Ok, so I thought I was the only one who has a refridgerator that is all 'fridge and a freezer that is all freezer. My friends think I am nuts but I do like to buy in bulk!

Totally. I would MUCH rather have fresh meat. It's not that much more economical to buy a 1/4 or 1/2 cow here, but it sure would be nice to have a stash in a freezer for convenience! Our markets are fun, but no matter how early you get there there's a long line & you might not get what you were after (eggs, butter, ribeyes etc) It's cheaper to buy a whole chicken, but large animals are about the same parts or whole AND you get to pick your cuts.

Also, if we bought a 1/2 cow here we'd be out of ribeyes and living off ground beef in no time! No fun!

My freezer does not hold "stash" of anything - it holds a bag of ice & my pyrex ready-made meals. That's it! I have to be really crafty about rearranging for our ice cream maker. It'd sure be nice to have someplace to stash my summer vegetables and 1/4 cow etc for spur of the moment bbq's.... and especially for lazy weeks in the rainy season (i.e. 10/12 months of the year) when we don't feel like going to the market. Uggggh!

My co-op does sell grass fed/finished meat, but it's not local. It's better than nothing absolutely, but I do like supporting my friendly neighborhood farms.

I am on a Costco membership search... maybe a neighbor? Heh, I don't know anyone who shops there!


Forgot to add my menu today. I'm not feeling especially hungry, but I'm sure I will at dinner!

Breakfast:
Cream in my coffee (I was all dizzy & absolutely NOT hungry... I had to do something!!! )

Lunch:
1 ounce pate
1/2 avocado
2 huge trumpet mushrooms in butter

Dinner:
Delicious Roast Chicken from Stokesberry Farms!


Though I don't ever want to see another radish or a chard, I can't let garden go to waste. Yes, we still have cool crops growing in the PacNW. Joy.

Any creative ideas?

Oooh, I'd like to find one like that. I could live without the freezer section, exception the ice cubes are handy.

Buying in bulk really pays off if you can get more unusual cuts. When we got a 1/4 hog, we got the regular deal that included lots of ham and some sausage and scrapple. I ended up not being able to eat much of that - BUT, the farmer said he also had a 1/2 hog deal where you got half the head, organs, all the good stuff. I'd love to do that now, but I think I need to wait until we have a fridge big enough to deal with pressing brains and curing our own hams and bellies.

1/2 cow yeilds 8 ribeyes and 80 pounds of ground beef.... uhh....

Only 8 ribeyes? Aw!

What about other cuts? Chuck roast, flank steaks, etc, etc? Or do they just grind up everything else?

I could probably handle 80 pounds of ground beef.... As a family, we probably eat 10 pounds a week.

YES - there are other cuts... 12 T-bones 6 Top Sirloins 3 Tips 5 Flanks etc. Mostly ground beef! We love our ribeyes - they're our favourite cut of beef. Once we (quickly) went through our 8 ribeyes my husband would be ready to kill his own cow. Just not worth it!

capmikee! That's only 8 weeks worth of food! You guys would zip through a whole cow in no time!

A LOT of that has to do with processing. One of the farms I buy from processes like this (copy paste from their website):

Typical Quarter of Beef

(Hanging weight is usually about 125 lbs.)
Steak 20-25 lbs
Roasts 15-20 lbs
Cubed Steak* 3-5 lbs
Short-Ribs 2-3 lbs
Ground Beef* 15-25 lbs
Stew Meat* 3-5 lbs
Soup Bones 2-4 lbs

I generally buy smaller bundles from this farmer -- his meat is out of this world but he is expensive. The cow I'm getting this week is 50% ground beef but fewer roasts. I actually prefer the ground beef. It's expensive ground beef, but not as expensive as the ground beef I'd buy if I were to buy it individually.

We eat about 3 pounds of meat per day except on Sundays where we eat 4 (I feed my parents once a week). That's why I buy in bulk! And am a member of a CSA . . . And still buy additional meat from my CSA

FYI - I got mine at Sears. It was relatively cheap for a fridge - ~$500?? Something like this only I don't think I bought a Frigidaire...

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...04501000P?mv=rr

I don't use much ice so I don't miss that too much! Especially since I can keep an entire shelf free in the fridge for water, sodas, wine, beer, etc...

Here's ours:

Bulk Beef Approximate Weights & Cuts
(Available in Whole, Half & Quarter)

Approximate Hang Weight

Quarter
140 lbs

T-Bone 6

Ribeye 4 (our favourite cut of beef)

Top Sirloin 3

Sirloin Tip 1

Top Round 1

Stirfry (Top Round) 3

Cube Steak ( Bottom Rd) 3

Tri-Tip, Flank, Skirt, etc 3

Chuck Roast 4

Arm Roast 4

Eye of Round Roast 2

Cross Rib Roast 4

Ground Beef 40

Stew Meat 5

Shanks 4

Short Ribs 5

Back Ribs 1

Brisket 4

Soup bones 5

Estimated Total (lbs) 100

My kids hate pot roast, but they've learned to eat it. My husband will eat anything and everything (raised in a poor family with a mom who was a traditional polish cook who would use most parts of an animal). Our favorite cut is the porterhouse, but in this area, it costs $20/pound for grass fed individually, quite a bit less if bought in a bundle.

Yeah, pot roast is not my favourite either - give me pork shoulder any time!

20/# no matter the cut? That's crazy! I can get grass fed/finished (from California - Eel River) ground beef at the co-op for 2.00/lb! The co-op often has manager's specials on aforementioned beef, but still... rather get it fresh from a local farm. Great in a pinch though! We're soooo lucky!


HA! I just saw you clearly wrote "for porterhouse" It's early!!!!

Hahahaha, here the cheapest ground beef at the supermarket costs at least $3 a pound unless you get really lucky on the manager specials. And who knows what's in that mess. Our local food coop is vegetarian :/ The only retail store to get grass finished beef is Whole Foods (we're a family of six, nuff said).

And yes, supporting your local farms is by far the best thing to do. It's a major reason I pay a premium price for my chickens.

I need to revisit how to cook pork shoulder. Last time I cooked it low and slow to break down all that connective tissue, but then it comes out dry and hard on the outside. Just overall I haven't been having really good luck with pork shoulder. Maybe I should be cooking it with moisture?

Taste-wise it's been kind of bland tasting. I ended up taking my last batch and chopping it up into small pieces and adding it to chili.