Buying local beef
October 30th, 2009
Yesterday I was searching Craigslist for pork. Our half pig from last year was basically used up so our meat supply was getting low. After having nice farm raised meat I didn’t want to have to start buying the stuff you usually get at the grocery stores. Eating naturally raised pork makes a world of difference in the taste. I found someone who was selling a half pig for a better price then we paid last time, so I was pretty happy. We met up and gave him our deposit and the pig should be ready for pick up from 4 Star Meat Company (local butcher) around the 15th of next month.
While we were chatting with the farmer, he asked us if we were looking for any beef. I said that I had looked at buying beef before, but that I thought that it was pretty expensive. Buying a half cow at once can get spendy quick. However, it turns out he had a quarter cow for sale, still at the butcher, as the original buyer backed out, and he didn’t have the freezer space. So we got it for a deal: 125 pounds and paid $2.60 a pound for all naturally raised beef. I thought it might be interesting to someone to list out the cuts of meat you end up with in a quarter cow:
- 4 packages stew meat
- 5 packages chuck roast
- 2 packages rump roast
- 2 packages round bone roast
- 4 packages short ribs
- 20 packages ground beef
- 5 packages round steak
- 1 package cross rib roast
- 2 packages sirloin tip steak
- 1 package flank steak
- 4 packages sirloin steak
- 4 packages T-bone steak
- 3 packages rib steak
Most of those packages are about a pound, except the roasts and ribs which were 2-3 pounds. I think we are going to be stocked for quite a long while after we pick up our pork. Plus it’s a pretty nice feeling buying your meat local and supporting a farmer. I rarely bought any meat last year due to having a freezer full of pork. When I did it was usually beef for those dishes that you just couldn’t substitute pork for.
October 30th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
Wow, that’s alot of meat for cheap! And good cuts, too! That’s a really good idea – to buy locally grown meat on Craigslist! I am going to try to sell some furniture on Craigslist soon, so I’ll look for meat, too! Thanks for the idea, Robin!
November 1st, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Wow, so you’ve been having only pork for a year? I’d be happy for a change. $2.60 a pound is a bargain! Usually only the tough meat is on sale for that much. If you need any recipes, I have some nice crock pot ideas.
Where are you going to store the meat? Is your freezer big enough, or do you need to rent one somewhere?
November 1st, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Rachael- Lee and I eat out a bit so there was plenty of non-pork meals throughout the year. Otherwise it would get old fast only eating pork. We have a 13 cubic foot freezer, and a half pig and a quarter beef take up about 5 cubic foot. There’s a lot of frozen vegetables and blueberries in there, but we should have enough room. I would love one of your recipes by the way.
November 1st, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Great buys. I’ve been trying to find a local source for farm raised meat but I hadn’t thought of Craigslist. Good idea. We talk about raising our own too, but that probably won’t be for some time yet.
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:32 am
Yum, I know where I’m going to be mooching dinner from this year.