Reader Nikki has a question about buying a half a cow.
Question:
Cindy, I am considering getting a half side of beef with a few friends. What are your thoughts? We are big meat eaters here…Is it worth my money?
I have always wondered this myself, so I thought I would ask you guys. Is it worth it? How do you go about doing it? Where is the best place to do it?
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{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
My brother owns a small farm in NW MA, and I can tell you that the meat is better quality and much more affordable buying direct-from-farmer than it is shopping at the supermarket with any coupon you can find.
You need to have a freezer and the money up front (unless you find someone selling off packaged-for-self-use freezer stock — which we are currently doing, fwiw), but you can’t beat the quality and price.
As far as where/how – largely depends on where you’re at geographically and your contacts. You can always check out craigslist, but your best bet is to ask around and make connections with local or semi-local farmers.
My brother is in far NW MA, so that’s not local to most of you in southern NJ, unfortunately.
“off packaged-for-self-use freezer stock” I might sound stupid asking this, but, what does this mean?
When we butcher, we sell wholes, halves, and quarters, and we package the meat we want to keep (for our personal use) and freeze it. We’ve come to the time of year where we should be approaching empty freezer, but somehow we have a lot left over, so we are selling that at a reduced price. It’s by the piece (a roast, two steaks, 1lb hamburger) and is packaged “not for retail sale” as it was intended for personal use. If you can find a farmer who will sell self-use to you, you can pick it up really inexpensively, generally speaking.
gotcha, thanks
We bought a half cow last year (organic, grass-fed) and not only was it cheaper than the less-healthy meat we buy in the grocery store, but it was way better tasting! There are many farms out in PA that will sell you half cows.
I think it is worth it. What my family used to do a few years back is once a year we will go to Englishtown NJ and buy a whole Goat and have the butcher split it equally among us (usually 3 ways) and it came to about $50 or $60 bucks a piece for a lot of meat. I am sure the price has gone up considerably since.
I haven’t tried a half cow yet but that is a great idea and I do agree with 0246…you can’t beat the quality and price!!!
I used to have a friend that would go half with her parents on a cow. They were Very big meat eaters so she said it was worth the upfront cost compared to the cost over a a year, or for them about 6 months since they ate so much beef. I’d say if you can store the meat and have the money for it do it. You will be saving money, your family will be eating good fresh meat, and you wont be paying the ridiculous prices at the stores (and you wont have to buy any at the store for so long!)
definatly worth it. We do this from time to time, and usually buy a pig from our kids (they raise for 4-H) every year. It is so nice to just open the freezer and there is the meat, no shopping, no trip to town, no wondering what’s for supper, just grab some meat and build your meal off that.
You know where the beef comes from and how it was raised. With all the e-coli scares, if you have a big freezer, use lots of beef and have the money, yes, its worth it.
We ave done this the last 2 years and just put our order in for this year as well. There are some great farms in NJ & PA. Since we live in Bucks County, we purchase our beef from George at Sunnyslope Farm in New Hope.
The cattle are raised organically and are completely grass fed. When they reach market weight, which is usually in late Sept-Oct, we get a phone call from George to discuss how we would like our half butchered. Everything is a custom cut and is wrapped and frozen when we receive it.
If it is your first time purchasing that much beef, consider how much meet your family actually eats and which cuts. Call around to several farmers, and talk to their references too. Make sure that you can have your beef custom butchered, and now a one size fits all package.
You will also want to ask about the price. When you purchase beef by the side it is by hanging weight, which is the weight of the full side before butchering & aging. You will also want to find out if there are any fees for the butchering, wrapping, and processing. Some farms roll everything into one price per lb, while others break down the fees.
Also make sure you have adequate space to store the beef. We have a 15 cu ft upright freezer, and just about filled the entire thing when we had out 1/2 cow delivered last fall. If you don’t currently have a dedicated freezer, not to fret…Lowe’s, omeDepot & Sears have some great sales over Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day (even Columbus Day but that may be pushing it) to purchase a new freezer for your purchase.
