Who sells parts of a cow for you to take to the butcher to have cut and packaged?

Question

I've heard people talk about the fact that you could buy half or quarter of a cow from somewhere and then have a butcher cut it up and package it for you. Then you can store this in the freezer and it will last for the year plus it's affordable.

My questions are:

How to I find the person or place that sells the cow meat?
Do butchers really do this?
How much is this going to cost? (Say for half the cow done the spine.)
How long will the food keep in the freezer?
Is there anything else I should know?

Thanks for your help!

I live in Houston, Tx.

Answer 1

if you have slaughter or packing houses in your area, you can call them, we used to buy from a packing house or raise our own and sell 1/4 or half to family.

It used to be a common practice, they ran ads in the paper every Sunday for 1/4 1/2 and whole beef

I am not sure what the cost would be now , but you can bet it will be about $3.00 per pound or so, guessing the average cow weighs 800 pounds, you would pay for 400 pounds, but it would depend on the weight of the cow

it will keep for 1 year in the freezer

keep in mind, when you buy part of a cow, you need to know if you are paying for the cow on the hoof [live] or hanging weight [slaughtered, gutted and skinned]

if you buy on the hoof, the price per pound will be a lot lower, but you will loose all the weight of the gut skin head and other parts not used.

if you buy hanging weight, make sure it is only YOUR half that gets weighed after the cow is split, so you don't get jipped

when you go to have the meat cut, the butcher will ask you how you wat it cut., some will explain the process, but what he is asking you is how thick you want your steaks, you will get all the cuts, such as brisket, roast steaks, flank steak ,neck roast, ground beef.

you will need to decide what cuts of meat and roast you want and how much you want ground into burger, personally I don't very often use flank steak or brisket, so I have some of it ground and mixed in with the hamburger

your hanging weight will be higher than your cut and packaged weight, expect to loose about 20% to excess fat and bone. the leg bones can be saved if you or friends have large dogs.

remember, buyer beware, not all meat houses will sell you good tender meat, make sure to ask for high quality corn fed beef. the $ is higher, but you will be happier with the quality and flavor.

you can also buy 4-H cows and find someone to share the cost, they are sold at 4H events at auction and provide the best meat.

also, is there are feed lots around, you sometimes can buy ready for slaughter, but again, you will have to find someone to share the cost.

have the packing house freeze the meat for you, it does not freeze fast enough in a home freezer and you can run the risk of spoilage by packing your freezer with unfrozen meat as the stuff in the middle won't get frozen for 3-4 days or more.
make sure you have a freezer large enough to accomidate the meat, find out about how much cubic feet you will need before hand usually a 17 cf freezer will hold 1/2 cow easily if it is empty

Answer 2

It depends upon where you live, if you live in a rural area there are farms that sell cattle. Also, some butcher shops have family deals were you can buy a side or quarter of beef. They do the break-down for you.

In a city, you still can find that service, but I imagine the price would be just a little more expensive.

How do you find this type of place?
Check your yellow pages under butchering or meats.

Affordable? Can be, but you really need to store the meat in a chest freezer not your refrigerator freezer. The refrigerator freezer typically goes through a defrost cycle which can be bad for the meat. If you already have a chest freezer than it should be affordable. If you don't then you need to add that to the expense calculations.

Answer 3

The way it was done in Iowa was that you had to know a farmer. Then if he agreed to sell you one, you ask to have it shipped to the locker/butcher (and pay for the transport) The locker would ask you what cuts you wanted and in what quantities. Then they package it and you pick it up.

I got a half a hog once like that. I think the butchering cost me about $150. And it stayed just fine in the freezer for almost a year. I only had to throw out a couple things...like lard.