With Clover Meadows Beef, the toll is approximately $5.45/pound for all cuts of grass fed beef. This is compared to $7.03/pound at Walmart, $7.84/pound at a local St. Louis grocery store, and $9.86/pound at Whole Foods.

Please annotation, every farm and beef processor prices beefiness differently. You will demand to do your own math on determining the price per pound if you're non in the St. Louis area and tin't lodge from our subcontract.

Buying a sixteenth cow

Hither's what our 22.1 cu ft refrigerator looks similar with a sixteenth of a cow. At our farm, a sixteenth is approximately 25 lbs of beef. This includes thirteen lbs of hamburger, two Ribeye steaks, ii Strip steaks, 2 Filet steaks, ii Sirloin steaks, 1 Stew Meat, 1 Brusque Rib, 1 package Soup Basic, 1 packet Beefiness Liver, and 1 Roast.

Buying a quarter cow

Hither's what our 18.ane cu ft refrigerator with freezer on top looks like with a quarter beef, which is 110 lbs of beef. Every bit you can come across, it'due south a lot of beef, but it all fits in the freezer (without the freezer shelf or water ice saucepan).

So what comes with a quarter? That answer varies since every moo-cow is unique and weighs something different, merely hither is how it typically breaks out:

With a quarter you become nigh fifty pounds of ground beef, and the remaining sixty lbs of meat is in steaks, brisket, roasts, stew meat, ribs, liver, soup bones, etc. Please keep in mind that everything is based on the individual cow and how the beef is cut, merely typical, the remaining 60 lbs works out to be approximately vi-7 strip steaks, 6-7 ribeye steaks, 5-6 filets, 5-half-dozen sirloin steaks, 2 short ribs, 4-5 roasts, 1-2 package of stew meat, 1-ii packages of liver, one brisket, and several packages of soup bones.

With a quarter, you also get the option of the one-per-animal parts similar tongue, oxtail and heart. Since in that location'south just one-per-animal, these are starting time-come-first-serve based on the other who requests them first.

Here'southward what our 22.1 cu ft fridge looks like with a quarter cow. Over again, information technology'southward 50 pounds of ground beef, and the rest of the beef comes in a variety of cuts like steaks, roasts, ribs, and brisket.

Buying a half cow

So, what if you buy one-half a cow? What does that await similar? With a one-half a moo-cow, you'll get approximately 220 pounds of beef. It includes 100 pounds of ground beef, and the rest of the beefiness are in cuts like steaks, roasts, ribs, brisket, and tenderloin.

Just for fun, we included a dozen eggs and a one-half gallon of milk in this picture so you would accept some boosted perspective 🙂

Buying a whole cow

With a whole cow you would get approximately 440 pounds of beef. It will exist approximately 200 pounds of ground beef, and the other 220 pounds are in cuts like steaks, roasts, ribs, brisket, tenderloin, etc. On average, we've institute that a whole is groovy for families of three or more that eat beefiness with four or more meals a calendar week.

Cuts of beef included

When you lot buy a cow, you get a variety of cuts such as

• Steaks like filet, sirloin, ribeye, strip, brim and flank
• Brisket
• Roasts like chuck, sirloin, arm
• Ground beef
• Ribs
• Stew meat
• Kabob meat
• Soup bones
• Organ meat (if desired)
• And the listing keeps going on and on!

Freezer space needed

The rule of thumb is 1 cubic foot of freezer space for every xxx-35 lbs of cutting and wrapped meat.

That means you'll definitely want a stand-alone freezer when ownership a cow. If you lot don't have one notwithstanding, you tin can usually go a practiced bargain at a warehouse store like Sam's or Costco. We have both breast and upright freezers at our firm and we like both of them.

Our biggest piece of advice when buying a stand up-lonely freezer is to go one with a lock and cardinal.  This is very important for kid safety reasons and because a physical lock will brand certain your freezer is deeply closed. Yous can also purchase an aftermarket lock.

How much beef practise you lot actually become?

When you buy a moo-cow, you desire to know exactly how much beef you lot'll put in your freezer.

Our subcontract is somewhat unique in how we price our beef because it's spread-out – we tell you how much beefiness y'all'll get for a specific price. Our pricing includes all processing fees and complimentary delivery to a specific pick-upwardly locations in the St. Louis area.

A quarter cow is 110 lbs, one-half is 220 lbs, and whole cow is 440 lbs. We've chosen to sell our beef this fashion because we think it's easier for our customers and there are no surprises – yous know exactly what you're going to go.

The other style to figure out how much beefiness you lot'll put in your freezer, is to explicate it with agriculture manufacture-lingo similar hang-weight and parcel-weight. If these terms are new to you lot, here are quick definitions:

• Alive weight (or "on the hoof") is how much a cow weighs when information technology'southward alive and walking around. This includes meat, bones, claret, etc.
• Hanging weight (or "on the track") is after the animal is slaughtered and all the unusable parts are removed (similar caput, skin and hooves), Hanging weight includes bones and meat. Typically, the hanging weight is well-nigh lx% of the live weight.
• Boxed weight (or packaged weight) is the weight of all the packages of individual cuts of meat that y'all will put in your freezer This is typically about lx per centum of hanging weight.

And then, what does this hateful in plainly-terms? If you're told it'south $three.75 per pound hanging weight, then wait to pay approximately $6.25 per pound ($3.75 / 0.60)  PLUS the butchering fee, which is ordinarily about $600.00 for the entire moo-cow (you'll split this fee if you're sharing with another family).

No matter who you buy from, make sure you know exactly what you lot'll be taking home earlier you buy so you lot have acceptable freezer space.

Shelf life of frozen beefiness

Approximately 1-year if frozen and vacuum sealed. The amount of time volition be shorter if it is packaged in paper or compress wrapped.

Packaging

About farmers will give you an choice betwixt paper, shrink wrapped, or vacuum sealing packaging. We recommend vacuum sealing because it will proceed the beef fresh for longer.

Here's an example of what a vacuum sealed steak looks similar.

How do you lot observe a local subcontract?

So, practice you lot nonetheless want to buy a cow? If you're in the St. Louis area, permit us know. Nosotros are happy to reply any questions you may have.

If you're outside of St. Louis, read our step-by-stride guide on how to buy a cow from a farmer. Information technology will tell you how to discover a farmer, the right questions to ask, and how to know if you're getting a good deal on beef.

ONE More than Matter!

Exercise you lot desire to learn more than about beef? Join our weekly e-newsletter where nosotros share farm happenings, recipes and beef availability. Sign-upward and get a crook sail with 9-must-inquire questions before buying beef directly from a farmer. Or, we have an entire ebook near beef that goes through purchasing and preparing beef from a cattle farmers perspective.

Here are a few other links you may similar:

• Do Cows Have Teeth?
• What everybody ought to know almost beef cuts
• Buying a Cow. How Much Beef Is It?
• 7 Steps to Grilling a Steak to Perfection
• How We Raise Our Grass Fed Beef
• Piece of cake Beefiness Brisket Recipe (oven-roasted)
• The Best Subcontract Books for Kids

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This ways if you click on the link and purchase the item, nosotros will receive an affiliate committee at no extra cost to you. All opinions are our ain and nosotros only recommend products that we truly believe in.

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Pivot it for Later

We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an chapter advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. See our disclosure policy for more details.

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Source: https://www.clovermeadowsbeef.com/buying-half-a-cow/

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