I’ve wondered about this too. My question is more along the lines of the storage … When I buy steaks from the grocery store, it always seems to taste better if I use it right away rather than freezing it and later thawing it. For those who buy meat in bulk like this, do you notice the same? Is there a trick to keeping that from happening?
Thanks!
-Jenn
@Jenn -
When we purchase out beef, each steak is individually wrapped & frozen. We don’t have any problems with freezer burn, or it changing flavors while being frozen. The meat at the grocery store is kept raw for so long that it can pick up funky flavors more quickly. When you buy beef by the side, it is typically dry aged for 2 weeks, butchered, and frozen right away.
most meats in the grocery store have been previously frozen and thaw before putting them on the shelves. this is why it is not best to refreeze them. when buying a side of beef, it will be frozen immediately and you can just thaw when you’re ready. my parents own a farm and we get a side of beef every year. nothing better than the beef we get from them!
If meat is thawed in refrigeration (not on the counter) it CAN be put in the freezer again. This is a huge misunderstanding that people think that meat that has been frozen can’t be thawed and then refrozen.
Secondly, all beef at the grocery stores (I can speak for shoprite) is not frozen and then placed out raw.
according to my servsafe book, NO YOU SHOULD THAW FOOD AND REFREEZE. well, you can, but your food will crystallize and discolor.
my parents are big meat eaters & this is the only they way the purchase beef & pork – buying half steer or pig. They live in the Hudson Valley (upstate NY) where there are numerous farms that offer this. They say the meat is much tastier & obvioulsy it is extremely fresh. They have it butchered at the farm & can choose what cuts they want. They take home all the packages & use a vacuum sealer to place them into individual baggies which then then put into their big freezer. They say is is very cost-effective & they rave about the quality of the meat.
I live in the Hudson Valley as well. I am also the VP of a food buying club called Hudson Valley Real Food. We help get people to farms and one of the farms we work with is Moveable Beasts. I just ordered their meat a few months back and it was absolutely delicious. It’s not extremely cheap as far as any meat goes, but when comparing it to the price of organic free-range meat it is the way to go. The meat is usually only sold frozen, something to do with the butchering and handling practices and to be sure it is as fresh as possible. As far as storage, a 1/4 of a cow would fill a normal sized freezer (that is above a refrigerator). But when you split a cow with someone, be sure to keep in mind that there are only 1 or 2 of certain parts of the cow so you may not get every type you are looking for. That and the fact that different pieces of meat have different names when you buy them in the supermarket vs. buying them from a farmer. Not sure why this is! Lastly, the price that you get is usually based on the hanging weight. The hanging weight includes the bones, intestines, etc., not the actual amount of meat that you are taking home.
I am shocked at how many people like organic, grain fed beef. Coming from a family of big meat eaters and 2 butchers of over 50 years experience, we don’t eat the organic, grain fed beef…for that matter, we don’t eat grain fed anything.
There was a mention of e-coli…e-coli represents less than 2% of total market sales in the US…you have a better chance of getting into a car accident.
Buying a side/half of a cow is a great way to save money. Make sure that the butcher is reputable and that they are on the up and up with their process.
Good Luck!
That’s such a great point to make. If you decide to buy it, I recommend buying grass-fed, grass-finished cows. Quite a few farmers sell grass-fed, grain-finished to fatten them up at the end but it doesn’t taste as good. Also, if you have never cooked grass-fed, grass-finished meat before, there is a different style to the cooking. There is hardly any fat in the meat (grass-fed/finished cow has the same amount of fat as a chicken and has a similar amount of Omega-3′s as salmon), so when you are cooking it you want to cook it rare to medium-rare and you may need to add some fat to it to keep it moist, especially if you don’t want to eat it on the rare side!
I never really gave this much thought but it sounds like a very good idea. How would I find out about a farm that does this? I’m in South Jersey. How much does something like that generally cost? I’m intrigued now:)
Check out eatwild.org There are lots of places listed on there and you can search based on your zip code. You may also want to check localharvest.org.
