How to Buy a Side of Beef

The math does not work out for a side of beef.
Based on your numbers, you can buy ground beef for $2.49 (hint: ask the butcher to ground your London broil)or 47 pounds for 117, 12 pounds of roast for 48, 18 pound of steak for 6.99 for 126, and 3 misc pounds for, say, total of 9, resulting in exactly 300 cost.

The grocery store meat will be fresher (unfrozen), you will not be committed to eating meat whether you like it or not, and will be able to take advantage of good sales . Also, you are paying for the freezer (would you buy the freezer if you didn’t store all the meat? would you buy a new one when this one breaks if you didn’t?) and electricity costs.

According to http://www.stretcher.com/stories/05/05feb28a.cfm
their chest freezer costs $8 a month to operate. That’s *easy* to recoup in reduced costs. While raw meat can be easily stored in the freezer, cooked food can too, saving money on nights you just don’t have it in your to cook. If having cooked food around in the freezer is sufficent motivation to avoid going to a resturant, then many people will be better off buying an additional freezer.

–Michael

We’ve started buying organic/traditionally raised meat and free-range eggs from supermarkets and butcher shops, and make up for the additional expense by eating vegetarian more often. I don’t think the two of us would come close to going through a side of beef a year.

BTW, your picture shows Jersey (dairy) cattle instead of beef cattle. They’re pretty, but a milking cow at the end of her life doesn’t make very tender steaks. *g*

Another vegetarian here. Look at those cute little cows in that picture!! Poor little cows.

I became vegan about 4-5 months ago, and I’ve saved tons of money not buying meat. If you don’t do it for health or compassionate reasons, financial reasons are just as good.

Also note: eggs and milk are just as cruel as meat. Read up on it … you might be surprised.

And yes, meat is extremely unhealthy for you, so you’ll end up paying more in medical costs over the long run.

Becoming vegan is actually very easy, and while you might think you’ll miss the meat, I assure you, after a few weeks, you really won’t.

@Charlie Park: it’s good to hear that you are trying to reduce the cruelty of eating eggs and milk, although I doubt that it’s completely cruelty free.

The other aspect of eggs and milk, tho, is that they are unhealthy for you. High in cholesterol and saturated fat when you can get the same nutrients they provide from plants, without the bad stuff.

Lance and Stephanie:

Another venison fan here! Another thing that you can do if you don’t have the time/resources/etc. for going hunting yourself is to find a butcher who specializes in game animals. Hunters will drop off their kills and then never bother to come pick them up, and – especially toward the end of the hunting season, when their freezers are getting full – the butchers sell it at break-even just to get rid of it. I can routinely get venison, antelope, and elk for $2-$3/lb. (or less – I’ve paid 50 cents a pound in late February/March), and buy as little or as much as I need.

And game is leaner and chemical-free.

I have purchased several sides of beef. One was especially tasty, another just decent but better than any store bought. I like the juiciness of the meat, and if you have a hormone free source that certainly adds to the value. I would say that this type of purchase is not for the penny pincher, rather, for those who enjoy beef regularly, want to avoid the chain stores for the sake of quality, and aren’t afraid to spend some money on a product they will enjoy.
One suggestion when freezing beef, or anything for that matter, is to not freeze for long periods in a refigerator freezer, for most freezers circulate air with the fridge, causing the odors to intermingle and be picked up by the food.

We were discussing buying beef by the side last night around the camp fire. Someone brought up the term “tight side” of the beef. He was told that a cow always sits down on the same side and when it gets up, muscles and tendons get torn on that side, and that’s called the “loose side”, the other side of the animal is the tight side. The tight side is supposed to be better. No one ever heard of this and one of the guys worked in a packing house for 20 years.

Is this an urban legend or does it have a modicum of truth? It sounds hoaky to me:-).

For the person that asked about the difference in wrapping for store sale and long term freezer storage, the difference is big!

When you want to freeze, you want to get as much air out as possible. Most of your “tray packs” from the store are covered only with a very thin layer of cellophane. It traps air inside the package and fails to protect from ice crystals growing inside the package, as these are not vaccumed packed. They have also been exposed to warmer temperatures while waiting to be wrapped and might get contaminated by other meat cuts(your store opens a box of beef, that can contain cuts from several cattle. It is not uncommon for your grocery store to cut all one cut of t-bones, porterhouses, etc, from several boxes and several cows all at one time, then move on to the next primal cuts. A butcher, however, usually cuts one side at a time and cleans up in between, minimizing cross-contamination and bacterial growth).

For all these reasons, you want to get as much air out as possible as soon as possible and freeze it, so that the bacteria living on the surface of the meat can’t live without air and extreme cold.

My butcher, who cuts and wraps my entire half cow, uses a commercial vaccuum wrap to remove all the air from the package. Much of this meat is good for over a year after packaged, as long as it remains frozen.

If you want to buy meat at the store and store it for long term, the price of materials and skill level is really low. You will need a roll of “freezer paper” and “freezer tape”. The freezer paper is usually waxed on the inside and the tape is similar to masking tape, but withstands cold temperatures better.

If your meat has sharp bones, you will want to protect the meat with a small piece of freezer paper around the sharp points first. I also put a small sheet between each cut to stop color change and make it easier to thaw each cut seperately.

To wrap, put the meat in the center of the paper with the ends up and long enough to roll several times. Take both ends and fold together about 1/2 inch. Continue to fold down until you reach the level of the meat in a flat layer. Then, roll over and seal each end of the package like a Christmas gift, but being careful to remove all of the air as you go. Seal the ends with pieces of freezer tape and use a “sharpie” to mark the cut of meat and date wrapped.

