What to expect when buying a quarter of beef

Olly Wright - June 5, 2020

5  

Looks about right. Just know that pricing is going to be a lot higher right now than a year ago.

 

One thing worth mentioning is that you will end up with a lot of ground round in your typical quarter. Depending on what kind of cuts or meals you prefer, that may end up being too much of that particular type. If you have a big family, especially kids, you won’t even notice because they’ll probably eat anything. For me, I ended up with more than I wanted though neighbors were happy to take some off my hands.

 

THIS. Though it’s not so bad if you’re decent in the kitchen. The obvious ones are hamburgers, tacos and meatballs. But if you can figure out ways to dress it up or dig into different ways of preparing it, stews or good old Hamburger Helper, you can keep it from kinda dragging on.

I found this when looking for ground beef recipes that aren’t boring. It’s right there in the title haha but I don’t trust the one with Fritos.

https://www.pillsbury.com/everyday-eats/dinner-tonight/non-boring-ground-beef-dinners

 

Oh, I miss the generosity of the Midwest. Out here in NYC, my 1/4 beeve is going to deliver at 100 pounds or so. Not complaining: I scooped one of the last animals open for deposit in any of the farms I called in the Tri-State area. He also might dress them out smaller as he is fully pastured/no grain.

Per farmer, “Yeah, I’m glad you called, my animals have been selling out faster than ever before. I usually don’t sell out until a couple weeks before slaughter (August), but now I only have 2 1/4s left. Not trying to pressure you, but it will probably be sold by Saturday…” I gave him my card info over the phone.

@Bradical if you are giving away ground beef, I will send you prepaid shipping boxes 😉 I’m a NY guinea who will carry my pot of meatballs through the wasteland of the zombie apocalypse, so we need all the meats, bro.

 

Another, slightly tangental, thing this made me think of is what we learned at our first couple of visits to the butcher to pick up butchered hogs. The difference between live weight, hanging weight, and take-home weight.

Live weight: what the animal weighs when it was alive

Hanging weight: the weight after it has been slaughtered: the loss of the blood, fluids, head, viscera, lungs, hooves (and may or may not include organ meat, as you chose). Usually about 40% of live weight. Most places base their charge on hanging weight.

Take-home weight: home much meat you will take home. Approximately 60% of the hanging weight, though this can vary based on the amount of fat, and the cuts requested. So it doesn’t mean you are receiving less meat, you are receiving less fat and bones.

For example, you slaughter a 300lb hog and send it to the butcher:

• live weight: 300lb
• hanging weight: about 180lb (this is the weight you will be charged on)
• take home weight: about 108lb of meat