How Many Punds of Beef Are in a Cow

Are you thinking of ownership a cow? Accept you decided how much?

Almost people ordinarily retrieve about buying half a moo-cow, but did you know in that location other options. Yous can often buy a sixteenth, quarter, one-half, or whole cow from a farmer, so you lot demand to exercise research and make up one's mind what quantity is right for your family.

We've been selling beef directly off of our subcontract for decades. Without a doubt one of the commencement questions people enquire before buying a moo-cow is "how much beefiness will I actually get?" That question is usually followed by, "If I buy a cow, what role am I getting? The front one-half or dorsum half?"

The goal of this post is to show you how much beef you get when yous purchase a cow. We also take a pace-past-footstep guide on buying a cow from a farmer, including what questions to ask.

To put it in perspective, we've fabricated our domicile refrigerator the star of the video and photos.

We've taken these pictures twice, years apart. The first time we only took photos and we had a standard 18.one cu ft refrigerator with a freezer on top. The second time we did this, we fabricated a video and nosotros had a newer refrigerator – a 22.1 cu ft fridge with french doors and freezer on the lesser. Hopefully, seeing the beef in two different refrigerators will help put it into perspective even more than.

Jump to:

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

Is ownership a cow worth it?

Yes! The benefit of buying a cow is that y'all will save coin and get higher quality beef.

Every year, nosotros compare the price of beef from our subcontract to local St. Louis grocery stores. With Clover Meadows Beef, the price is approximately $v.45/pound for all cuts of grass fed beef. This is compared to $vii.03/pound at Walmart, $7.84/pound at a local St. Louis grocery store, and $9.86/pound at Whole Foods.

Delight annotation, every farm and beef processor prices beef differently. You lot volition need to practice your ain math on determining the price per pound if you lot're not in the St. Louis expanse and tin can't society from our farm.

Buying a sixteenth cow

Here'due south what our 22.1 cu ft refrigerator looks like with a sixteenth of a cow. At our farm, a sixteenth is approximately 25 lbs of beef. This includes thirteen lbs of hamburger, 2 Ribeye steaks, 2 Strip steaks, 2 Filet steaks, 2 Sirloin steaks, 1 Stew Meat, i Short Rib, 1 package Soup Basic, 1 parcel Beef Liver, and 1 Roast.

Ownership a quarter cow

Here'due south what our eighteen.1 cu ft fridge with freezer on top looks similar with a quarter beef, which is 110 lbs of beef. As you can come across, information technology'southward a lot of beef, but 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 moo-cow is unique and weighs something different, just hither is how it typically breaks out:

With a quarter you get about 50 pounds of ground beefiness, and the remaining threescore lbs of meat is in steaks, brisket, roasts, stew meat, ribs, liver, soup bones, etc. Please continue in mind that everything is based on the private cow and how the beef is cut, but typical, the remaining threescore lbs works out to be approximately 6-vii strip steaks, 6-7 ribeye steaks, 5-6 filets, 5-6 sirloin steaks, 2 short ribs, 4-5 roasts, 1-2 package of stew meat, 1-2 packages of liver, one brisket, and several packages of soup bones.

With a quarter, you also get the option of the one-per-brute parts like tongue, oxtail and center. Since at that place'south only i-per-animal, these are first-come-first-serve based on the other who requests them commencement.

Here's what our 22.ane cu ft refrigerator looks like with a quarter cow. Once again, information technology'due south 50 pounds of ground beef, and the rest of the beefiness comes in a variety of cuts like steaks, roasts, ribs, and brisket.

Ownership a one-half cow

So, what if you buy half a cow? What does that expect like? With a one-half a cow, you'll get approximately 220 pounds of beef. It includes 100 pounds of footing beef, and the rest of the beefiness 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 you would have some additional perspective 🙂

Buying a whole cow

With a whole cow you would go approximately 440 pounds of beef. Information technology will be approximately 200 pounds of ground beef, and the other 220 pounds are in cuts similar steaks, roasts, ribs, brisket, tenderloin, etc. On average, we've found that a whole is great for families of iii or more that eat beef with four or more meals a week.

Cuts of beef included

When you buy a moo-cow, y'all get a variety of cuts such as

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

Freezer space needed

The rule of pollex is 1 cubic foot of freezer infinite for every 30-35 lbs of cut and wrapped meat.

That means you'll definitely desire a stand-alone freezer when buying a moo-cow. If you don't have one yet, y'all can ordinarily get a proficient bargain at a warehouse store similar Sam's or Costco. We have both chest and upright freezers at our firm and we like both of them.

Our biggest piece of advice when buying a stand-alone freezer is to become one with a lock and fundamental.  This is very important for kid rubber reasons and because a physical lock volition brand sure your freezer is deeply airtight. Yous can besides purchase an aftermarket lock.

How much beef do you actually go?

When you lot 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 because it's all-inclusive – nosotros tell yous how much beef yous'll get for a specific toll. Our pricing includes all processing fees and free delivery to a specific pick-up locations in the St. Louis area.

A quarter cow is 110 lbs, half is 220 lbs, and whole moo-cow is 440 lbs. We've called to sell our beefiness this manner considering nosotros call back it's easier for our customers and there are no surprises – y'all know exactly what you're going to get.

The other mode to effigy out how much beefiness you'll put in your freezer, is to explain information technology with agronomics industry-lingo similar hang-weight and package-weight. If these terms are new to yous, here are quick definitions:

• Alive weight (or "on the hoof") is how much a cow weighs when it's live and walking around. 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, skin and hooves), Hanging weight includes basic and meat. Typically, the hanging weight is about lx% of the live 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 about 60 pct of hanging weight.

So, what does this mean in plain-terms? If you're told information technology's $3.75 per pound hanging weight, then expect to pay approximately $half dozen.25 per pound ($3.75 / 0.60)  PLUS the butchering fee, which is normally about $600.00 for the entire cow (you'll split this fee if you're sharing with another family).

No matter who you buy from, make certain you know exactly what you lot'll exist taking home before y'all purchase and so you have adequate freezer space.

Shelf life of frozen beef

Approximately 1-year if frozen and vacuum sealed. The amount of time volition be shorter if it is packaged in paper or shrink wrapped.

Packaging

Almost farmers will give you an option between newspaper, shrink wrapped, or vacuum sealing packaging. We recommend vacuum sealing because it will continue the beef fresh for longer.

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

How practice you find a local farm?

So, do y'all still want to buy a cow? If you're in the St. Louis area, let us know. We are happy to answer any questions yous may take.

If y'all're exterior of St. Louis, read our step-by-step guide on how to buy a cow from a farmer. It volition tell you lot 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 Thing!

Do you want to acquire more about beef? Join our weekly e-newsletter where we share farm happenings, recipes and beef availability. Sign-upwardly and go a cheat sheet with nine-must-enquire questions earlier buying beef directly from a farmer. Or, we accept an entire ebook virtually beefiness that goes through purchasing and preparing beef from a cattle farmers perspective.

Here are a few other links you may like:

• Do Cows Take Teeth?
• What everybody ought to know most beef cuts
• Buying a Cow. How Much Beef Is It?
• 7 Steps to Grilling a Steak to Perfection
• How We Enhance Our Grass Fed Beefiness
• Like shooting fish in a barrel Beef Brisket Recipe (oven-roasted)
• The Best Farm Books for Kids

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We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an chapter advertising program designed to provide a ways for us 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/#:~:text=With%20a%20whole%20cow%20you,%2C%20brisket%2C%20tenderloin%2C%20etc.

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