Buying 1/4 or 1/2 Grass Fed Cow
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Eat2Live2Run
Posts: 137 Member
Has anyone ever purchased a side of beef? Did you feel like it actually saved you money? ... I'm looking into buying a 1/2 cow and sharing it with a friend but before I drop several hundred dollars on one I thought I'd ask others of their experiences. I have plenty of freezer space, that's not a problem.
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It definitely has saved us money (and time-- no shopping for sales, just defrost what's needed). We still have a ton left from our 1/4 cow (we split 1 cow 4 ways) and all told, everything was about $5/lb. That obviously sounds better for steaks than ground beef, but compared to Whole Foods prices... yeah, we saved money
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I've been thinking about it as well, would love to hear what people think.0
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Absolutely, I was able to get 1/4 cow (100% grass fed - make sure it isn't "grain finished") for $3.50. It isn't all about the steaks and you will need to think of more ways to eat ground beef. But... on my first cow, I didn't keep any of the other "stuff".
I'm now ordering my next one - and will be taking all the bones and making my broth.
I'm also getting a pig.0 -
We've done a 1/4 twice now, we love it. The beef tastes so much better and is cheaper in the long run, although make sure you have room in your freezer. You get a lot of ground beef and it's always been very lean. It's nice knowing where exactly our meat came from.0
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It was far cheaper when compared to the grass fed, pasture raised cuts of best quality meat at Whole Foods, but not so much when compared to the cheap, conventional meats at less expensive chains. It also depends on where you live. I'm in the NY metro area and the cost of living is generally higher and we don't have tons of farms in my area.
All said, my money spent on my grass fed beef is the best money I spend on *anything* in my food budget. There is a tremendous sense of satisfaction and comfort in knowing EXACTLY where my food came from and from having seen how well cared for the cows are and knowing how much pride my farmer has in his craft. He's such a great man that I'm happy to support his efforts. (And if anyone is in NJ and wants his name, msg me.)
I can't wait to pick up my next share in a week or so!
And ditto what Mike said. Make sure it is grass fed AND finished. You don't want to undo months and months of proper cow diet to have them stuffed with grains at the end. Might as well eat conventional beef at that point.0 -
^^ exactly - matter of fact I just saw a graph yesterday (can't remember the source) of how quickly the omega 3 content changes in animals fed grains. It was just a matter of weeks before it drops to 1/2
On the knowing - I went to the farm. Have a picture of the cow. Named her and put the photo on the freezer along with one of those USDA cut maps. My wife thinks I'm sick - but then says, "go down and get a pound of Bessie".
For me, I can't buy grass fed at whole foods - they don't have it. They have their "level system" and 100% grass fed would be level 6 or 7 but they don't carry it - level 5 (their system) which is animal lives on one farm pasture centered.
Our pig - will be named "Boss". so we can say, "want some Boss Hog?"0 -
That is awesome. We're raising rabbits (Flemish Giants) and are looking forward to those. We've got Maude and The Dude (from The Big Lebowski) for mom and dad.0
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Mike: might I persuade you to look for that graph and post it? I'd be really interested in seeing it.0
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NJ, digging now - It was in a FB newsfeed - and I subscribe to about 352 different paleoish sites.
FOUND IT with google instead.
http://www.globalaginvesting.com/news/blogdetail?contentid=1479
Actually a good article breaking down several nutrients and benefits of grass fed.0 -
Mike, what are some of the paleo sites other than the uber popular (nomnompaleo, marksdailyapple, cavemaneats, everdaypaleo) that you follow?0
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Oh my. Ok... hang on. - I'll create a new thread rather than hijack this one.0
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Thanks buddy!0
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I just bought a 1/2 of a grass fed Black Angus.... Worth every penny of it.0
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"Experimented" with a 1/8 cow this past January and loved it so we are going bigger this time. Definitely a great investment!0
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I haven't bought one yet but after reading all of these posts I'm definitely going to start. the local farmers market has a place where you can get grass fed and pick up deliveries on a monthly basis and you can pick and choose which parts you want. They'll even throw in a chicken or two.0
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Well worth buying it.
I first purchased a grass fed 1/4 side of beef to try it out especially concerning space and cost.
The cost averaged less than $5 a pound which included butchering and packaging. Which is a lot less than the cost at our local farmers market of $12+ for a steak/roast or the $6+ for ground beef.
Now I have purchased 1/2 cow and 1/2 a pig and two standing freezers. :happy:0 -
Man I wish we had more freezer space. i'd love to do this one day.
We are considering doing a meat CSA share that provides about 20 lbs of meat (beef, fowl, lamb, pork) per month. I'm pretty sure we can fit that in the freezer with some effort.
I wonder if the places that give you the whole cows would throw in some marrow bones too. Because roasted marrow is like meat butter.0 -
I bought a 1/4 grass-fed local cow, and it was about 100 lbs of beef. Plus a TON of bones. It came out to $5-6 per lb, which is a pretty great price considering all the various cuts of meat.
I bought that in October, and I'm finally starting to see some space in my chest freezer. My "beef" with buying all that meat was that it was too much of one animal. I don't like to cook beef more than once a week, so it was really just too much.
I just joined a local farm's meat CSA. I'm doing a 1/2 share for $400, I'm getting weekly deliveries between July and October which will come out as 5 whole chickens, 16-20 lbs of beef, 8 lbs of pork, and 5 lbs of lamb. I'm going to get some lard and organs, but I'm not sure how much I'll have to pay for those. I'm also going to volunteer at least once to "usher" the chickens. I'm pretty terrified to do this but I figure it's an important experience.0 -
Man I wish we had more freezer space. i'd love to do this one day.
We are considering doing a meat CSA share that provides about 20 lbs of meat (beef, fowl, lamb, pork) per month. I'm pretty sure we can fit that in the freezer with some effort.
I wonder if the places that give you the whole cows would throw in some marrow bones too. Because roasted marrow is like meat butter.
Mine did. I got LOTs of marrow bones, and that was separate from bones they packaged for stew.0
