If you're like most, as soon as the first warm day breaks, you uncover the grill, attach the gas or load up the charcoals, and get to grilling. Nothing tastes better than those steaks or burgers with the grill marks, right?
How about driving four hours round trip to pick up those steaks, roasts and burgers?
Yep, that's our annual Beef Road trip...sometimes, there's an annual Pork Road trip also, but that's a different animal with a different pick-up date! Every year around January, our Farmer gives us a friendly call to ask if we are still "in" for our quarter, and then again about a month later to let us know he has dropped off the cattle at the Processor. A few days later, I call the Processor and order my cuts. It's a very satisfying process knowing where you beef comes from, and who is butchering it. The Processor will call us the very day the beef was processed, and after it has aged. There is always a mandatory 24 hour freeze, then we load up and take the drive out to Seward, Illinois and Eickman's Processing; a small scale, but award-winning abattoir that has thick-cut smoked bacon to die for!
Besides having the resources to pay for your Year's worth of beef up front, there are no downsides if you compare your Farm raised beef to Supermarket beef. Inside those neatly wrapped bundles of white butcher paper, is farm fresh beef. No red dyes, no plastic wrap, no styrofoam trays. Take these points into consideration when shopping for your family:
* You know exactly where all your beef comes from, and there is a Farmer attached to the welfare of your steer or cow. Supermarket beef may be a mix of meat from different animals, from different farms.
*With buying straight from the Farmer and ordering exactly what you need from the Processor, it is cheaper on average when you cut out the Supermarket middle man. Our 1/4 of beef in total (Farmer's price for cow, and processing with extras in packaging) cost us $2.15 a pound for 170 pounds hanging weight. That includes everything from hamburger patties, short ribs, roasts, brisket to prime steaks.
*And most importantly, by buying from your Farmer and Processor, you are sustaining your local economy, and supporting the all-important small-scale family Farmer.
A nice Rib Eye steak, still frozen from the Processor
Lastly, if you think you need a separate freezer for all that beef, it all depends on your family consumption. A quarter of a cow, or 60-70 pounds of beef will need about 3.5-4.0 cubic feet of freezer space, and will store for 6-8 months in butcher paper, or 10-12 months if vacuumed packaged. An average family of four, two adults and two children, will have enough of that beef to last about 6 months. If you are considering buying into a quarter or side (1/2) of beef, start by looking locally at U.S.D.A. Inspected Processors. They would certainly have pre-packaged meat, or may have Farmers looking to fill slots for beef...though many already have waiting lists! Good Luck, and Cheers to grilling season!
Pictured right: This is our quarter cow tucked away in our old side-by-side freezer.
No comments:
Post a Comment