Buying beef locally questions

[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-...-STAR/50358404

This could work:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Whirlpool-2...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.