How Many Pounds of Meat in a Quarter of Beef

Are you lot thinking of buying a cow? Take you decided how much?

Well-nigh people usually think almost buying one-half a cow, simply did you know in that location other options. You can often buy a sixteenth, quarter, half, or whole cow from a farmer, then you need to do research and make up one's mind what quantity is right for your family.

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

The goal of this mail service is to bear witness y'all how much beef you go when you buy a moo-cow. We as well have a step-by-pace guide on buying 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 beginning time we only took photos and we had a standard xviii.ane cu ft refrigerator with a freezer on top. The 2nd time we 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 lesser. Hopefully, seeing the beef in two different refrigerators will help put it into perspective even more.

Leap to:

• Is ownership a cow worth it?
• Buying a sixteenth moo-cow
• Buying a quarter cow
• Ownership a half moo-cow
• Buying a whole moo-cow
• Cuts of beefiness included
• Freezer space needed
• How much beefiness do you actually get?
• Shelf life of frozen beef
• Packaging
• How do yous notice a local farm?

Is buying a cow worth information technology?

Yeah! The do good of buying a cow is that y'all will save money and get higher quality beef.

Every year, nosotros compare the price of beefiness from our farm to local St. Louis grocery stores. With Clover Meadows Beefiness, the toll is approximately $five.45/pound for all cuts of grass fed beef. This is compared to $7.03/pound at Walmart, $7.84/pound at a local St. Louis grocery store, and $9.86/pound at Whole Foods.

Please note, every farm and beef processor prices beef differently. You volition need 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

Hither'south what our 22.i cu ft refrigerator 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, two Ribeye steaks, two Strip steaks, 2 Filet steaks, 2 Sirloin steaks, i Stew Meat, 1 Short Rib, ane package Soup Bones, 1 package Beefiness Liver, and i Roast.

Ownership a quarter cow

Here's what our 18.one cu ft fridge with freezer on top looks like with a quarter beef, which is 110 lbs of beef. As you can run across, it'south a lot of beef, just information technology all fits in the freezer (without the freezer shelf or ice bucket).

So what comes with a quarter? That answer varies since every cow is unique and weighs something different, but hither is how information technology typically breaks out:

With a quarter you lot get well-nigh l pounds of basis beef, and the remaining 60 lbs of meat is in steaks, brisket, roasts, stew meat, ribs, liver, soup basic, etc. Please keep in mind that everything is based on the individual cow and how the beef is cut, but typical, the remaining sixty lbs works out to exist approximately 6-7 strip steaks, 6-7 ribeye steaks, 5-6 filets, v-6 sirloin steaks, 2 short ribs, 4-5 roasts, ane-ii packet of stew meat, 1-two packages of liver, i brisket, and several packages of soup bones.

With a quarter, y'all also get the option of the i-per-fauna parts similar tongue, oxtail and heart. Since there's merely one-per-animal, these are get-go-come-get-go-serve based on the other who requests them beginning.

Hither's what our 22.one cu ft refrigerator looks like with a quarter cow. Once again, information technology's fifty pounds of ground beef, and the balance of the beef comes in a variety of cuts like steaks, roasts, ribs, and brisket.

Ownership a half moo-cow

So, what if you buy half a cow? What does that look like? With a half a cow, you'll get approximately 220 pounds of beef. It includes 100 pounds of ground beef, and the rest of the beef 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 picture so y'all would have some additional perspective 🙂

Ownership a whole cow

With a whole cow you lot would get approximately 440 pounds of beefiness. It volition exist approximately 200 pounds of footing beef, and the other 220 pounds are in cuts like steaks, roasts, ribs, brisket, tenderloin, etc. On average, we've found that a whole is keen for families of iii or more that eat beef with four or more than meals a week.

Cuts of beef included

When yous buy a cow, you get a diversity of cuts such as

• Steaks like filet, sirloin, ribeye, strip, skirt and flank
• Brisket
• Roasts similar chuck, sirloin, arm
• Footing beef
• Ribs
• Stew meat
• Kabob meat
• Soup bones
• Organ meat (if desired)
• And the list keeps going on and on!

Freezer space needed

The dominion of thumb is 1 cubic human foot of freezer space for every 30-35 lbs of cut and wrapped meat.

That ways you'll definitely want a stand-lonely freezer when buying a cow. If yous don't have one however, you can usually go a expert deal at a warehouse store like Sam's or Costco. We have both chest and upright freezers at our house and nosotros like both of them.

Our biggest piece of communication when buying a stand-solitary freezer is to get one with a lock and cardinal.  This is very important for child safety reasons and because a concrete lock will make sure your freezer is securely closed. You can also purchase an aftermarket lock.

How much beef exercise you actually get?

When you buy a cow, you want to know exactly how much beefiness you'll put in your freezer.

Our farm is somewhat unique in how we price our beef considering information technology's all-inclusive – we tell you how much beef you'll become for a specific toll. Our pricing includes all processing fees and gratis delivery to a specific pick-upward locations in the St. Louis area.

A quarter cow is 110 lbs, half is 220 lbs, and whole cow is 440 lbs. We've chosen to sell our beef this way because we think it'due south easier for our customers and there are no surprises – you know exactly what yous're going to go.

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

• Live weight (or "on the hoof") is how much a moo-cow weighs when it's alive and walking around. This includes meat, bones, claret, etc.
• Hanging weight (or "on the rail") is after the animal is slaughtered and all the unusable parts are removed (like head, skin and hooves), Hanging weight includes bones 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 private cuts of meat that you will put in your freezer This is typically about 60 percentage of hanging weight.

And then, what does this hateful in plainly-terms? If you're told information technology'southward $iii.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 entire moo-cow (yous'll split up this fee if you're sharing with some other family).

No matter who you buy from, brand sure you know exactly what you lot'll be taking home earlier you buy so y'all accept adequate freezer space.

Shelf life of frozen beefiness

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

Packaging

Most farmers volition give you an choice betwixt paper, shrink wrapped, or vacuum sealing packaging. Nosotros recommend vacuum sealing because it will go on the beef fresh for longer.

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

How do you observe a local farm?

So, practise yous withal want to buy a cow? If you're in the St. Louis surface area, allow the states know. We are happy to answer whatsoever questions you may have.

If you're exterior of St. Louis, read our pace-by-stride guide on how to buy a cow from a farmer. It will tell you how to find a farmer, the right questions to ask, and how to know if you're getting a good deal on beef.

ONE More than THING!

Exercise you want to acquire more virtually beef? Join our weekly e-newsletter where we share farm happenings, recipes and beef availability. Sign-up and get a cheat canvass with 9-must-ask questions before buying beefiness directly from a farmer. Or, we have an unabridged ebook near beef that goes through purchasing and preparing beef from a cattle farmers perspective.

Here are a few other links you may like:

• Do Cows Have Teeth?
• What everybody ought to know about beef cuts
• Buying a Cow. How Much Beef Is Information technology?
• seven Steps to Grilling a Steak to Perfection
• How We Heighten Our Grass Fed Beef
• Piece of cake Beef Brisket Recipe (oven-roasted)
• The Best Subcontract Books for Kids

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means if you lot click on the link and purchase the detail, we will receive an affiliate committee at no extra toll to yous. All opinions are our own and nosotros but recommend products that we truly believe in.

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We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Plan, an affiliate advertisement plan designed to provide a means for the states to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Run into our disclosure policy for more details.

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Source: https://www.clovermeadowsbeef.com/buying-half-a-cow/

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