Thread: A Side of Beef?

Hi Y'all,

My wife and I are contemplating buying a side of beef. The lovely cow is grown locally and delivered to the processor. Anybody ever done this before? Does it taste better than the store stuff? Things to look out for?

Our brave cow would be a Angus/Hereford mix. We love our beef and would like to try this. It is alot of $$ to cough up at once, but we would have alot of delicious beef to eat. We don't eat out and enjoy our daily dinner together at HOME!!! My wife is an excellent cook. She can make spinach taste good! Sooo, we are looking into this and would like any input y'all could give us.

Thank you, and I was promised that it would be Barth-free beef.

we just did this with our tax money, it's great we got 1/4 Grass fed cow (organic) it taste way better and it's nice not having to buy beef when you go to the store. we got ours for $6 a pound... we may get buffalo next time

There is no comparison between 'normal' beef and market raised beef. Market raised beef has very little flavour in my opinion.

Buffalo is also good, Beefalo is better

My family did this when I was a kid -- we went together with two other families and had the side cut and packaged; then the families would pick the cuts they wanted in turns -- you got every third package. This cut down on the initial outlay and you could more or less choose what you really wanted to use.

We halved a steer once. So much depends on how active they are and what they're eating that you can't really compare them well. Ours was very tender, but didn't have much flavor. But we lived on a ranch for a year and helped butcher a young steer. In payment we received some steaks that were excellent. And we now have some friends who run a few cattle and give us meat. It's quite good. Mostly we appreciate that we know it's not shot up with hormones, red dye and other ucky things to enhance the production and presentation.

It's all about knowing and trusting the producer. I agree with all above: supporting local food and local farmers and ranchers is the way to go.

And for the record, Barth is never associated with beef. I'm thinking groundhog....

Originally Posted by Classical Presbyterian

It's all about knowing and trusting the producer. I agree with all above: supporting local food and local farmers and ranchers is the way to go.

And for the record, Barth is never associated with beef. I'm thinking groundhog....

Ah yeah, as in varmints!

I'm no beef expert, but I ate some home grown beef a while back and it was 100% better than what is sold at the store. Tender, juicy, flavorful...

Yes, if your going to do this...get with some other families to help split the cost..

My husband and I have been discussing doing the same thing, but haven't yet..

He and his dad worked as ranch hands when he was growing up and that's how they got all their beef..he says it tastes much better.

My family did this when I was in high school. We went in with another family. Its actually a pretty common thing where I grew up (Montana). I would just caution you to be careful about the farm you get the beef from. Once, we went with a farm that we didn't know much about and the meat was horrid. It might be a good idea to ask around a bit. Generally, I think, meat from a local farm is much higher quality, but you should still be careful.

Getting your beef from the farm is way, way better than from the market. I'd also recommend getting some pork, chicken, eggs and milk from the the farm too.

Barthian beef is inferior, full of unwanted additives, stringy, very hard to swallow, and comes from an uncontented cow. This brings up an interesting thought, if the cow was on the moon away from our observation would it still be a cow?

Timothy,

Go for it! My wife's grandfather does this with his beef and I can honestly say it is some of the best tasting beef I've ever had.

We get a whole beef on a regular basis, or better yet, a bison (very lean)..

then again, there is 10 people in our household...

And you cannot beat Alberta beef!

Originally Posted by Sven

Getting your beef from the farm is way, way better than from the market. I'd also recommend getting some pork, chicken, eggs and milk from the the farm too.

Barthian beef is inferior, full of unwanted additives, stringy, very hard to swallow, and comes from an uncontented cow. This brings up an interesting thought, if the cow was on the moon away from our observation would it still be a cow?

That is sooo good! And true!

And no, it wouldn't be a cow.

Originally Posted by Blue Tick

Timothy,

Go for it! My wife's grandfather does this with his beef and I can honestly say it is some of the best testing beef I've ever had.

31 on the ACT, 2250 on the SAT?

Originally Posted by toddpedlar

Originally Posted by Blue Tick

Timothy,

Go for it! My wife's grandfather does this with his beef and I can honestly say it is some of the best testing beef I've ever had.

31 on the ACT, 2250 on the SAT?

Thank you'all soo much. You've given me alot of good advice!

From a guy who loves beef but can't eat it because of gout - you guys are killing me here!!

Go for it! We sell sides of bison all the time to customers. It allows them to contact the butcher and custom order the meat to be cut and wrapped with a variety of options. You can order sausages, ground, burgers, jerky, roasts, steaks, etc. We usually sell the bison for 2.60/lb on the rail with the customer paying for the butcher fees (another $400-600 per animal) Make sure you have the freezer space!

I just got a quote for a little over $1 a pound delivered to the processing plant and then about $200 to be processed. Not bad!

Also, I heard that grass-fed is better for you in that the meat is higher in Omega-3s but doesn't taste as good as grain-fed.

Actually, I find grass fed beef to normally taste much better. It is just not as tender sometimes. (Marbled fat is a key factor in tenderness.)

Originally Posted by LawrenceU

Actually, I find grass fed beef to normally taste much better. It is just not as tender sometimes. (Marbled fat is a key factor in tenderness.)

We used to keep the runt steer out of our calf crop for ourselves. We'd sell the bulk of the calf crop after weaning but keep the runt to run with the mother cows. He'd be out on grass until he finally got to around a thousand pounds, and then we'd bring him in for two weeks of grain--not enough to get fat, but long enough for him to get soft, it seemed.

The beef would have practically no excess fat, but was quite tender. Nobody does this commercially because it is uneconomical--runt steers take too long to grow on grass usually, but it worked for us because he was only one out a couple hundred animals. I had the proprietor of a nationally known steak house over once, and he wanted to know my "secret." He laughed when I told him.

Timothy,
We've been buying half or quarter (hind) cows for the past 10 years. I won't buy it any other way. It tastes way better! We get ours for $2.39 per pound for a half a cow. Then we are set for the year (except for ordering some more ground beef halfway through). I'm thinking about doing the same with pork someday soon.

Thanks Y'all. I think we will go for it this year...if finances allow.