Buying a Whole Cow - From Finding the Rancher to Putting it in the Freezer and How Much We Got

[@randomloverboy]

I’ve been looking for this video!!!

[@FermentedHomestead]

Yay! I’m happy to help! I have a second one coming out if I can every find the time to edit!

[@edsmith4414]

Grass fed beef 1:26 "Had almost not fat on it, the meat was tough, it tasted gamey we were not happy with it" Yep..THAT is 'grass fed beef'. Most people have no clue. Grass fed ONLY is closer to venison than the beef you are used to. To get GOOD beef, it has to be grain fed along with pasture and hay.....not high grain diet piled on at the end, the only purpose of which is to increase weight (cattle sell by the pound), but a small amount of grain from the time they will start eating grain after they are weaned. THAT is what makes great beef.

[@FermentedHomestead]

If I’m ever raising my own I will have to try that! Our last couple of grass fed cows have been very tasty though! I think we just had a bad one. It is defiantly lower on the fat side which is unfortunate.

[@dyates6380]

Very informative video. Thanks.

[@FermentedHomestead]

I’m happy you enjoyed

[@TheEigerclimber]

most people in my area butcher at 1000lbs live weight and get around 450lbs of meat. 1300 and 700 is awesome!

[@FermentedHomestead]

That’s encouraging! Thank you 💜

[@showaltersmeats4377]

Bone-in verses boneless product makes a big difference in take home weight.

[@showaltersmeats4377]

also sometimes I see people getting confused between "hanging weight" and "take home weight" --- hanging weight is with all the bones still in.

[@edsmith4414]

Something off in your figures, I think. Live weight to hanging weight is normally in the 55-60% range. So it takes around a 2300lb pound cow to yield a HANGING weight of 1300lbs. (two halves hanging in the cooler) THAT is an incredible size for a cow....well outside what is normally sold for meat. 1300lbs LIVE WEIGHT makes way more sense....hanging weight (55-60%) of 1300lb live weight = 750ish lbs. Then depending on how much is deboned, you'd end up with 600lbs or so of actual take home to the freezer meat. Many farmers will sell beef in the 700-900lbs. (live weight). These are usually beef that are only a year or so old. Calf born late one year, weaned by early spring, raised on "grass" (with some grain or not), and they reach that weight by fall. Typically then, they would go to a feed lot at that point, and pounds packed on them by high grain diet. If you slaughter one before it went to the feed lot, you get a lower quality animal....it simply hasn't had enough time to fully develop. That takes 18 months to 2 years. Ofg course, buying one off a feed lot isn't much better.....that high grain diet results on lots more pounds, but it doesn't "marble" the meat well....the weight is simply excess body fat that goes to the rendering pile, not eaten. But they do it because beef is sold by weight...not the quality of the WAY it was raised. THAT is how I raise mine ( and how that last one you got was likely raised...why it tasted so much better). It costs more, because of the extra time, grain to supplement grass, and you have to feed hay for at least one winter.....but you get the best beef possible. And by 18-24mo, the live weight will be in the 1300-1500lb range, the beef is fully filled out and mature. I personally think it's a waste to slaughter an immature animal, but I have neighbors that do it all the time.....buy a weaned calf in the spring, send it to slaughter 6-8mo later to avoid having to over winter them and buy hay.

[@richardabarca4923]

Great info thank you

[@FermentedHomestead]

Im glad you enjoyed!

[@rescue302]

Thanks for video! Could you list all of the meat that you got? Or even a screen shot of the paper? Thanks. We are thinking about getting a cow but we’re curious how much of each cut we would get and you read off a very detailed list.

[@FermentedHomestead]

I’m happy to help! It’s pretty daunting to do for the first time. I’ll see if I can hunt down the list for you, I hope I saved it.

