Order Beef
The Ordering Process
Your Options
1/4 Beef Share
When you order a quarter of a beef from us you will take home approximately 75-100 lbs of beef. Remember, you are taking home about 60% of the hanging weight. As a general rule of thumb one cubic foot of freezer space holds 25 pounds of meat. A small cube freezer with 4 cubic feet will hold your beef with a little extra room to spare. 1/4 beef is common provision for two people for one year.
1/2 Beef Share
When you order a half beef share from us you will receive approximately 200 pounds of beef. This will require a medium size freezer which has 8-10 cubic feet of freezer space. A half-a-beef is common provision for a family of four for one year.
3/4 Beef Share
When you order three quarters of beef from us you will receive approximately 300 pounds of beef. You can specify to the butcher how you would like it cut. Some will take steaks with half of it and make ground beef with the other 1/4. You can decide this with the butcher. Three quarters beef is common provision for a family of six or more for one year.
Whole Beef Share
When you order a whole beef share from us you will recieve roughly 400 pounds of beef. This will require a full size chest freezer or a medium sized freezer packed full. This will be enough beef to share with friends and family. Steaks and roasts make great Christmas gifts for family, friends and your boss.
Your Cost
Beef prices rise and fall like gas prices. They roll with the economy. We are currently selling our beef for $4.75 per pound, hanging weight. Our prices are subject to change.
Beef Language
Hanging Weight – After the animal is butchered, the blood drained, head, hide, feet, entrails (intestines) and internal organs are removed the butcher will weight it. Its close to 60% of the live weight of the animal. So if the steer weighs 1000 lbs going in, the hanging weight will be about 600 pounds.
Buying A Half – buying a half of a cow refers to purchasing half of the hanging meat from a steer. If the steers total hanging weight is 600 pounds (as our example above shows), you will be paying the farmer for 300 pounds hanging weight. If we (the farmer) is charging $3.75 per pound (that’s hanging weight), you will pay $1125 to the farmer for half a beef.
Meat Yield – you might ask how much meat will I end up with in my freezer for a half of a cow? A half of a cow roughly yields about 66% “finish to hang”. This means that if the hanging weight on your half was 300#, your yield would be almost 200# of beef in your freezer. The other 34% (from the 66%) is waste. Usually bone and fat that is tossed.
Front, Hind, Side, Whole or Split – This refers to the way the meat will be cut up at the butcher. We sell all our beef quarters (1/4) as a SPLIT. This is also referred to as a “half-of-a-half”. Because the cuts of meat from the front differ so much from the back we do a split in order to have a fair offering of both front and back. The butcher will split the front half and the back half and put them together. So you would get a rump roast and a chuck roast. Some of the front and some of the back evenly split.
Butchering
When Do We Butcher?
We butcher in February most years. The steer are around 22 months old and ready for butchering. We gently load them into the cattle trailer and haul them 20 minutes up the road to our butcher.
Where Do We Butcher Our Beef?
The area where we live has a many butchers to choose from. We have tried them all and have chosen our favorite. R. J’s Meats in Hillman, MN. Ron and Jenny are very easy work with, always willing to go the extra mile for you and Ron is very particular about how his beef is cut and wrapped. Ron has a farm of his own where he raises beef and has been in the butcher business his entire life. Jenny wont miss a beat with her contagious smile and personality, she is always there to help and is hard working. They have taken care of us year after year and our customers are pleased with the outcome of the beef.
What Will The Butcher Ask You?
Do not fear the questions the butcher will ask. Be ready with an informed answer.
- What size would you like your roasts? They will recommend 3-4 pounds. This size will feed a family of five or more in one meal. You can request larger or small. Larger roast will result in fewer roast and smaller roasts will result in more packages of roasts. You can decide.
- How thick do you want your steaks cut? How many per package? Standard is 3/4″ but you can do more or less. Some prefer 1/2″ and some prefer 1″. It’s your choice.
- How much ground beef per package? Standard is 1 pound but often we will do 1.5 pounds per package. It might depend on how many packages your prefer to have in your freezer. If you need to stretch it to last, then 1 pound packages are perfect.
- Do you want your round steaks tenderized? This is an option but they may charge a bit for it.
- Do you want the flank steak? This is a tougher cut of meat so often it goes into hamburger. But this is what fahita’s are made from. You might consider keeping this as steak.
