What Does 700 Pounds of Beef Look Like

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

Most people usually think nearly ownership half a moo-cow, simply did you lot know in that location other options. You can often purchase a sixteenth, quarter, one-half, or whole cow from a farmer, then yous need to do research and determine what quantity is right for your family unit.

We've been selling beefiness directly off of our subcontract for decades. Without a dubiety one of the first questions people enquire before buying a cow is "how much beef will I really get?" That question is normally followed by, "If I buy a cow, what function am I getting? The front half or back half?"

The goal of this post is to show you how much beef you get when you buy a cow. Nosotros also have a step-by-footstep guide on buying a cow from a farmer, including what questions to inquire.

To put it in perspective, we've made our home refrigerator the star of the video and photos.

Nosotros've taken these pictures twice, years autonomously. The first time we just took photos and we had a standard eighteen.1 cu ft fridge with a freezer on height. The second time we did this, nosotros 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 beefiness in two different refrigerators will assistance put it into perspective even more.

Jump to:

• Is buying a moo-cow worth it?
• Buying a sixteenth moo-cow
• Buying a quarter moo-cow
• Buying a half cow
• Buying a whole cow
• Cuts of beef included
• Freezer infinite needed
• How much beef practise you actually get?
• Shelf life of frozen beefiness
• Packaging
• How do y'all observe a local farm?

Is ownership a cow worth it?

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

Every year, we compare the price of beef from our subcontract to local St. Louis grocery stores. With Clover Meadows Beef, the price is approximately $five.45/pound for all cuts of grass fed beef. This is compared to $seven.03/pound at Walmart, $seven.84/pound at a local St. Louis grocery shop, and $ix.86/pound at Whole Foods.

Delight notation, every farm and beef processor prices beef differently. You will need to do your ain math on determining the price per pound if y'all're not in the St. Louis surface area and can't club from our subcontract.

Ownership a sixteenth cow

Here's what our 22.1 cu ft fridge looks like with a sixteenth of a cow. At our farm, a sixteenth is approximately 25 lbs of beef. This includes 13 lbs of hamburger, 2 Ribeye steaks, ii Strip steaks, 2 Filet steaks, 2 Sirloin steaks, one Stew Meat, 1 Short Rib, 1 package Soup Bones, one packet Beef Liver, and 1 Roast.

Ownership a quarter cow

Here's what our eighteen.1 cu ft refrigerator with freezer on top looks like with a quarter beefiness, which is 110 lbs of beef. As you can see, it'due south a lot of beefiness, but it all fits in the freezer (without the freezer shelf or ice saucepan).

Then what comes with a quarter? That reply varies since every moo-cow is unique and weighs something unlike, just here is how information technology typically breaks out:

With a quarter yous become nigh 50 pounds of footing beef, and the remaining 60 lbs of meat is in steaks, brisket, roasts, stew meat, ribs, liver, soup bones, etc. Please keep in heed that everything is based on the individual cow and how the beef is cut, just typical, the remaining sixty lbs works out to be approximately 6-7 strip steaks, half-dozen-7 ribeye steaks, 5-vi filets, 5-6 sirloin steaks, 2 short ribs, 4-five roasts, 1-2 bundle of stew meat, i-two packages of liver, ane brisket, and several packages of soup bones.

With a quarter, you also get the selection of the i-per-animate being parts like natural language, oxtail and middle. Since there's only one-per-animal, these are starting time-come-beginning-serve based on the other who requests them beginning.

Here'south what our 22.1 cu ft fridge looks like with a quarter cow. Again, it'due south 50 pounds of ground beef, and the residual of the beef comes in a variety of cuts like steaks, roasts, ribs, and brisket.

Buying a one-half cow

So, what if y'all purchase half a cow? What does that look like? With a half a cow, yous'll become approximately 220 pounds of beef. Information technology includes 100 pounds of basis 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 half gallon of milk in this film so you lot would have some additional perspective 🙂

Buying a whole moo-cow

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

Cuts of beef included

When yous purchase a cow, y'all go a variety of cuts such as

• Steaks like filet, sirloin, ribeye, strip, skirt 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 one cubic foot of freezer space for every xxx-35 lbs of cutting and wrapped meat.

