If you've never bought a quarter, half or whole beef before and have questions like; how much meat can I expect? How much freezer space will I need? And what are my options for cutting & wrapping? Read on. We hope to answer all these questions for you.
All this starts with the hanging weight of the beef. That is the weight at the butchers before they cut up the meat into individual portions and remove all the extra bones & trim. We aim for our beef to have a hanging weight of 500-700lb. We can do our best to give you a smaller or bigger one if you have a preference, just let us know when you order. From the hanging weight you can expect 60-70% back in packaged meat, so you can expect 300-490lb. of meat back from a whole cow. If you choose to get all boneless cuts you will get less total weight back then if you get bone in cuts.
As for freezer space you will need approximately 12-20 cu. ft. for a whole beef.
Let's breakdown a beef some. There are 8 main parts to the beef, The Chuck, Cross Rib, Rib, Loin, Sirloin, Round, Brisket, Plate, Flank & Trim. Your options for each portion are as follows:
Chuck: Roasts, Steaks, or Ground
Cross Rib: Roasts - Bone-in or Boneless or Ground
Rib: Ribeye/Prime Rib Roasts, Steaks - Bone-in or Boneless, or Ground
Loin: T-bone steaks or Tenderloin Roasts/Steaks & Strip Steaks,
Sirloin: Roasts, Steaks, or Ground
Round (Inside/Outside & Eye of Round): Roasts, Steaks, Minute Steaks or Ground
Brisket: Whole, Half or Ground
Plate & Flank: Steaks, Short Ribs, Stew or Ground
Trim: Can be Ground and kept plain or made into Sausage or Patties.
You can also choose to keep the fat, soup bones, and/or organs (liver, heart, kidney, oxtail) if you would like. Anything you choose to grind could be kept plain or farther processed into sausages or patties.
Note: Quarter beef orders do not have the ability to choose your cuts, for more information please see this article: Quarter Beef
After you have decided how you want each part cut you need to decide what size packages you want. How big your roasts should be, how many steaks you want per package, how thick you want the steaks cut (3/4in is standard) and how much ground meat/stew do you want in a package.
If you are getting your meat/ground meat turned into jerky and/or sausage you can choose which kind(s) of jerky & sausage from the options on the processors website (Contact us for information on the butcher we will be using as we are in the process of finding a new butcher).
Below I have laid out the pricing and how that works out for a whole, half or quarter beef.
| Quarter Beef | Half Beef | Whole Beef |
|---|---|---|---|
Hanging Weight | 125-175lb. | 250-350lb. | 500-700lb. |
Packaged Weight | ~75-122lb. | ~150-245lb. | ~300-490lb. |
Amount paid to Farmer | $6.25/lb. (hanging) = ~$780-1094 | $6.00/lb. (hanging) = ~$1500-2100 | $5.75/lb. (hanging) = ~$2875-4025 |
Amount paid to Butcher (For Basic Processing) | ~$216-290 with GST | ~$432-579 with GST | ~$864-1158 with GST |
Additional for Sausages | $4.38-6.84/lb. Plus GST | $4.38-6.84/lb. Plus GST | $4.38-6.84/lb. Plus GST |
Additional for Patties | $1.99/lb. Plus GST | $1.99/lb. Plus GST | $1.99/lb. Plus GST |
Additional for Jerky | $10/lb. Plus GST | $10/lb. Plus GST | $10/lb. Plus GST |
Approx. Grand Total (Just Cut & Wrap) | $996-1384 = ~$11.34-13.28/lb. | $1932-2679 = ~$10.93-12.88/lb. | $3739-5183 = ~$10.58-12.46/lb. |
*All prices are just estimates based off previous beef and will vary depending on the options you choose*
*Prices subject to change, see processors website for details - Currently we are using Beaverlodge Butcher Shop *
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