Buying meat in bulk...

[Smoke Daddy]

BBQ brothers:

I seek the sage advice of my peers! :shock:

Been kickin' around the idea of getting an upright freezer and buying a side of beef and/or a whole hog; both would be dressed out. Hoping to reduce the cost of this kick *** new hobby of mine!

Now what I need from you you fellers is:

1. how much does a side of beef or buthered pig weigh?
2. what size freezer do I need to fit all the meat in?

What have you guys been doing? :?: :?:

[redneck cooker]

SD, the way you determine what a hanging calf will weigh is by using 62% of the calves live weight. That is the standard all processing plants use,EX. live weight 1000lbs=630lbs for whole carcass, divided by2 and you have 315.5lbs of meat for one half of beef. After processing you will probably get home with about 75% of that or 237 lbs of meat for the freezer.

Pig kill weights are between 250-350 on hoof, they use 70% of live weight since 1996. The 75% of half weight is still approx. for what you bring home.Hope this helps.

[Smoke Daddy]

That helps big time! I will need a big freezer to store large quantities of meat, then.

[TAR RIVER RAT]

Would also be best, as in less work, to get a frost free freezer. The other ones are a pain to defrost.
Tar

[oldnndway]

That helps big time! I will need a big freezer to store large quantities of meat, then.

...or a real big pit to cook it all in at once.

[Fred]

I find I can get better deals on bulk meat by waiting for different cuts to come on sale & then stock up; that way I get more of what I want.

Labor day is comming & we almoast always get .99 Ribs; & .79 briskets...sales should start this Wed. (i will look for sure as I have a 50+ brisket cook comming Sept. 26th)

Good Steaks come on sale all the time;

[Smoke Daddy]

Did you say 99 cent ribs :shock: :shock: :?:
79 cent brisket :?: :?: :shock: :shock:

Hell....maybe I should move to Texas just for the sales on meat!! Then, I'd defininetly cook every weekend!! :evil: :evil:

[BigBird]

SD,
One more thing to add into the equation is what you are going to end up with. If you get half a side of beef you are looking at one brisket, one slab of ribs, and so on. Yes you will get some chuck and sirloin roasts and steaks. But it will also bring a fair amount of hamburger and the like. Drive on down to America and buy Texas beef. You can even get one on the hoof to take home.

Bigbird

[jshively]

I have done the side of beef thing. My parents and I went in half on the side. It ended up having a lot of stuff we really do not want.

I would follow the one suggestion and just stock up when you find it on sale. That is what I have been doing and the same with my parents. We get exactly what we want. There are so many freezer options just realize get more than want you think you will want. What started as just a place to store meat has grown into so many things plus it is nice to have the extra freezer space for parties for holding ice for the keg or ice cream for the dessert.

[Dieselmh]

I'm with Fred on this one. We used to raise and butcher out own beef, but since cattle prices have gone up, I find it's cheaper and better to just wait for sales and stock up on what you want. There's no need in buying a half cow just to end up with one brisket, one rack of ribs, and a lot of ground beef that you may not really want. If you think that you'll actually use/like the assortment, then go for it, but personally I like Fred's idea best.

[jshively]

I'm with Fred on this one. We used to raise and butcher out own beef, but since cattle prices have gone up, I find it's cheaper and better to just wait for sales and stock up on what you want. There's no need in buying a half cow just to end up with one brisket, one rack of ribs, and a lot of ground beef that you may not really want. If you think that you'll actually use/like the assortment, then go for it, but personally I like Fred's idea best.

Plus the other thing with hamburger is I like 92% fat free and normally you get whole hamburger when they butcher. To fatty for my tastes. Although when we had our side of beef they actually put about 3/4 of the meat into hamburger patties for free so that worked out really good.

[Qjunkie will]

Fred is right you can get a better deal by buying up large quanities of what you want when they are on sale