This package should last more than 3-6 months in a deep freezer or up to 3 months in a normal refridgerator’s freezer section. (not as cold and opened way too often. Also, defrost cycles are not kind to long term storage).

I have also tried the home “bag sealer” systems, and find they don’t work as well as good ole fashioned freezer papper. The bags are way too expensive and frequently don’t seal well enough, for some reason, especially with pork products….maybe has something to do with the pork fat touching the inside of the bag. I do use the sealer for things such as cut chicken parts, to include split chicken breasts, thighs and boneless/skinless chicken breasts. I put each piece in a sandwich bag and freeze on a cookie sheet. Then, I put as many pieces as will fit in a vaccuum freezer bag and seal. As I use them, I take out only the pieces I need and reseal the bag.

But for better protection of one-use items (such as a roast or 2-4 steaks), the paper protects at least as good and is many times cheaper.

Finally, for those who think meat from the store is fresher than my high-quality, freshly killed cow that I get half at a time from my butcher, think again!!! My cow was walking less than 30 days ago from the time I picked it up. Many of the steaks you buy at your store are from cows that were killed last year, put in storage for as long as the law allows, and shipped in “cryovacs” (sealed bags) as large primals and shipped as your store orders it, and then cut into steaks. It is less fresh than 1/2 of the beef in my freezer!!!

I just received my new 1/2 cow and I am excited!!!! The cow was killed sometime during the week of of May 27th, aged about 14 days, and then cut up. I picked it up on June 16th. The half hanging weight was 349 lbs. I figure the waste from this cow at 20%, leaving about 279 lbs of cut meat.

I paid 12.50 kill fee for the 1/2 cow, and .45/lb for a cut and vaccuum wrap fee, plus $1.35/lb hanging weight meat cost. Before you continue reading, this is not Choice or Select meat. This is Prime or above. But even if it was lower quality, it is still a HUGE savings.

This brings the grand total for 349 lbs of meat (279 lbs packaged) to $640.70 Divided by the 279 lbs meat equals $2.30 per pound.

I am looking at a store ad right now that has 80% lean hamburger on sale for $$2.49/lb

Just to add envy, I only had to pay the $12.50 kill fee and the $157.05 cut and wrap fee. The $471.15 meat cost will be taken out of my paycheck $50.00 every 2 weeks! I challenge any other employer to offer this as a benefit to their employees!!!

Bottom line is, I am eating meat killed 2 weeks ago, safely vaccuumed packed and frozen to keep, fresher than the meat your store bought frozen in primals from a kill over 1 YEAR AGO and kept in cold storage.

Example savings….My store has Rib steaks on sale at $6.99/lb, sometimes you can find $5.99/lb

We had 4 great big steaks that weighed a total of 5.16 lbs. At the butcher price of $2.30/lb, these cost $11.87 If I could get this quality at a store (you can’t get prime at almost all stores), I would still pay at least that $5.99/lb on sale, which equals $30.91, a savings of $19.04 for 4 steaks, also a savings of 62%

We won’t even get into the t-bones, sirlions, or other cuts, as you can see, even the hamburger cost more at the store than my half-cow cost.

Of course, I did not add the few cents/day for electricity for my freezer, but I would have it anyway. No matter the source, I always buy large quantities at a low price to save money.

Just because your Porterhouse is on sale, doesn’t mean it was fresh…..freshly cut from a year old primal?

I know how fresh my meat is, have higher quality than the store can get, and pay less than hamburger cost for it.

Do you need any more reason to not buy beef from your trusted butcher?

Thanks again, JD, for your excellent posts.

Was a vegan for 5-6 years, switched back to full-on red meat after 9/11. Look, don’t let these vegetarians fool you…vegetarianism ain’t cheap. Once you consider that you shop at whole foods and other organic grocers (who just jack up the price) and then you have to eat like 5X at any sitting just to feel like you’ve eaten anything, it all evens out.

Plus, I was raised on a farm, and only a city slicker would have compassion for a cow. They’re just about the dumbest animals that ever walked the face of the earth.

To betamax:
in response to your comment about no one needing to buy a whole side of beef a year. I think you need to get out of the construct of thinking about the way you live.
Personally I am a bigger person-weigh 260 and am about 8-10% body fat. I eat a lot, and need a lot of calories to keep my body running as good as it can.
To your point about obesity does it have to do more with eating redmeat or not working out?
You might want to rethink your point.
T

I grew up on a ranch and we always had meat from our own cattle. We were also the only family I know of with two upright freezers in the house! (Dad usually brought home an elk every year too.) It has been hard to adjust to buying meat in a grocery store. If you are lucky, you might be able to buy frozen meat in bulk from your local butcher if you don’t have freezer space for purchasing a whole animal all at once. (we sure don’t)! Many butchers offer ‘package deals’ too, which depending on your tastes are a good deal or not. They will often swap out pieces you are unlikely to eat though, so don’t be afraid to ask. Overall, we probably spend more buying at the butcher. However, I am willing to pay a few extra cents a pound to have meat that is really good, and where I know the workers are treated decently. We stick to our grocery budget and just don’t eat expensive cuts of meat very often.

For the poster who said noone needs to buy a side of beef at a time. I am a single parent of five growing children. If I didn’t buy meat in bulk, our budget would be even thinner than it is. I also put up about 700lbs. of fruit and veggies a year. Truth be told, I don’t think I could afford quality food for this crew if I didn’t do that. I also barter quite a bit, being fortunate enough to live near a coastal community. So the effort and time put in to doing things in bulk provides us with a huge variety of fresh fish, venison, beef, pork, chicken, veggies and fruit at about half the cost. (Honestly, the money saved on fruit in the dead of winter is right up there with the savings from the meat.)