https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 23 May 2026 14:46:12 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow/page/2#post-1734467 Tue, 01 Jul 2014 14:08:42 +0000 MrsH 1734467@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we bought an 1/8 of a grass fed organic cow this year. Best meat ever! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow/page/2#post-1734465 Tue, 01 Jul 2014 14:07:03 +0000 aegie 1734465@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Wow that's interesting! I would definitely take up the offer if it was available. But are the cuts of meat all cut up for you by a butcher? Or are you literally stuck with a quarter cow? Cause I wouldn't know the first thing about butchering a cow! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow/page/2#post-1733803 Tue, 01 Jul 2014 09:43:31 +0000 bunnylovesbear 1733803@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is interesting. How long does the meat stay good for in the freezer? I'd be nervous I'd end up wasting it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow/page/2#post-1733439 Tue, 01 Jul 2014 07:29:37 +0000 Mrs D 1733439@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrsjyw: Its a farm in Lapeer...from what I understand you have to get a whole cow (split among whomever you organize)...when I get more info from my co-worker I'll let you know. :happy: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow/page/2#post-1733435 Tue, 01 Jul 2014 07:26:39 +0000 mrsjyw 1733435@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs D: Can you send/wall me the info on where to do that around here? :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow/page/2#post-1733431 Tue, 01 Jul 2014 07:22:55 +0000 Mrs D 1733431@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I brought the subject up again last night and think I am building traction. I told him that with the CSA (which also has a buying club) and getting beef and chicken from this farm we are eating almost 80% local. Then I did the shameless thing and said "dont you want that for your daughter"....I know I know....</p> <p>I think he is coming around! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow/page/2#post-1733047 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 18:38:11 +0000 StbHisMrs 1733047@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My parents raise steers for meat, since it's just the kids and I for a year we got a 1/2. Since eating grass fed (grained for the last two weeks) I'm not able to eat store bought meat, it doesn't taste good to me. There was only one year that it tasted "gamey" and they had a different butcher cut it that year. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow/page/2#post-1732814 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 15:42:27 +0000 LuLu Mom 1732814@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs D: Oh for sure, it's crazy how much you save when you have the meat on hand! I love it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732812 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 15:40:27 +0000 Mrs D 1732812@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LuLu Mom: I got real excited when my co-worker said this place had chicken too...I'd love to just have a freezer full of meat. Bite the bullet once on expense and have a freezer full for a long time! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732803 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 15:36:37 +0000 LuLu Mom 1732803@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Haha we do this all the time! It's a great way to stock up and overall cut down on food cost since we aren't buying meat every week. We do a cow with DH's parents/brother (we get 1/3) and this year we want to do a pig too! His family already butchers their own chickens so we have several whole chickens in the freezer. No hormones all grass fed! can't beat it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732790 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 15:30:37 +0000 MrsBrewer 1732790@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Grace: Yep we did. It's a real small farm (I think 20-25 cattle), and they had 2 bulls at one time, and they were getting a little too rowdy together I guess. So now they just have 1 bull! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732789 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 15:30:37 +0000 MrsPastryLady 1732789@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We would definitely do this if we had enough freezer space. As it is now we don't have enough :(</p> <p>If you have the space, I'd do it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732768 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 15:21:46 +0000 septca 1732768@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My parents do this all the time, with different types of animals. It's amazing!</p> <p>They have a butcher cut the meat and they can specify what cuts they want. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732756 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 15:17:13 +0000 Grace 1732756@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsBrewer: Would you have had a bull? Most beef farms castrate the males. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732588 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 14:02:00 +0000 Dandelion 1732588@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're getting a chest freezer so we can do this. Growing up, my parents did it all the time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732581 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 13:58:59 +0000 Pancakes 1732581@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I wish we were able to have a chest freezer, because I would love to do this! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732560 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 13:48:36 +0000 hilary 1732560@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did this and loved it. It was so nice to always have meat on hand and forced me to learn to cook cuts that I'm always afraid to buy. However, long term meat storage should never be in a frost free freezer. The mechanism that keeps the freezer from icing up can also remove moisture from the meat so a deep freezer is kind of necessary. We have a small chest freezer so it was a non issue for us, but that's just what our farmer/butcher said when we ordered. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732252 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 12:06:08 +0000 tinyperson 1732252@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My parents do this and buy from a local farmer that they know personally...everything I've had has tasted great! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732154 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 11:42:38 +0000 MrsBrewer 1732154@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Grace: You know...I've never noticed a taste difference if it was a bull. I think we had a bull last year, and then a cow this year. I'll have to ask DH if he noticed a difference! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732142 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 11:39:12 +0000 MrsBrewer 1732142@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs D: My husband and I do this! Since it's just the 2 of us, we get an 1/8 of a cow, and that normally lasts us 3/4 year. We are big meat eaters though! We get the beef from DH's uncle, he's a farmer and raises cattle for slaughter. Although I love it because I know that they are taken care of so well, and fed excellent quality food, and are able to roam and graze 24/7 on acres upon acres of land! :-)</p> <p>We pay $2.99/lb and we get all different cuts of meat. This year I think we paid $250...so a little over 80lbs of meat. (it was a small cattle this year for us!) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732122 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 11:32:33 +0000 RsMom 1732122@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Also, $2lb is a super good deal, but I'm in Canada so I'm not sure what you normally pay in the store for beef. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732117 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 11:31:07 +0000 Mrs D 1732117@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Grace: Thanks for the input. Its from a local farm so I think they offer the good packaging and knowledge of butchering!</p> <p>@locavore_mama: The $ includes butchering. DH is just I think picturing this poor cow and the concept of purchasing a portion of a cow makes eating red meat more "real" to him with regard to what he is eating. I'm probably going to just force him to get over it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732110 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 11:29:03 +0000 RsMom 1732110@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I grew up on a beef farm so we always had fresh beef. Since we don't have beef animals anymore we usually buy a 1/4 from a local farm and love it. Like @locavore-mama said, the burchering fee may not be included in the price.<br /> We have always asked for certain cuts, so that may be an option if you know that you will use one type more. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732073 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 11:21:45 +0000 dagret 1732073@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>if you have the freezer space - do it! </p> <p>I think we are getting some chickens from my aunt and uncle this weekend. hooray! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732065 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 11:20:31 +0000 regberadaisy 1732065@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Why does he think it's weird? </p> <p>We went in on a heirloom pig with my cousin in law, a friend of hers and ILs. it worked out great! The big thing is having the freezer space. ;) </p> <p>Because we got a heirloom, hormone free pig it wasn't necessarily cheaper than buying even standard store pork product. But it felt good knowing our pig wasn't injected, we were supporting a local farmer and the meat was so much more delicious. But unfortunately it's definitely not something we can afford to do often.</p> <p>Be sure to ask if there's a additional butchering fee, that's not always included in the $/lb. @Mrs D: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732049 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 11:17:40 +0000 Mrs. Confetti 1732049@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Would totally be into this if we ever had the bonus freezer to store it. BUT we rarely eat a ton of red meat (since it is pricey when organic/local) so it would be a big change. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732037 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 11:15:32 +0000 swurlygurl 1732037@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We get 1/4 cow every year and love it!! It's about time to get another one...</p> <p>@looch: I was a little bummed about that too, because we got a million 'Minute steaks' which I couldn't figure out. I finally made carne asada out of it and am going to try to trade my ILs for their's next time because it's my favorite now! It was kind of nice to try some new cuts (although I'm still not big on the huge roasts - not my fave) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732032 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 11:14:51 +0000 charmed 1732032@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My parents do this every year! We're hoping to get a chest freezer so we can go in on one this year. (don't have the freezer space right now) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732026 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 11:12:39 +0000 creativemomma15 1732026@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just did this for the first time and love it! We were able to specify what we wanted. We got a big variety of roasts, steaks, plus over 40 lbs of ground beef. I think the flavor is better and it tastes "fresh".</p> <p>ETA: They had everything properly packaged &amp; labeled to put it right in the freezer. Oh, and we also got soup bones and scrapple thrown in. We are giving away the scrapple. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-in-on-a-quarter-cow#post-1732023 Mon, 30 Jun 2014 11:12:25 +0000 Grace 1732023@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We do it, but my dad raises the beef, so maybe not exactly the same.</p> <p>You shouldn't find a difference in the taste unless they are trying to split a bull (beef in stores is from castrated animals) or an old animal. A bull will be gamier because the testosterone does stuff. Having said that, I've never noticed a difference and no one that's come over for dinner has complained. An old animal will be tough (and would be kind of a rotten move, trying to sell an old animal to you).</p> <p>If it's packages properly, with air removed from the freezer bags, you won't notice anything bad from it being in the freezer. Having said that, don't buy more than you can eat in a year. I find freezer burn happens more after that.</p> <p>Only other thing I would recommend is to make sure they have a butcher cut up the meat, not just someone who's looked it up on the internet. It's not fun to try to figure out what these weird fatty sinewy cuts are when people cut them up who don't know what they are doing. Also make sure they grind hamburger meat fine enough. The first year my dad did it with a grinder with too big holes. It made big chunky gross hamburgers.</p> <p>Otherwise do it! It's really fun to have steaks and hamburgers every week in the summer because you have a freezer full. </p>