- Do you want soup bones? How many? How much meat left on them? This is entirely up to you. If you like beef bone broth for soups in the dead of winter, then you will enjoy having a few soup bones in the freezer. Sometimes we keep a generous amount of meat on them for easy beef soup.
Getting to Know Your Beef Cuts
Ordering a 1/2 Beef
Roasts (3-4 pound packages)
Shoulder Roast – 3-4 Packages
Chuck Roast – 6-8 packages
Sirloin Tip Roast – 3 packages
Rump Roast – 1 package
Eye of the Round Roast – 2 packages
Brisket – 1/2 the brisket for 1/2 beef
Steak - Standard - 3/4" thick - 2 per package
T-Bone – 10-12 steaks
Rib Eye – 12-16 steaks
Flank Steak – 2 steaks
Round Steak – 8-10 steaks (tenderizing offered)
Sirloin – 6-8 steaks
Ground Beef - Standard - 1.5 pound package
You will receive approximately 60-70 pounds of Ground beef when you order a half beef
Other
Stew Meat – 8 – .5 pound packages
Short Ribs – 3-4 packages
Soup Bones – 5 packages
Important Note
It is important to note that the Half Beef Breakdown above is only a guideline of what is possible with your half share, it is not cut-in-stone. If you only desire a few steaks, and a couple roasts, you can absolutely do that. You do not need to order stew meat, short ribs, flank steak, brisket or anything else you may not use. You choose which steaks you want and which ones you don’t. Anything you don’t want will go towards ground beef. If it’s all ground beef you desire, you can do that also.
Cut Definitions and Uses
Chuck
Good Ol’ Chuck. This primal cut if from the shoulder and because a steer uses its should a lot, it’s a tougher cut of meat. Regardless, it is a very flavorful cut of meat. Some types of cuts from the Chuck are chuck pot-roast, short ribs, blade roast, ground chuck, flat-iron steaks and stew meat to name a few.
- You can ask to cut the whole chuck into roasts OR have it all ground
- You can have bone-in or boneless roasts
- They would ask you how many? (up to three for 1/4 beef) and
- What size? (up to 6lbs, standard roast size is 3-4lb)
Short Ribs from the Chuck
- Left on the bone for slow cooking. This is a common question butchers will ask wether or not you want the short ribs. If you do not, they will do ground.
Rib
The cows ribs and backbone make up the ribs. Ribs have a lot of flavor and marbling. This is where your ribeye steaks come from.
- Cut the whole rib into roasts (prime rib) OR ground
- How many roasts? Bone-in or boneless
OR
- All steaks from the Rib (ribeye)
- Bone-in or boneless
- thickness (range is from 3/4-2″, standard is 1-1 1/4″)
Short Loin & Tenderloin (T-bone/Tenderloin/NY Strip)
The Tenderloin sits beneath the ribs next to the backbone. Filet mignon is cut the from the tip of the tenderloin. T- Bones and porterhouse is cut from this also.
- T-Bones, Porterhouse
- Thickness
- How many per package (up to three)
OR
Separate Tenderloin & Strip
- Tenderloin – whole or cut into steaks
- Steak thickness and how many per package
OR
- Strip –Whole (strip roast)
- OR Cut into steaks (NY Strip Steaks).
- Thickness and how many per package
Sirloin
- Grind the whole sirloin
OR
- cut into steaks
- Steak thickness and how many per package
Round
The Round comes from the hind legs, thigh, butt and hams of the steer and are the largest muscles in the body.
- Eye of the Round – Roast or Ground
- Rump – Roast or Ground
- Top Round – Roasts or Ground
- Bottom Round – Roasts or Ground
Brisket
- Whole (1/4 brisket per 1/4 beef) or Ground
Flank
- Whole or Ground
Plate
- Whole skirt steak or ground
Stew Meat
- How many pounds per package (1lb. is standard)
Ground Beef
- How many pounds per package (1lb. standard)
Options to Keep
Oxtail, Liver, Dog Bones, Tongue, and Heart
Order Beef
After you have thought about the amount you need to feed your family, you can contact us and we can get you all the little details you need to know. Things like, exactly when we plan to butcher and when you will receive your beef.
Consider getting your name in early, because we only raise 4-6 steers every year. You can come out to the farm in the fall months to see your side of beef. Our steers are busy eating lush green pastures at summer camp from spring until fall and are not on our property. But if you really must see them we can take you 30 miles north to the farm vacationland where they are.