Buying beef locally questions

[Grey]

Been thinking about this for a while and wanted to see if anyone had any experience buying a quarter half or whole from a local farmer and having it processed?

Anyone in the northern VA area that has a go to farmer/butcher?

Anyone have to convince the spousal unit to buy a freezer and that 100 lbs of beef is a good buy and will save money?

Thanks!

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[badf00d]

If you don't have one already, you'll want to get a vacuum sealer to go along with it. Best way to keep food from getting freezer burn, period. As in, much of it can go roughly 2 years if it's vacuum sealed.

[okie john]

Think bigger.

Don’t position the freezer/massive beef purchase just on its own merits, set it up as a strategic realignment of time, effort, and money that makes household life easier.

The freezer lets you buy and store all kinds of stuff in bulk, not just beef. You spend a day cooking soups, spaghetti sauce, stews, etc., then freeze them and use them later when you’re short on time. You make fewer short-notice trips to the store, you have more menu options, you save money by stocking up on stuff on sale, and you can buy stuff that’s cheap when it’s in season and hoard it for a while.

My girlfriend recently had two surgeries in six months and I had to do ALL of the support/logistical stuff. Having a freezer full of pre-positioned grub was a massive help.

It can also be a gateway to buying hunting rifles if you’re into that sort of thing.


Okie John

[Grey]

Hunting rifles are next, really want to go this year. How big if a freezer would you recommend? Minimum size would be good since I'd love a walk in but it's not realistic.

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[Peally]

If you preserve it a quarter/half cow goes a loooooooooong way.

[okie john]

Hunting rifles are next, really want to go this year. How big if a freezer would you recommend? Minimum size would be good since I'd love a walk in but it's not realistic.

It depends on what you hunt and how good you are at it. The Roosevelt elk I killed last year rendered 256 pounds of meat, which completely filled a freezer the size of a regular refrigerator. Most deer would be about a third of that.


Okie John

[Grey]

It depends on what you hunt and how good you are at it. The Roosevelt elk I killed last year rendered 256 pounds of meat, which completely filled a freezer the size of a regular refrigerator. Most deer would be about a third of that.


Okie John
I wasn't speaking specifically about a freezer for hunting just an overall size that makes sense if I wanted a quarter cow, possibly some pork and then other bulk items.

Total hunting noob, would be shooting deer first.

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[jc000]

Been thinking about this for a while and wanted to see if anyone had any experience buying a quarter half or whole from a local farmer and having it processed?

Anyone in the northern VA area that has a go to farmer/butcher?

Anyone have to convince the spousal unit to buy a freezer and that 100 lbs of beef is a good buy and will save money?

Thanks!

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Grey, you are in absolute luck.

One of my favorite people alive today is Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyface_Farm). Besides being (in my mind) an incredibly astute and entertaining crusader for personal responsibility and freedom, he is also a world-renowned farmer known for his beef, chicken, pork, and eggs.

While he's not "local" to you, you are able to drive to his farm outside of Harrisonburg and buy at their farm shop. (You can also go on an excellent tour, often led by himself). He doesn't deliver beyond a prescribed distance, but there are number of buying clubs (http://polyfaceyum.com) you can join if you can't make to to his farm.

Anyway, I'd definitely recommend giving Polyface a try.

[Grey]

Oh cool I've heard of Joel before. I'll check out the website. Plus my wife always likes am excuse to go see JMU.

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[Irelander]

Grey, you are in absolute luck.

One of my favorite people alive today is Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyface_Farm). Besides being (in my mind) an incredibly astute and entertaining crusader for personal responsibility and freedom, he is also a world-renowned farmer known for his beef, chicken, pork, and eggs.

While he's not "local" to you, you are able to drive to his farm outside of Harrisonburg and buy at their farm shop. (You can also go on an excellent tour, often led by himself). He doesn't deliver beyond a prescribed distance, but there are number of buying clubs (http://polyfaceyum.com) you can join if you can't make to to his farm.

Anyway, I'd definitely recommend giving Polyface a try.

AMEN to all that! Joel is the man and his beef is as healthy as beef can get.

[minengr]

I buy a quarter about every other year from a buddy that raises grass fed cows on the side. Being single, it lasts me awhile. I purchased a medium sized chest freezer several years ago. Everything easily fits. IIRC, my total cost including the processing and packaging came out to around $5/lb. That's for vacuum sealed steaks, roasts, and patties. With the exception of the occasional roast, it's the only way I purchase beef.

[UNK]

I buy a quarter about every other year from a buddy that raises grass fed cows on the side. Being single, it lasts me awhile. I purchased a medium sized chest freezer several years ago. Everything easily fits. IIRC, my total cost including the processing and packaging came out to around $5/lb. That's for vacuum sealed steaks, roasts, and patties. With the exception of the occasional roast, it's the only way I purchase beef.

Five dollars a pound seems pretty high. Around here it's in the three dollar range. Close to 5 dollars a pound let me buy my choice of meats by the pound processed at an approved processing facility. You should buy from an individual who takes the cow to be processed at a facility that vacuum seals.
Packaging the burger in one pound increments or 4 1/4 or three 1/3 pound patties is the way to go also. You will get a lot of burger.
Also any cow can have a peculiar taste. I have some burger right now that has that taste. So beware if you buy in quantity all of it will taste like that. The only choice is to eat it.

[Hambo]

1-Get a freezer alarm.
2-Not every cut of meat in a half/quarter is wonderful. If it were me I'd pick the steaks and roasts I wanted, then grind or chop the rest.

[David S.]

I totally have a man-crush on Joel Salatin. If I stilled lived in VA, I'd be buying my meat from them.

