Whether you are trying to save money on groceries, or if you want to have quality beef readily available, or if you just want to buy local, there are so many benefits to purchasing beef in bulk! I want to share with you my experience buying a quarter of a cow, along with purchasing tips and what to expect as you buy beef in bulk.
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Why buy beef in bulk?
PRO's
There so many benefits to buying beef in bulk, whether you buy ¼ of a cow, or if you are buying ½ of a cow (aka a side of beef). Wholesale meat prices tend to be much more affordable than that which you would find at your local grocer.
When it comes to meat prices, they are skyrocketing at the store pretty quick! And it HURTS! Much of the price that we pay at the store is transportation and storage. The meat you buy in your local grocery store may have come from up to 1000 miles away! That's pretty insane when you think about it!
Not only are you paying extra for transportation of the meat, but you are paying for it to sit on the shelf at your local store.
Another HUGE thing to think about, is that you don't know where that meat came from. You don't know the farmer that raised it. That cow could've been raised at a very large feed lot that you know nothing about and you aren't familiar with the packing plant either. I actually talk to my local farmer and know his name and I pick up my beef at a local packing plant.
I love being able to have a regular stock of delicious and lean beef in my freezer. I have all sort of cuts of steak, roasts, soup bones and ground beef. We will go through how to order a quarter of a cow later in this article.
Con's
One thing you do need to keep in mind is FREEZER SPACE! If you are ordering a quarter of a cow, you may be able to fit it into your freezer that is connected to your fridge, IF it is completely empty. And it's not even a guarantee. It is definitely prudent to buy a deep freezer or chest freezer if you are ordering beef by the side or quarter.
I highly recommend a chest freezer that is at least 7 cu. feet. My only regret when I bought my deep freezer, was that I did not buy a bigger one!
Another thing to think about is, would you go through enough beef quick enough to justify ordering it in bulk? I know for me, we definitely do. I have 4 hungry kids and we are all meat eaters.
If you don't think you could eat it all, you might want to consider splitting ¼ of a cow with someone, or just forgoing it all together.
I love having locally raised beef readily available to me at all times.
How much is a quarter of a cow? Half of a cow?
So let's get down to it. Is it worth it to buy beef in bulk? I think it is! The cost for me ends up being much cheaper than buying it at a chain grocery store.
How is the cost for a quarter of a cow calculated? The cost is calculated based on the live weight of the cow (a per pound basis) and the processing fee. Sometimes those are 2 separate fees that you pay for your meat. I get a bill from my local farmer and I also pay the meat packing fee when I pick it up.
So how much does a quarter of a cow cost? The cost of a quarter of a cow usually runs around $550-$650 total if you buy it locally (this is subject to change based on location, inflation, or type of cow etc.). You can double that if you want to know the cost of a side of beef.
NOTE: Beef that is classified as grass fed or grass finished will most likely be more expensive.
How much meat comes in a quarter of a cow?
This is a big question that I get asked most often when I talk about buying bulk beef. Check out my video here so you can see for yourself!
The amount of ground beef you will get in your bulk meat order will depend on which roasts, steaks and other cuts of meat you want. The more roasts, steaks, and stew meat you request, the less ground beef you will end up with.
I like to get as many roasts and steaks that I can get. There is also the option of getting stew meat and sometimes special cuts like flank steak, cow tongue and other things like that. So my order might end up with less ground beef than someone else's. I'm fine with that!
As you can see from the video, I ended up with over 40 pounds of ground beef, about 8 roasts that were 3-4 pounds each, 20 steaks assorted, special things like brisket, oxtail, soup bones and stew meat. I really can't say how many pounds of beef I ended up with. It's heavy and I usually need my husband to help carry in the boxes, because I'm old school like that.
How to buy beef in bulk
When it comes to how to order half of a cow or how to order a quarter of a cow, let me help you by explaining the process. It will be about the same whether you order a quarter cow or a half. How to buy meat from local farmers can be a little overwhelming the first time you do it.
If you are going through a local farmer, you will either place the order with them or they will direct you to place your order through the meat packing company. My farmer tells me when the steer goes into the packing plant, and once it does I call the packing plant and they walk me through the order.
They will ask questions like
- "Do you want round steak or cube steak?"
- "Do you want rump roasts, arm roasts"
- "How many pounds do you want your roasts to be?"
- "Do you want soup bones, heart, liver, tongue or oxtail?"
- "How thick do you want your steaks cut?"
- "What pound packages do you want your ground beef in?"
It's good to think ahead what you might want. Anything you don't want to get will be processed into ground beef.
I never get cube steak, so all of that comes as ground beef for me. I do, however, request flank steak, tongue (sometimes), and the oxtail.
I like my steaks to last longer and to go farther, so I request them cut around 1 inch. If you request your steaks to be very thick, then you won't get as many steaks.
I always get my ground beef in 1 pound packages. Some butchers offer to make them into hamburger patties also, but you need to keep in mind that the processing fee will be higher, the more packages and customizations you request.
Find local beef for sale
If you are looking for a local beef supplier near you, ask around. For the small percentage of my readership that is is Central Illinois and the surrounding areas, you can email me and I can give you some recommendations of local farmers who have cattle. Please click the button below and sign up and you can email me through there. I respond to all genuine inquires.
Where to buy beef online
If you live in an area that does not raise cattle, or you cannot find a local farmer, you do have options to buy meat online in bulk. Now, bulk meat delivery will almost always be more than buying beef locally. But if you don't have any other option it may work for you.
I recommend buying beef buy the quarter online through Agradime or through FarmFoods organic beef delivery, although this will be significantly more expensive than finding a local farmer by you.
If you don't want to order a large order of meat, Crowd Cow has amazing cuts of meat and ground beef (they are really good, but they don't offer it by the quarter).
Check out these other helpful articles also:
- What is Wagyu Beef? PLUS Where to Buy Wagyu Beef
- Crowd Cow Wagyu Review
- The 9 Best BBQ Gift Ideas - Gifts for Meat Smokers
- Unique Gifts for People Who Like to Cook
- The Chef & the Dish Review: The Best Online Cooking Class (plus coupon code)
- The 3 Best Truffle Oils
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