How Many Pounds Is a Half Side of Beef

Are y'all thinking of buying a cow? Take you decided how much?

Most people unremarkably think about buying one-half a cow, but did yous know there other options. You can often buy a sixteenth, quarter, half, or whole cow from a farmer, and so you demand to do inquiry and determine what quantity is right for your family.

We've been selling beef directly off of our farm for decades. Without a doubt i of the first questions people inquire earlier buying a cow is "how much beefiness volition I actually get?" That question is commonly followed by, "If I buy a moo-cow, what function am I getting? The front one-half or back half?"

The goal of this post is to show you how much beefiness you go when you buy a cow. Nosotros too accept a step-by-pace guide on buying a cow from a farmer, including what questions to enquire.

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 autonomously. The outset fourth dimension we only took photos and we had a standard 18.i cu ft refrigerator with a freezer on top. 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 beef in 2 different refrigerators volition aid put it into perspective even more.

Jump to:

• Is ownership a cow worth it?
• Ownership a sixteenth cow
• Buying a quarter cow
• Ownership a half cow
• Buying a whole cow
• Cuts of beef included
• Freezer space needed
• How much beef do you actually become?
• Shelf life of frozen beef
• Packaging
• How practice you notice a local subcontract?

Is ownership a cow worth it?

Yes! The benefit of buying a moo-cow is that yous will save coin and get higher quality beef.

Every twelvemonth, we compare the price of beef from our farm to local St. Louis grocery stores. With Clover Meadows Beefiness, the cost is approximately $5.45/pound for all cuts of grass fed beef. This is compared to $seven.03/pound at Walmart, $seven.84/pound at a local St. Louis grocery store, and $ix.86/pound at Whole Foods.

Please note, every subcontract and beef processor prices beef differently. You will need to practise your own math on determining the cost per pound if you're non in the St. Louis expanse and can't order from our farm.

Buying a sixteenth moo-cow

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

Buying a quarter cow

Here's what our 18.one cu ft refrigerator with freezer on height looks like with a quarter beef, which is 110 lbs of beefiness. As yous can see, it's a lot of beef, but information technology all fits in the freezer (without the freezer shelf or water ice bucket).

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

With a quarter y'all get about fifty pounds of ground beef, and the remaining 60 lbs of meat is in steaks, brisket, roasts, stew meat, ribs, liver, soup bones, etc. Delight keep in mind that everything is based on the individual moo-cow and how the beef is cut, merely typical, the remaining sixty lbs works out to exist approximately half dozen-seven strip steaks, 6-7 ribeye steaks, five-6 filets, 5-6 sirloin steaks, 2 brusque ribs, 4-5 roasts, 1-two bundle of stew meat, 1-2 packages of liver, i brisket, and several packages of soup bones.

With a quarter, you too go the option of the one-per-animal parts like tongue, oxtail and heart. Since in that location's merely 1-per-animate being, these are outset-come-first-serve based on the other who requests them first.

Here'south what our 22.1 cu ft fridge looks like with a quarter cow. Once more, it's 50 pounds of ground beef, and the rest of the beef comes in a multifariousness of cuts like steaks, roasts, ribs, and brisket.

Buying a one-half moo-cow

And so, what if yous buy one-half a cow? What does that wait like? With a half a cow, you'll become approximately 220 pounds of beef. It includes 100 pounds of ground beefiness, and the balance of the beefiness are in cuts like steaks, roasts, ribs, brisket, and tenderloin.

Only for fun, we included a dozen eggs and a half gallon of milk in this flick so yous would have some additional perspective 🙂

Buying a whole cow

With a whole cow you would get approximately 440 pounds of beef. It will exist approximately 200 pounds of ground beef, and the other 220 pounds are in cuts similar steaks, roasts, ribs, brisket, tenderloin, etc. On average, nosotros've institute that a whole is dandy for families of three or more than that eat beef with four or more meals a week.

Cuts of beef included

When you purchase a moo-cow, you go a variety of cuts such equally

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

Freezer infinite needed

The rule of thumb is 1 cubic foot of freezer space for every 30-35 lbs of cutting and wrapped meat.

That means you'll definitely want a stand-alone freezer when buying a cow. If you don't take 1 yet, yous tin can usually get a good deal at a warehouse store similar Sam's or Costco. We have both breast and upright freezers at our firm and we like both of them.

Our biggest piece of communication when ownership a stand-alone freezer is to get one with a lock and primal.  This is very important for child safety reasons and because a physical lock will make certain your freezer is deeply closed. Y'all can as well buy an aftermarket lock.

How much beef exercise you actually get?

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

Our subcontract is somewhat unique in how we toll our beef because it's all-inclusive – we tell you how much beef you'll get for a specific price. Our pricing includes all processing fees and costless commitment to a specific option-up locations in the St. Louis surface area.

A quarter cow is 110 lbs, one-half is 220 lbs, and whole cow is 440 lbs. Nosotros've called to sell our beef this way because nosotros think it'southward easier for our customers and there are no surprises – y'all know exactly what you lot're going to get.

The other style to figure out how much beef you'll put in your freezer, is to explain it with agronomics industry-lingo like hang-weight and bundle-weight. If these terms are new to y'all, here are quick definitions:

• Alive weight (or "on the hoof") is how much a cow weighs when it's alive and walking effectually. This includes meat, bones, blood, etc.
• Hanging weight (or "on the rail") is after the animal is slaughtered and all the unusable parts are removed (similar head, pare and hooves), Hanging weight includes bones and meat. Typically, the hanging weight is about 60% of the alive 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 nearly threescore percent of hanging weight.

Then, what does this mean in plain-terms? If you're told it's $3.75 per pound hanging weight, then expect to pay approximately $6.25 per pound ($3.75 / 0.60)  PLUS the butchering fee, which is usually about $600.00 for the entire cow (you'll split up this fee if you're sharing with another family).

No affair who you lot buy from, make sure you know exactly what you'll exist taking domicile earlier you buy and so yous have adequate freezer space.

Shelf life of frozen beef

Approximately 1-year if frozen and vacuum sealed. The amount of fourth dimension will be shorter if it is packaged in newspaper or shrink wrapped.

Packaging

Most farmers volition requite yous an option betwixt paper, compress wrapped, or vacuum sealing packaging. We recommend vacuum sealing because it will keep the beef fresh for longer.

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

How practice you find a local farm?

And then, do you lot nevertheless want to buy a cow? If you're in the St. Louis area, let us know. We are happy to reply any questions you may have.

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

1 More THING!

Practice yous want to learn more about beef? Join our weekly e-newsletter where we share farm happenings, recipes and beef availability. Sign-upwardly and get a cheat sheet with 9-must-ask questions before buying beef directly from a farmer. Or, we have an entire ebook about beef that goes through purchasing and preparing beefiness from a cattle farmers perspective.

Here are a few other links you may like:

• Practise Cows Take Teeth?
• What everybody ought to know about beef cuts
• Buying a Cow. How Much Beefiness Is It?
• 7 Steps to Grilling a Steak to Perfection
• How We Heighten Our Grass Fed Beef
• Easy 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 purchase the particular, we will receive an affiliate committee at no extra price to you. All opinions are our ain and we simply recommend products that nosotros truly believe in.

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We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Plan, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for u.s. to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Encounter our disclosure policy for more than details.

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

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