We live in Bucks Co, PA and we go to Sunnyslope Farm in New Hope. We pay $3.85/lb hanging weight (the weight before dry aging and butchering). When I called around in 2009, we got price ranges of $3.49-$9.75 per lb hanging weight, some with additional charged for butchering, wrapping, and custom cutting the beef. I am very happy with Sunnyslope Farm and highly recommend them.
Our total side of beef last year weighed around 250lbs @ $3.85/lb. Its quite the chunk of change up front, but so worth it. If you check out my website you can find the rest of the details I shared about our experience purchasing a side of beef.
I have done this before, and didn’t get one this year and I regret it. The beef in the store is nasty compared to buying a cow. The price is definitely better and I was able to have more steak and roast that I wouldn’t buy now. I believe I paid $400 tops for my quarter cow. 100 lbs was ground beef and at least another 150lbs or so in steak and roasts. I did find a site called eatwild.com you may want to check it out.
In South Jersey, Bringhurst Meats (Berlin) does custom butchering and also offers great pricing on beef sides and quarters, cut to your specs. We have been buying their meats for 30 years. They have USDA inspectors on site. Their website shows current pricing on all options. They also have some 4H meat currently for sale.
LOL.. That is my mothers cousins that run the place. They have been in business for 75 years. Great buch of people.
This sounds like a great idea. We eat mostly ground beef purchased from Costco. I think it’s about $2.29/lb? Would it still be cheaper to get it from the half cow? Even if it is not, I’m sure it would be much healthier, but can you ask for most of the meat to be ground or will you only get full pieces of meat that you have to grind yourself?
Elaine, the price will likely be comparable, especially if you want mostly ground meat (as that’s significantly easier on the butcher than making individual cuts and wrapping them). Everywhere handles it differently, but typically you can ask for whatever cuts/wraps you prefer – in your case, you can ask for mostly or all ground meat from your half/quarter/whatever.
I actually have a 20 cu. ft. upright in my kitchen so space is not an issue. I have been doing research for weeks on what to get and where. I can’t wait to find a good farm and butcher for a half side.
It annoys me when I go into the supermarket and see the prices for some of the cuts of beef , hell it annoys me when I see the not so great cuts topping $6/lb knowing I can get the good cuts we love for considerably less.
Can anyone give me a ballpark of how much I can expect to spend/lb (hanging weight) for a half or 1/4 side? I checked out some sites that are charging $5-6/lb (including butchering and wrapping). Also, will most butchers include the not so desireable parts of the cow (legs, feet, oxtail, tongue, stomach)? My inlaws are really into the entire cow.
Te price per lb hanging weight really depends on where you live. Once you find a farmer that you want to purchase your beef from, they should handle te arrangements for slaughter and butchering.
You are purchasing the half of steer, so you are entitled to all its parts. We get beef tongue, heart, liver, brain, ox tails, shank bones, and suet in addition to the beef. Just let them know if you need it wrapped for long term (human consumption) or just frozen in a bag (for pets consumption).
175 TO 190 LB. BEEF HINDQUARTER – T BONE, PORTERHOUSE, SIRLOIN, FLANK & TENDERLOIN STEAKS. LONDON BROIL, ROUND ROASTS, RUMP ROAST, EYE ROAST, CUBES, GROUND & MARROW BONES. $3.08 LB.
PASTURE RAISED BEEF
LIMITED SUPPLY – ORDER NOW
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1/3 ROASTS
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Our family had decided to go with the 1/2 pig and the beef hindquarter. We are just looking for a friend to maybe go halves with us. We just don’t have the space to store it all………. : )
If anyone in Bucks County, PA or nearby surrounding areas would like to split a 1/2 cow, I would be interested in teaming up. I cant afford an entire 1/2 now. Hurricane Irene knocked out our power and I lost EVERYTHING I had stockpiled in my upright freezer and the frig/freezer in our kitchen. It will cost so much to replace everything, this is why I cant afford an enitre half now. Please feel free to email me at rubimax@aol.com if anyone is interested in splitting some meat. Thank you, Debbie.