Anyone in the Raleigh area want to try this?

Basically, you're buying a half a cow (or more), which can be several hundred pounds but at a lower price per pound than a grocery store. ~$5.50/lb. according to this article.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/29/grass.grain.beef.cookinglight/index.html

The larger you buy, the more discretion you have over how the meat is butchered and the more people you have, the more you can split the price.

Besides the price, the benefit is that you're buying grass-fed, organically raised beef. The taste is considered by some to be superior, maybe even far superior.

2/24/2012 1:50:18 AM

We've definitely considered it, but could never find anyone we knew that would commit to it. You pretty much have to buy a dedicated chest freezer unless you just happen to have an empty one.

2/24/2012 6:53:55 AM

I'd totally do this if I had a chest freezer.



And a generator.

[Edited on February 24, 2012 at 7:40 AM. Reason : .]

2/24/2012 7:38:59 AM

I'm in for 2 lbs of ground beef.

So lets get to finding the other 100 people for this one cow.

2/24/2012 8:23:37 AM

We've seriously considered getting a quarter cow from Rare Earth Farms. If I remember correctly they'll even match you up with someone else looking for a share of a cow if you're not able to find a person yourself. We need to get a chest freezer for the garage first to make this feasible though.

2/24/2012 8:40:38 AM

When my grandfather used to raise cattle my parents would buy a whole cow once a year and we'd have it butchered and we stored it in a meat locker. Once a week or so my Mom would go by the butcher shop and we'd pick up some of our beef. It was fucking awesome.

If I could find a meat locker around here I'd be willing to throw in on this.

2/24/2012 10:09:01 AM

It bothers me that people go after grass fed beef because it is "leaner".

The Lipid Hypothesis (the idea that eating fat makes you fat) is quickly withering away. Fat, especially from grass fed beef, isn't bad for you. Eat up.

I would love to get in on this but my chest freezer is currently full.

2/24/2012 10:21:06 AM

People are all over grassfed beef because it has a different ratio of Omega 3s / 6s. Feeding cows what they don't naturally eat changes this balance yada yada.

Yeah the fat makes fat is kinda outdated. Eating an assload of nuts is filling. Eating an assload of white bread is not. But all grocery yogurt is completely fat free and loaded with sugar. Drives me nuts.

2/24/2012 10:34:26 AM

^ Not at Whole Foods/Earth Fare. You can buy all sorts of fat filled yogurt there

For me, I just personally prefer the taste of leaner cuts of meat. I don't eat it for health reasons. If that were the case I'd eat a lot less meat that I currently do.

2/24/2012 10:37:23 AM

I had no idea that grain fed cows are fed fucking chicken feathers and beef tallow until this week.

2/24/2012 10:46:42 AM

I want the vagina

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

2/24/2012 11:41:27 AM

I know some guys here in DC that did something like this, except they did it as a fantasy draft for the various cuts. so they went in a predetermined order based on some external competition to determine selection order, and drafted the cow meat.

2/24/2012 1:33:55 PM

i would totally do this.

2/24/2012 2:43:19 PM

^^ haha awesome.

2/24/2012 4:13:11 PM

my grandmother did every year. you do need a chest freezer, but it is awesome to have such a selection of beef readily available. it also seemed to be higher quality than grocery store beef.

2/25/2012 10:27:19 AM

grass fed beef tastes like grass to me

2/25/2012 10:55:44 AM

^ you have defective taste buds.

2/25/2012 11:08:56 AM

I like this idea. One problem is I don't like keeping meat in the freezer for months. If there are like 100 people to go in one cow once a week/month, we would have fresh meat.

2/25/2012 11:11:55 AM

Quote :

"I like this idea. One problem is I don't like keeping meat in the freezer for months. If there are like 100 people to go in one cow once a week/month, we would have fresh meat."

Granted, fresh is better than frozen. But...

Vacuum-sealed in a chest freezer is the way to go for long-term storage. It isn't uncommon for me to eat something from 2+ years ago and it tastes (and looks) just fine.

Normal freezers have defrosting cycles that go from freezing to thawing slightly. Chest freezers are generally just cold all the time. That, plus having the meat vacuum-sealed really helps keep things as fresh as possible.

2/25/2012 12:18:33 PM

Y'know, I didn't even think about vacuum sealing. I recall my grandparents doing this back in the 80s with plain old freezer paper and tape. Their meat was always the best. I can't imagine how much better it would be now with better storage techniques like vacuum sealing.

2/25/2012 12:26:19 PM

there are actually a lot of chest freezers on craigslist that are pretty inexpensive. I've never had grass fed beef so I'll probably grab a cut from Whole Foods to see how I like it but I eat a ton of red meat so this seems like it would be really good for me

2/25/2012 2:59:40 PM

My wife's family raised beef cattle for a while (up until this year actually). We would buy a quarter of a cow and it would last us a whole year. Kept it in a medium sized chest freezer and it only filled it about half way. Never had any freshness issues and it was nice knowing it hadn't been pumped full of hormones. Usually got about 20-30 lbs of ground beef and then around 20 steaks of various cuts (sirloin, ny strip, filet mignon) and then we would get around 10 nice sized roasts. When we placed the order, we could choose how we wanted everything cut though. Even up to the thickness of the steaks.


It was awesome and I would definitely consider doing it from a place like that now that we can't buy from the in-laws anymore.

[Edited on February 26, 2012 at 8:10 AM. Reason : s]

2/26/2012 8:09:40 AM

Quote :

"The taste is considered by some to be superior, maybe even far superior."

Yeah, that's definitely mental...and a great marketing strategy I must say. Was put in the minds of consumers by the organic farmers themselves.

2/26/2012 8:32:31 AM

I think that the vegetables I grow in my garden look and taste better than the stuff at the store. Also the chickens we raise and collect eggs from produce better eggs as well as taste better than hormone packed store bought chicken meat. This coming from sometime who does electrical work exclusively for purdue, mountaire, goldkist, and pilgrims pride. Is that mental?

At least if you get hamburger made from a local place it won't have the dna of 1000 cows like store bought hamburger.

2/26/2012 10:46:13 AM

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-differences-between-grass-fed-beef-and-grain-fed-beef/

[Edited on February 29, 2012 at 2:21 PM. Reason : ]

2/29/2012 2:21:05 PM