If you're just looking for local, conventionally raised, not pasture raised, then a local USDA butcher/ meat shop should be able to help you out. Can't help you there.

If you do go grass-fed, and I think you should, you probably have a farmers market who has a supplier. Farmer's markets vary significantly; some will have a meat supplier and some won't, so you may have to check out a few before you find one with what you're looking for. The Fairfax County Parks website, for instance, has a list of farmers markets and appears to list vendors too.

For instance,
Reston farmers market appears to have Smith Family Farm (Gainesville, VA)
Herndon farmers market appears to have The Lamb's Quarter (Owings, MD)

I don't know where in NOVA you live or anything about either of those vendors beyond their brief description, but may be a good place to start.

[NEPAKevin]

2-Not every cut of meat in a half/quarter is wonderful. If it were me I'd pick the steaks and roasts I wanted, then grind or chop the rest.

This is the first thing that came to mind. When I was a kid, every fall, my parents would go to Herferth's meat market and get a half a cow, the bulk of which would go into the freezer. By about mid-spring, mom was making stuff in the pressure cooker, the old fashioned kind with the steam whistle, that I do not recall by recipe name but half remember as brownish gray amorphous food like products. I'm sure that vacuum sealing and modern cooking techniques go a long way to preserve taste, but I still believe my childhood self had to eat parts of a cow that a plains Indian would have tossed to the Coyotes.

[RoyGBiv]

We had a side by side double freezer in the basement when I was a kid. Maybe twice a year mom would bring home a "side of beef". We'd spend an afternoon plastic wrapping meat. Plastic wrap, freezer tape, aluminum foil on the outside. Rarely ever had a problem with freezer burn. Now that I'm older, I realize that I never did get served any tenderloin. Ribeye was always OK by me. Still is.

[Cookie Monster]

My wife and I buy a 1/4 cow, a whole pig, a lamb, and some chickens every year from local farmers. It is the way to go. With two boys growing up we'll up it to a 1/2 cow.

Freezers are great for stocking up on fruit of the season or making a shit ton of stock and keeping it ready to go.

I would not think about anything less than 15 cu ft. We have that in a chest freezer as well as a 20 cu ft, stand up freezer. You dig more for things in the chest freezer, the upright is easier to organize and find stuff.

We have been happy with this:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Frigidaire-17-9-cu-ft-Frost-Free-Freestanding-Commercial-Upright-Freezer-Stainless-Steel-ENERGY-STAR/50358404

This could work:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Whirlpool-21-7-cu-ft-Chest-Freezer-with-Temperature-Alarm-White/50275039

The upright works as a good looking appliance if that is an issue. A chest freezer deserves to be in the garage.

Do it. Get the freezer.

[Grey]

After poking around the Polfyface website it looks like the have a meat csa near me. I have extended family in the area so I might up the order a bit to get a cheaper price. Just need the spousal unit to sign off to get this rolling.

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[David S.]

For freezers, Craigslist is your friend.

[JAD]

For freezers, Craigslist is your friend.

Maybe if you want to end up in one.

[Grey]

Maybe if you want to end up in one.
Haha, yeah I'd rather not buy freezers off Craigslist as the previous contents will be an unknown and the whole point is to have more control of where my food is coming from.

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[Shellback]

I think this is the freezer we bought: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Frigidaire-8-7-cu-ft-Chest-Freezer-White/999981792

1/4 cow will fill about 2/3 of one of the compact chest freezers.

[Poconnor]

My parents used to go in with my uncle and buy a cow from a local butcher every year. We got a "peculiar" tasting cow one year. They never did it again. I have a restaurant supply butcher locally. Every spring I stock up on steaks and fill a shelf in the freezer with ribeyes

[nycnoob]

I do not know about buying large quantities of meat, but I found this product recently and it looks really interesting


https://www.steaklocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/steaklocker2-600x600.jpg


Steak Locker
The World’s First Smart Dry Aging Fridge

Finally professional grade dry-aging now at home. What do you get when
you dry age with precision sensors and more computing power than some
laptops? More control, less waste, and more enjoyable Steak House
quality steaks than ever before.


http://www.ela-lifestyle.com/steaklocker/



Cabelas sells it

http://www.cabelas.com/product/STEAK-LOCKER-DRY-AGING-FRIDGE/2068845.uts


And it was recommended by The Food Lab's: J. KENJI LÓPEZ-ALT which was how I found it.





The other is the Steak Locker (https://www.steaklocker.com/), and this one is for serious dry-aged steak lovers only. This dedicated steak-aging refrigerator has a built-in fan and UV light, as well as trays to hold blocks of rock salt intended to help maintain humidity. A monitor in the fridge pairs with your smartphone and gives you alerts any time the temperature or humidity reaches dangerous levels. This is a feature that would have saved me several hundred dollars' worth of prime rib a couple of years ago when my aging fridge shut off over the weekend during a power outage. It's also got an ultra-sleek stainless-steel-and-glass design that's intended to be on display. This is the steak-aging fridge for people who want to communicate to their guests, "I AGE MY OWN BEEF." It's also pricey, at around $1,500—though, to be fair, it'll pay for itself after about 150 pounds of dry-aged beef, or eight to 10 full, untrimmed prime ribs.


http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/12/step-by-step-food-lab-reverse-sear-prime-rib.html

[nycnoob]

That refrigerator is too expensive for me (and where would I put it in my apartment)
So I am looking into Koji meat aging instead


Adventure Time in the Koji Kingdom | Jeremy Umansky | TEDxCLE


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrLV8XXaHn0




And there is this article on Koji and Jeremy Umansky's work

http://www.cooksscience.com/articles/feature/koji/