A few people on here have mentioned getting their meat at a meat market to cut down on cost. This is something my husband and I have recently been curious about. About how much does it cost for half a cow and what do you get when you buy it? Does it really save money to do that?
Thanks
It really depends on where you live. I would call a local butcher (not the guy at the grocery store) and see what they say.
If you are really looking for a half cow, you'd be better off looking at local farms/ranches - that's where you get the best deal on that kind of volume. I've even found local ones on Craigslist. Then you can go check out the farm, see where the cows live and what they are eating. Farms like this might only butcher 1-2 x's per year though. Alot of the ones around us, do it in the fall. As far as what you get, you might have some say, but I'd say the norm is something like this:
Roast - shoulder, rump, chuck, round etc.
Steaks - Ribeye, T-bone, Sirloin etc.
and burger
The part you might have a say in would be how much burger. They can take cuts like Round and Chuck and do roasts, steaks or burger with them.
The meat market we use has different boxes of stuff you can get. Usually the packages will be displayed. Like you can get one with a roast, 6 steaks, several pounds of hamburger, etc. You just pick one that serves your needs.
I love our local meat market. The butcher is a super nice guy. He often comes out and talks to me and will answer questions or make a special cut of meat if I need it. Big difference from our local big grocery store in terms of service, quality and price. Plus-I love to support local businesses when I can.
If you're looking for saving money--find a farm near you and patronize their market. I don't like having meat in the freezer for a long time, so I wouldn't buy a half cow, etc.....but we DO save $$ by shopping at a local farm.
if you want to save money, bypass the meat market and deal with a farmer directly. sample first (i got burned once, and it was an expensive lesson, but easily avoided) to make sure the beef is up to your standards.
about once a year i get a whole steer and round up 'investors' so there are 7-10 of us. we end up with 50-75lbs each (cut weight) and it costs us between $200 and $300. SO worth it.
khairete
S.
Location is going to be key on your cost. Also its usually per pound not really per cow so that will vary the cost too. Usually you can tell the butcher how you want your meat cut. This year we wanted more hamburger and less steaks - so thats is what we got. We usually don't eat a lot of steaks in the winter (bc we rather have them grilled) so we make sure to get plenty of roasts for the winter.This year we made sure to have 50 lbs of hamburger.
Yes - it saves us a ton of money. Steaks can go anywhere from 4.99 a lb to 12.99 to even 15.99 a lb. At the end of the day per meat cost us about $2 and some change per pound.
Plus the taste of the meat is sooo much better.
You can order 1/2 cows, etc from my butcher shop but I don't think it would be cheaper. Our guy offers a package of certain cuts for you.
Our butcher sells beef from the same places who supply the high end restaurants with Prime and Choice beef.
Typically, I purchase several each of ribeyes, NY Strips, Filets, ground round, tenderloin (filet) roast, and Prime Rib. We get our steaks almost 2" thick.
We buy high grade, good quality meats. The steaks we buy average $14 each (these are the steaks you pay $40+ for in a high end restaurant), my last Prime Rib with 3 ribs was around $60, and the tenderloin roasts (about 2#) are $40.
I probably spend about $200 on each visit and I go about once every 2-3 months.
Our guy sells a lot of Prime, Choice, Wagu, and Kobe
Before you buy a 1/2 cow, make sure you know the quality of the beef, is it aged?, how long?, A cheap cow could be a waste of money because the beef would be tough as a hockey puck.
Be aware of what you are getting....specify good, high end quality (Prime or some Choice products are good) The Wagu and Kobe are much more expensive.... it is good though!!
We have a meat market in town and the quality is great but 2 times the price of the supermarket. I am not sure if its different in the South. Your best bet, in my opinion is to buy what is on sale. Red meat is very expensive and not healthy anyway. If you buy what's on sale and eat it once or twice a week you will save a lot of money.
Well, you'd definitely need a large freezer.
And even in a freezer, it can only be frozen so long before it freezer burns.
The recommended freezing time maximum for beef is as low as 2-3 months for ground meat and up to 1 year for roasts. After the recommended time period, the quality goes down. However, as long as meat is constantly frozen it is safe to eat. It's just less tasty after it's burnt.
So what you really need to know is - how long will it take my family to eat half a cow?
We just don't eat that much beef.
Hi D., by meat market do you mean like a butcher shop? Or a larger market like a wholesaler who sell to restaraunts and retailers?
I use my neighborhood meat market often, rarely buy anything at the grocery store. All the butcher sop meat is Prime, grocery store generally carry Choice.
Also the larger retailers (such as Walmart) often work with enormous farms with unethical practices and envirnomentally unfriendly waste proceedures.
But PRICE wise, it's MORE expensive (SO worth it) to go to a butcher shop.
Like somebody else mentioned, some family run farms will offer large quanities to retail customers, least they do in my area, too much of a commitment for me!!
Now you got me wondering, when I go to the butcher shop tomorrow, I'll ask whether they sell half cows like you said and how much!
:)
But then
yes call a local meat market and compare their price to the place you normally shop at. I found for example Costco has a great price per pound on ground beef. Walmart has decent prices as well. But you will only know once you compare the costs per pound with your meat.
