Kathie in Thorp
Well-known member
Locally, we have quite a few small producers that do butcher beef. And, of course, we get all kinds of questions from people that have only worked with the grocery store beef. A few months back, I wrote this up and shared it on the places the butcher beef people usually post, and they are free to share it with their customers. So are you; and you can change it as needed to fit what you do. Most of our beef customers are repeat people, but we did have a couple of new ones this year, and some folks that inquired but didn't buy; but it was so much easier to just email this out to them than to repeat all the info phone call after phone call.
"BUTCHER BEEF 101 CLASS: Butcher beef is on this page for sale, and I'm sure other butcher beef will show up within the next couple of months. I've had several people asking questions that have never bought local-grown beef before, so maybe this info might be helpful if any of you out there are thinking about doing this.
First, if you are buying a half or quarter, you will pay a deposit, and you are buying that beef "on-the-hoof", and paying to have it processed. In WA, I cannot sell you 4 packages of burger and 3 packages of steaks without going through USDA inspection. There are folks in the area that do (and can) sell you select cuts of beef via USDA regulations. Buying by the package, you will of course pay more $$ for roasts than burger, and more for steaks than roasts.
Grass fed vs. "finished" -- "Grass fed" animals are not fed grain. They are raised on grass pasture, but in this area, they have to be fed hay during the winter. There's lots of good quality hay here. "Finished" beef will generally be pulled off pasture for anywhere from 45-up to 90 days before slaughter, and put on a diet of hay and grain, which does increase fat but (unless they are over-conditioned), will add just enough fat for good marbeling, tenderness and flavor. Grass fed or "finished" is a personal preference. There is a difference in taste. Keep in mind that you can't get a steer that is half "grass fed" and half "finished." LOL!!
Okay, let's assume the entire carcass weighs 800 lbs. hanging (just cuz that's a nice, round number to work with) and that the price is $3 per pound, hanging . . . "Hanging weight" is head off, legs below the knees and hocks gone, skinned, and all guts/innards removed. 1/2 = 400 lbs. so a quarter would be 200 lbs. hanging weight. Those amounts are payable to the seller at the time the carcass has been weighed and is hanging at the butcher's, i.e., within a day or two of slaughter.
"Kill" or "slaughter" fee"per animal, depending on who does that job, will be probably about $75-$85 per animal, and usually the seller will ask that the buyers reimburse a proportionate share of that (at $75, 1/4 share would be $18.75).
The custom cutter is the person that will actually butcher/cut that carcass, wrap and package it to your specifications, and have it frozen and ready for your freezer. Custom cutter charges vary. Last year, our guy charged 50 cents/lb. to cut/wrap which adds adds another $100 if you have a 200-pound quarter, or $200 if you have a 400-pound half. Cut and wrap fees are paid directly to the cutter when the meat is picked up, usually a little over 2 weeks after slaughter. During that time, the carcass hangs in a cooler and "ages" before cut/wrap.
If the meat is ordered "boneless", total weight of the order will, of course, be less than if you wanted bones left in your steaks and roasts, and you wanted to keep ribs. Most of our folks do "boneless" because it takes up less room in the freezer, and most don't do ribs, but instead have rib meat put into the hamburger pile.
Lots of first-time beef buyers have asked me if their half will be the front half or the back half! One half is the same as "a side" -- half the beef, cut from neck to tail. The cutter takes instructions per half, and that way both buyers of a quarter get the same cuts of meat. Example: One roast for you/one roast for me; one lb. of burger for you/one for me; one sirloin steak for you/one for me, etc., etc. If you order an entire half, you can have that cutter do it any way you want.
It's a pretty big hit to your pocketbook to buy meat this way, since it's basically one shopping trip. But if you have the freezer capacity, and are able to commit the $$ to it, you can get your roasts, steaks and burger for about what you'd pay to go out and buy extra lean ground beef a package at a time. AND if you purchase from local producers, you will be able to find out exactly how that animal was fed and raised, and it's not likely you'll have to worry about hormones and antibiotics and other junk that comes from feedlot cattle to your grocery store.
End of class.
"
"BUTCHER BEEF 101 CLASS: Butcher beef is on this page for sale, and I'm sure other butcher beef will show up within the next couple of months. I've had several people asking questions that have never bought local-grown beef before, so maybe this info might be helpful if any of you out there are thinking about doing this.
First, if you are buying a half or quarter, you will pay a deposit, and you are buying that beef "on-the-hoof", and paying to have it processed. In WA, I cannot sell you 4 packages of burger and 3 packages of steaks without going through USDA inspection. There are folks in the area that do (and can) sell you select cuts of beef via USDA regulations. Buying by the package, you will of course pay more $$ for roasts than burger, and more for steaks than roasts.
Grass fed vs. "finished" -- "Grass fed" animals are not fed grain. They are raised on grass pasture, but in this area, they have to be fed hay during the winter. There's lots of good quality hay here. "Finished" beef will generally be pulled off pasture for anywhere from 45-up to 90 days before slaughter, and put on a diet of hay and grain, which does increase fat but (unless they are over-conditioned), will add just enough fat for good marbeling, tenderness and flavor. Grass fed or "finished" is a personal preference. There is a difference in taste. Keep in mind that you can't get a steer that is half "grass fed" and half "finished." LOL!!
Okay, let's assume the entire carcass weighs 800 lbs. hanging (just cuz that's a nice, round number to work with) and that the price is $3 per pound, hanging . . . "Hanging weight" is head off, legs below the knees and hocks gone, skinned, and all guts/innards removed. 1/2 = 400 lbs. so a quarter would be 200 lbs. hanging weight. Those amounts are payable to the seller at the time the carcass has been weighed and is hanging at the butcher's, i.e., within a day or two of slaughter.
"Kill" or "slaughter" fee"per animal, depending on who does that job, will be probably about $75-$85 per animal, and usually the seller will ask that the buyers reimburse a proportionate share of that (at $75, 1/4 share would be $18.75).
The custom cutter is the person that will actually butcher/cut that carcass, wrap and package it to your specifications, and have it frozen and ready for your freezer. Custom cutter charges vary. Last year, our guy charged 50 cents/lb. to cut/wrap which adds adds another $100 if you have a 200-pound quarter, or $200 if you have a 400-pound half. Cut and wrap fees are paid directly to the cutter when the meat is picked up, usually a little over 2 weeks after slaughter. During that time, the carcass hangs in a cooler and "ages" before cut/wrap.
If the meat is ordered "boneless", total weight of the order will, of course, be less than if you wanted bones left in your steaks and roasts, and you wanted to keep ribs. Most of our folks do "boneless" because it takes up less room in the freezer, and most don't do ribs, but instead have rib meat put into the hamburger pile.
Lots of first-time beef buyers have asked me if their half will be the front half or the back half! One half is the same as "a side" -- half the beef, cut from neck to tail. The cutter takes instructions per half, and that way both buyers of a quarter get the same cuts of meat. Example: One roast for you/one roast for me; one lb. of burger for you/one for me; one sirloin steak for you/one for me, etc., etc. If you order an entire half, you can have that cutter do it any way you want.
It's a pretty big hit to your pocketbook to buy meat this way, since it's basically one shopping trip. But if you have the freezer capacity, and are able to commit the $$ to it, you can get your roasts, steaks and burger for about what you'd pay to go out and buy extra lean ground beef a package at a time. AND if you purchase from local producers, you will be able to find out exactly how that animal was fed and raised, and it's not likely you'll have to worry about hormones and antibiotics and other junk that comes from feedlot cattle to your grocery store.
End of class.
"
