How Much Beef Does a Family of 3 Eat in a Year

Are you thinking of ownership a cow? Have you decided how much?

Most people normally remember about buying one-half a cow, just did you know in that location other options. You can often buy a sixteenth, quarter, one-half, or whole cow from a farmer, so you demand to exercise research and make up one's mind what quantity is correct for your family.

We've been selling beef directly off of our farm for decades. Without a doubt i of the beginning questions people ask before buying a cow is "how much beef volition I really go?" That question is usually followed by, "If I buy a cow, what part am I getting? The front half or back half?"

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

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

We've taken these pictures twice, years apart. The outset time we only took photos and we had a standard 18.i cu ft refrigerator with a freezer on height. The second time nosotros 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 bottom. Hopefully, seeing the beefiness in two different refrigerators will assistance put it into perspective fifty-fifty more.

Jump to:

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

Is buying a moo-cow worth it?

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

Every year, we compare the toll of beefiness from our farm to local St. Louis grocery stores. With Clover Meadows Beefiness, the price is approximately $5.45/pound for all cuts of grass fed beefiness. This is compared to $7.03/pound at Walmart, $vii.84/pound at a local St. Louis grocery store, and $nine.86/pound at Whole Foods.

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

Buying a sixteenth cow

Here's what our 22.one cu ft refrigerator looks like with a sixteenth of a cow. At our farm, a sixteenth is approximately 25 lbs of beefiness. This includes 13 lbs of hamburger, 2 Ribeye steaks, 2 Strip steaks, two Filet steaks, two Sirloin steaks, 1 Stew Meat, 1 Short Rib, 1 package Soup Bones, i package Beef Liver, and 1 Roast.

Buying a quarter cow

Here's what our 18.1 cu ft refrigerator with freezer on summit looks like with a quarter beef, which is 110 lbs of beef. As yous tin see, it'southward a lot of beefiness, but it all fits in the freezer (without the freezer shelf or water ice bucket).

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

With a quarter you get about 50 pounds of ground beef, and the remaining lx 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 cutting, but typical, the remaining 60 lbs works out to exist approximately 6-7 strip steaks, 6-7 ribeye steaks, 5-6 filets, 5-6 sirloin steaks, 2 short ribs, four-five roasts, i-2 package of stew meat, 1-2 packages of liver, 1 brisket, and several packages of soup bones.

With a quarter, you too go the option of the one-per-animal parts similar natural language, oxtail and heart. Since there'southward only one-per-animal, these are first-come-beginning-serve based on the other who requests them first.

Here's what our 22.1 cu ft refrigerator looks like with a quarter moo-cow. Once more, it's 50 pounds of ground beef, and the remainder of the beef comes in a variety of cuts like steaks, roasts, ribs, and brisket.

Ownership a one-half cow

So, what if you buy half a cow? What does that look like? With a half a cow, y'all'll get approximately 220 pounds of beef. Information technology includes 100 pounds of ground beef, and the rest of the beef are in cuts similar steaks, roasts, ribs, brisket, and tenderloin.

Just for fun, we included a dozen eggs and a half gallon of milk in this picture and then you would have some additional perspective 🙂

Buying a whole cow

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

Cuts of beef included

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

• Steaks like filet, sirloin, ribeye, strip, skirt and flank
• Brisket
• Roasts like 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 infinite needed

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

That means you'll definitely want a stand-lonely freezer when buying a cow. If you don't have ane nevertheless, yous can usually go a proficient deal at a warehouse shop like Sam's or Costco. Nosotros have both breast and upright freezers at our house and we like both of them.

Our biggest piece of advice when buying a stand-alone freezer is to go one with a lock and key.  This is very important for kid safe reasons and considering a physical lock will make certain your freezer is securely airtight. You tin can also buy an aftermarket lock.

How much beef practice yous actually get?

When you purchase a cow, y'all want to know exactly how much beef you'll put in your freezer.

Our farm is somewhat unique in how nosotros price our beef because it's all-inclusive – we tell you how much beefiness you'll get for a specific price. Our pricing includes all processing fees and free delivery to a specific option-upwards 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 called to sell our beef this way because we call up it'south easier for our customers and there are no surprises – you know exactly what yous're going to get.

The other fashion to effigy out how much beef you'll put in your freezer, is to explain information technology with agriculture industry-lingo similar hang-weight and package-weight. If these terms are new to you lot, here 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 runway") is later the animal 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 60% 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 lx percent of hanging weight.

Then, what does this hateful in plain-terms? If you lot're told information technology'southward $3.75 per pound hanging weight, so await to pay approximately $6.25 per pound ($three.75 / 0.60)  PLUS the butchering fee, which is normally virtually $600.00 for the entire moo-cow (you'll split this fee if you're sharing with another family unit).

No matter who you buy from, brand sure you know exactly what you lot'll exist taking home before you buy so you lot have adequate freezer space.

Shelf life of frozen beef

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

Packaging

Most farmers will give you an option between newspaper, shrink wrapped, or vacuum sealing packaging. We recommend vacuum sealing because it will keep the beef fresh for longer.

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

How do you detect a local farm?

Then, do you lot withal want to buy a moo-cow? If you're in the St. Louis surface area, let u.s. know. We are happy to respond whatever questions y'all may have.

If you're exterior of St. Louis, read our step-by-step guide on how to purchase 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're getting a good deal on beef.

One MORE THING!

Do you want to acquire more almost beef? Join our weekly eastward-newsletter where nosotros share subcontract happenings, recipes and beef availability. Sign-up and get a cheat sheet with 9-must-ask questions before ownership beefiness directly from a farmer. Or, nosotros have an unabridged ebook about beefiness that goes through purchasing and preparing beef from a cattle farmers perspective.

Here are a few other links you may like:

• Practice Cows Have Teeth?
• What everybody ought to know virtually 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 Beef Brisket Recipe (oven-roasted)
• The Best Farm Books for Kids

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means if yous click on the link and buy the item, we will receive an chapter commission at no actress toll to you. All opinions are our own and we only recommend products that nosotros truly believe in.

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We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Assembly Programme, an affiliate advertising programme 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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