How Much Pounds of Beef Are There

Are you thinking of ownership a moo-cow? Take you decided how much?

Well-nigh people normally remember near buying half a cow, just did y'all know there other options. Y'all can often purchase a sixteenth, quarter, half, or whole cow from a farmer, so you lot demand to exercise research and make up one's mind what quantity is correct for your family unit.

Nosotros've been selling beef directly off of our farm for decades. Without a incertitude 1 of the first questions people ask before ownership a cow is "how much beefiness will I actually get?" That question is normally followed past, "If I buy a moo-cow, what office am I getting? The front half or dorsum half?"

The goal of this post is to show you how much beef you get when you buy a cow. We also have a stride-by-step guide on ownership a cow from a farmer, including what questions to enquire.

To put information technology in perspective, nosotros've made our abode fridge the star of the video and photos.

We've taken these pictures twice, years apart. The beginning time nosotros simply took photos and we had a standard eighteen.1 cu ft refrigerator with a freezer on pinnacle. The 2nd time we did this, we made a video and we had a newer refrigerator – a 22.1 cu ft refrigerator with french doors and freezer on the lesser. Hopefully, seeing the beef in two dissimilar refrigerators volition help put information technology into perspective fifty-fifty more.

Jump to:

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

Is buying a moo-cow worth information technology?

Yes! The benefit of buying a cow is that y'all will save money and become higher quality beef.

Every yr, nosotros compare the price of beef from our farm to local St. Louis grocery stores. With Clover Meadows Beef, the price 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 $nine.86/pound at Whole Foods.

Delight note, every farm and beef processor prices beefiness differently. Y'all will need to practice your own math on determining the cost per pound if you're not in the St. Louis surface area and can't guild from our farm.

Buying a sixteenth moo-cow

Hither'due south what our 22.i cu ft refrigerator looks similar with a sixteenth of a moo-cow. At our farm, a sixteenth is approximately 25 lbs of beef. This includes 13 lbs of hamburger, 2 Ribeye steaks, 2 Strip steaks, 2 Filet steaks, 2 Sirloin steaks, i Stew Meat, 1 Brusk Rib, 1 package Soup Bones, 1 package Beefiness Liver, and 1 Roast.

Buying a quarter cow

Here'south what our 18.1 cu ft refrigerator with freezer on elevation looks like with a quarter beef, which is 110 lbs of beef. Every bit you can see, it's a lot of beef, simply it all fits in the freezer (without the freezer shelf or ice bucket).

And then what comes with a quarter? That answer varies since every cow is unique and weighs something dissimilar, only here is how it typically breaks out:

With a quarter you go virtually 50 pounds of basis beefiness, and the remaining 60 lbs of meat is in steaks, brisket, roasts, stew meat, ribs, liver, soup bones, etc. Delight go along in mind that everything is based on the individual cow and how the beef is cut, but typical, the remaining 60 lbs works out to be approximately six-7 strip steaks, half dozen-7 ribeye steaks, 5-half-dozen filets, 5-6 sirloin steaks, 2 short ribs, iv-v roasts, 1-2 bundle of stew meat, 1-2 packages of liver, i brisket, and several packages of soup basic.

With a quarter, you as well become the choice of the one-per-fauna parts similar natural language, oxtail and center. Since there's only one-per-animal, these are first-come-outset-serve based on the other who requests them first.

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

Buying a one-half cow

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

Just for fun, nosotros included a dozen eggs and a half gallon of milk in this picture so yous would have some additional perspective 🙂

Buying a whole cow

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

Cuts of beef included

When yous purchase a cow, yous get a diversity of cuts such as

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

Freezer space needed

The rule of thumb is 1 cubic foot of freezer space for every 30-35 lbs of cut and wrapped meat.

That means you'll definitely want a stand up-alone freezer when buying a cow. If you don't have i yet, you tin ordinarily get a proficient deal at a warehouse store like Sam'south or Costco. We have both breast and upright freezers at our business firm and we like both of them.

Our biggest slice of advice when buying a stand-alone freezer is to go i with a lock and key.  This is very important for child prophylactic reasons and because a concrete lock will brand sure your freezer is securely airtight. You tin too purchase an aftermarket lock.

How much beefiness practice you actually get?

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

Our farm is somewhat unique in how we price our beefiness because it's all-inclusive – we tell you how much beef yous'll get for a specific price. Our pricing includes all processing fees and gratis delivery to a specific pick-upward locations in the St. Louis surface area.

A quarter cow is 110 lbs, one-half is 220 lbs, and whole moo-cow is 440 lbs. We've called to sell our beef this way because we think information technology'due south easier for our customers and there are no surprises – yous know exactly what you're going to go.

The other manner to figure out how much beef y'all'll put in your freezer, is to explain it with agriculture industry-lingo like hang-weight and parcel-weight. If these terms are new to you, hither are quick definitions:

• Live weight (or "on the hoof") is how much a moo-cow weighs when it's alive and walking effectually. This includes meat, bones, blood, etc.
• Hanging weight (or "on the rail") is after the animal is slaughtered and all the unusable parts are removed (similar head, skin and hooves), Hanging weight includes bones and meat. Typically, the hanging weight is about threescore% of the live weight.
• Boxed weight (or packaged weight) is the weight of all the packages of individual cuts of meat that you will put in your freezer This is typically about threescore percentage of hanging weight.

And then, what does this hateful in plain-terms? If you're told information technology'southward $3.75 per pound hanging weight, and then look to pay approximately $6.25 per pound ($3.75 / 0.lx)  PLUS the butchering fee, which is usually well-nigh $600.00 for the entire cow (you'll split up this fee if yous're sharing with another family unit).

No matter who you buy from, make sure you know exactly what you'll exist taking domicile earlier you buy so you take 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 newspaper or shrink wrapped.

Packaging

Well-nigh farmers will give you lot an option between newspaper, shrink wrapped, or vacuum sealing packaging. Nosotros recommend vacuum sealing because information technology will go on the beef fresh for longer.

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

How do you discover a local farm?

So, do y'all still want to purchase a cow? If you're in the St. Louis surface area, allow us know. We are happy to reply any questions y'all may have.

If you're outside of St. Louis, read our stride-by-step guide on how to purchase a moo-cow from a farmer. It will tell yous how to discover a farmer, the right questions to ask, and how to know if you're getting a proficient deal on beefiness.

1 More THING!

Do y'all want to acquire more virtually beefiness? Join our weekly e-newsletter where nosotros share farm happenings, recipes and beef availability. Sign-upward and get a crook canvass with ix-must-ask questions before buying beef directly from a farmer. Or, we have an unabridged ebook about beef that goes through purchasing and preparing beef from a cattle farmers perspective.

Hither are a few other links you may like:

• Exercise Cows Have Teeth?
• What everybody ought to know about beefiness cuts
• Buying a Cow. How Much Beefiness Is Information technology?
• 7 Steps to Grilling a Steak to Perfection
• How Nosotros Raise Our Grass Fed Beef
• Like shooting fish in a barrel Beef Brisket Recipe (oven-roasted)
• The All-time Farm Books for Kids

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This ways if you click on the link and purchase the item, we volition receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to y'all. All opinions are our own and nosotros but recommend products that nosotros truly believe in.

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We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Assembly Programme, an affiliate ad plan 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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