[@rescue302]

Fermented Homestead awesome!! Thanks so much

[@russellwood8750]

Interesting video enjoyed all of your knowledge thanks for sharing. I am about to do the same thing for the first time myself I am about to get half of a cow. So this is what I’ve been told what to expect. The cow is 2 1/2 years old it weighs about 1360 pounds. When they slaughter it and cut off the hide and bones and take out the innards the cow will use a little bit more than half it’s weight. So the hanging weight should come in around 600 to 630 I will be getting half of that so around 300 pounds. I was then told that from 300 pounds of a side of beef I will get about 180 pounds of beef so he will be use a little bit more than a third from that. The deal I’m getting from the farmer is four dollars a pound of hanging weight . And then for the butcher to butcher my side of beef he will charge me approximately $150 that’s for straight butchering not making anything like sausages or corn beef that will be a extra. So that works out about 7.5 per pound. My butcher told me he would put some of the meat but I’m going to use within the next couple of months in paper. He told me it’s good for 2 to 3 months in paper anything more than that and you can start to get freezer burn now freezer burn you can still eat the meat it’s just it dehydrates the meat so it’s not quite as tasty. So for the rest of the meat he’s going to vacuum seal it he’ll also put labels on everything by having it vacuum sealed it’s good for 2 to 3 years in your freezer without any kind of freezer burn getting to it. So it appears my process will be very similar to what you did I just hope it goes as well and I have as good as an experience as you seem to have had with your last batch of beef.

[@FermentedHomestead]

Sounds like you’re getting a great deal! Meat prices are so crazy these days!! You’ll have to let me know how it goes for you 💜

[@russellwood8750]

@@FermentedHomestead I'll let you know how it goes in talking to the rancher he was telling me that because of the way things went this year getting your hands on winter feed is going to be super expensive therefore it's better for them to sell off some of the head of cattle for less than trying to feed them through the entire winter. In addition my friend is a neighbor to the rancher and has about 150 acres himself but no animals on it and he allows the rancher to graze on the land the rancher gives him a little money of course but in addition he also gives him a cheaper price on a couple of head of cows each year. We tried to be very neighborly in this part of the world it creates a lot of Goodwill amongst people I guess.

[@victoriabryce1683]

Now that you have your own property do you think you will ever raise anything other than a cow after clearing land? Maybe chickens, lambs, pigs, ducks, turkeys? My favorite channels to watch about meat are Stivers, Justin Rhodes, simple living Alaska, roots and refuge.. there are many more lol living simple Alaska just put a video up processing bacon and sausage, you should go watch it!

[@FermentedHomestead]

I plan to do all of the above (in due time of course)! I watch all of those any chance I get! I watched that video last night and it all looked so yummy, making bacon is in my list at some point :)

[@aleleam5649]

I’m glad I find this video. I found a deal around the same; it’s 300 pounds less.. it’s about the same price. What are the things you wish they included? Cause you said you got the bones and fat?

[@FermentedHomestead]

I like to ask them to include all fat, all bones, heart, liver, tongue, tail, if possible the brain but ours are usually dispatched using a bullet so that’s not been an option yet. That time around we just got the kidney fat and soup bones, just an oversight because we usually like all and you have to ask for that here.

[@n.a.garciafamily]

Robert is a Tetris master.

[@FermentedHomestead]

Haha yes he is 😀

[@tellitlikeitiso4192]

1300 lbs that is a huge beef , for being that big it has to be grain feed , or it would take at least 3 years to grow that big on grass , it probably taste so good because of the fat, after a certain age or size cattle add more fat than meat

[@FermentedHomestead]

It’s definitely grass fed, we’ve bought 3 cows now from him. When we first ordered it I asked for the butcher to save all the fat (not just the suet) so I could render so he said he’d send us a bigger cow that he thought would have more fat…little did I know how big haha 😂 We were just careful to ask for a normal size one after that and it’s been reasonable, I did record the next one if I ever get around to editing it

[@tkendr01]

A 120 quart cooler holds 4 cubic feet of meat.

[@FermentedHomestead]

That’s good to know, thank you 😊

[@chrisc8001]

what kind of cow did you buy. Please and which rancher

[@FermentedHomestead]

I have no idea what type of cow and his name was Brian, advertised on local Craigslist

[@chrisc8001]

@@FermentedHomestead thank You for replying

[@paultribbett7765]

you got screwed bad ,,i paid $1.79 hanging wt. choice +,, but that's minnesota maybe less expensive up here 10/2021 ,,, shop around ask other people ,,,but your yield wasn't bad, ,boneless cuts reduce your end weight. grass fed yuck. good video

[@FermentedHomestead]

I think it is a matter of where you’re located, $3 per pound for grass finished beef is crazy cheap for this area, can’t touch it for under 4 anywhere else. Sounds like you got a great deal!!

[@latikaosby8165]

We’re did u buy it at that what I like to do

[@FermentedHomestead]

I found mine on Craigslist and bought it straight from the farmer 💜