That means you'll definitely want a stand up-alone freezer when buying a cow. If you don't have i however, yous can usually get a good deal at a warehouse store like Sam'southward or Costco. Nosotros accept both chest and upright freezers at our house and we similar both of them.

Our biggest slice of advice when ownership a stand up-alone freezer is to become ane with a lock and key.  This is very of import for child condom reasons and because a physical lock will make certain your freezer is deeply closed. Yous tin also buy an aftermarket lock.

How much beef do you lot actually get?

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

Our farm is somewhat unique in how we price our beef considering it's all-inclusive – nosotros tell y'all how much beefiness you'll go for a specific cost. Our pricing includes all processing fees and free delivery to a specific pick-up locations in the St. Louis area.

A quarter moo-cow is 110 lbs, half is 220 lbs, and whole cow is 440 lbs. We've chosen to sell our beefiness this fashion considering we retrieve it's easier for our customers and in that location are no surprises – you know exactly what yous're going to get.

The other style to figure out how much beef you'll put in your freezer, is to explain it with agronomics industry-lingo like hang-weight and package-weight. If these terms are new to yous, here are quick definitions:

• Live weight (or "on the hoof") is how much a cow weighs when it's alive and walking around. This includes meat, bones, claret, etc.
• Hanging weight (or "on the rail") is later the creature is slaughtered and all the unusable parts are removed (like head, pare and hooves), Hanging weight includes basic and meat. Typically, the hanging weight is about lx% of the live weight.
• Boxed weight (or packaged weight) is the weight of all the packages of individual cuts of meat that yous will put in your freezer This is typically about 60 pct of hanging weight.

So, what does this hateful in plain-terms? If y'all're told it's $3.75 per pound hanging weight, then expect to pay approximately $6.25 per pound ($3.75 / 0.sixty)  PLUS the butchering fee, which is usually about $600.00 for the unabridged cow (you'll split this fee if you're sharing with another family).

No thing who y'all buy from, brand sure you know exactly what y'all'll be taking home before you purchase so you have adequate freezer space.

Shelf life of frozen beefiness

Approximately 1-year if frozen and vacuum sealed. The corporeality of time will be shorter if it is packaged in paper or shrink wrapped.

Packaging

Most farmers volition give yous an option between paper, shrink wrapped, or vacuum sealing packaging. We recommend vacuum sealing because it volition continue the beef fresh for longer.

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

How do y'all notice a local farm?

So, practice you still want to purchase a moo-cow? If you're in the St. Louis surface area, let united states of america know. We are happy to answer any questions yous may accept.

If you're outside of St. Louis, read our step-by-footstep guide on how to buy a cow from a farmer. It volition tell yous how to find a farmer, the right questions to enquire, and how to know if you lot're getting a good deal on beefiness.

ONE More THING!

Do you want to learn more most beef? Join our weekly e-newsletter where we share farm happenings, recipes and beef availability. Sign-up and go a cheat sheet with 9-must-ask questions before buying beef directly from a farmer. Or, we have an entire ebook most beefiness that goes through purchasing and preparing beef from a cattle farmers perspective.

Here are a few other links you may like:

• Do Cows Take Teeth?
• What everybody ought to know about beef cuts
• Buying a Moo-cow. How Much Beef Is It?
• 7 Steps to Grilling a Steak to Perfection
• How We Heighten Our Grass Fed Beef
• Easy Beef Brisket Recipe (oven-roasted)
• The Best Farm Books for Kids

Disclosure: This mail contains affiliate links. This ways if yous click on the link and purchase the particular, we will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to y'all. All opinions are our ain and we only recommend products that we truly believe in.

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Nosotros participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for u.s. 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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