Anyone here ever purchase part of a cow, pig, etc?

[temery]

I have a small group of friends looking into buying 1/2 a butchered cow, with everyone getting a proportional share.

''Is this worth doing, or is it just a hassle with little cost benefit?

 

[DaveHuskiesFan]

I guess if you consider the cost of the engagement ring, yes

 

[UCFan1513]

Totally worth doing if:

1. You have a large enough freezer to hold it all
2. The beef is significantly higher quality than you could get for the same price at the grocery store (I.e., grass fed, hormone free, etc.)

Honestly I only do it for grass fed beef

 

[husky429]

I did a half cow and pig on separate occassions. Personally I didn't like it because there were a lot of cuts I had no idea how to cook. Ended up leaving a lot of it in the freezer for well over 2 years until I finally threw it out

 

[andy34]

We did it frequently when I was a kid. We had 2 chest freezers and a family of 5 so things got eaten. If you don't have plenty of storage and at least a few hungry mouths, might not be worth the effort.

 

[NJHusky]

I have a small group of friends looking into buying 1/2 a butchered cow, with everyone getting a proportional share.

''Is this worth doing, or is it just a hassle with little cost benefit?

If you do this would look into a freezer that isn't frost free...as the frost free cycling impacts the meat if stored for a significant time

 

[mauconnfan]

Had a Filet Mignon at Spain in Naragansett Saturday evening. That's close to purchasing a cow

 

[HuskyHawk]

I have a small group of friends looking into buying 1/2 a butchered cow, with everyone getting a proportional share.

''Is this worth doing, or is it just a hassle with little cost benefit?

My dad did this back the 70's 80's. We had a large freezer in the garage. Had it butchered as we requested, burgers, various steaks, roasts etc. I recall he considered the meat to be better than the grocery store, and it was cheaper as well. But you need the storage capacity.

 

[UCDaveD]

How are you going to split the head?

 

[Stinger92860]

I‘ve done it, but only at a rescue farm.

 

[borninansonia]

I bought half a pasture-raised pig and 1/4 of a pasture-raised cow. Great quality meat.
We have a chest freezer, not frost free.
But by the time I finished the meat, it was not as tasty. Some freezer burn, and loss of moisture in the meat.
We had some great parties finishing the meat.

 

[temery]

I bought half a pasture-raised pig and 1/4 of a pasture-raised cow. Great quality meat.
We have a chest freezer, not frost free.
But by the time I finished the meat, it was not as tasty. Some freezer burn, and loss of moisture in the meat.
We had some great parties finishing the meat.

Why is frost free a problem?

 

[NJHusky]

Why is frost free a problem?

frost free freezers have a freeze/thaw cycle that slightly thaws the edges of the meat...and then refreezes it...

 

[ColchVEGAS]

I do this with a friend. Depending how many people you have and how picky they are splitting up the cuts can be a huge hassle. We have been splitting a 1/4 cow between the two of us and it works out great especially since it is grass fed.

They even threw in the heart, tongue, and other random cuts that people normally overlook.

 

[CL82]

How are you going to split the head?

Flip a coin? You can either get the head or the tail (but you have to call it in the air.)

 

[HitDog]

These people are just cruel. They took their cow for a ride and brought him to lunch at McDonalds.

 

[businesslawyer]

We've bought a lamb. It requires that you have it butchered by someone who knows what they are doing. I wouldn't buy another if I had it done by the same people, but we're trying a second time with a different butcher.

(When I say we, by the way, obviously I mean my wife. The thought of a Jewish business lawyer spending time picking out a lamb and then worrying about the quality of the butcher you need to use is laughable.)

 

[Fishy]

I have a small group of friends looking into buying 1/2 a butchered cow, with everyone getting a proportional share.

''Is this worth doing, or is it just a hassle with little cost benefit?

I did!

I bought a pig. The whole pig.

I bought the pig and paid for the butchering and someone else raised it. We split the pig like 60/40. I only did it once because, that was a lot of pig.

 

[Fishy]

I bought half a pasture-raised pig and 1/4 of a pasture-raised cow. Great quality meat.
We have a chest freezer, not frost free.
But by the time I finished the meat, it was not as tasty. Some freezer burn, and loss of moisture in the meat.
We had some great parties finishing the meat.

You need to vacu-seal that cow.

 

[8893]

My dad did this back the 70's 80's. We had a large freezer in the garage. Had it butchered as we requested, burgers, various steaks, roasts etc. I recall he considered the meat to be better than the grocery store, and it was cheaper as well. But you need the storage capacity.

Our family did the same in the 70s, when there were eight kids living at home. I still remember getting the forms with the parts of the cow circled and broken down into the different cuts and products from each.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

These people are just cruel. They took their cow for a ride and brought him to lunch at McDonalds.
View attachment 69525

It could have been the equivalent of driving an unruly child past an orphanage just to get a point across.

 

[JamesinGR]

I have a small group of friends looking into buying 1/2 a butchered cow, with everyone getting a proportional share.

''Is this worth doing, or is it just a hassle with little cost benefit?

I bought a football once.

 

[storrsroars]

How are you going to split the head?

Take the cheeks, leave the rest for the partners.

 

[Northbound]

Every year, but have moved to just buying things I want in bulk from the farmer. More expensive, by a lot, yes, but i was giving away burger left and right anyway. Im not really a burger guy.


My usual twice a year

16 2” porterhouse
6 2” strips
6 2” ribeyes
chicken halves
40 pork chops
20 lamb chops
20# ox tail
1 6 rib rib roast

Organic for my bride.

Did I mention, it costs a fortune to do it that way. They don’t even tell me the cost I just show up and they give me a bill.

 

[Stinger92860]

It could have been the equivalent of driving an unruly child past an orphanage just to get a point across.

An orphanage joke, hysterical. Thanks, wow.

 

[August_West]

I bought half a pasture-raised pig and 1/4 of a pasture-raised cow. Great quality meat.
We have a chest freezer, not frost free.
But by the time I finished the meat, it was not as tasty. Some freezer burn, and loss of moisture in the meat.
We had some great parties finishing the meat.

That's what my vacuum sealer is great for.


I have bought both Pig and cow from a local farm in 1/4 to 1/2 ranges over the years.

I have to spend pretty much a full day doing some more butchering from how it was received, and then Break it down into portions I can vacuum seal. It takes a while but Ive pulled stuff out of freezer thats well over a year old vacuum sealed and frozen ( I keep my Basement storage Freezer at minus 12 degrees F.) Naturally defrost it and I swear if I gave someone a blind test of say two Ribeyes side by side one 12 months frozen and one 7 days frozen, you could tell no difference.

If you dont have a freezer that goes (at minimum) below Zero degrees dont bother storing meat long term. -10 and below that even is excellent.

However a good Freezer and vacuum sealing can really keep things in shape for quite a long time.

 

[ZenConn]

My parents did years ago. And gave me a massive amount of beef. I became so sick of beef, I went out of my way to avoid it for 3 months. Fish, salad, pork, fruit, you name it. Anything but beef.

 

[Yardigan]

Grew up on a farm in Maine...pretty much what all our neighbors did. I'd do it now, but really need extra freezer space...plus, I like the aggravation of looking for reasonably priced quality beef at the grocery store.