I Bought Half a Cow

[BaxterBaker]

A few months ago I made a major change to my diet and I'm now eating whole foods of very high quality, a higher percentage of calories from high-quality fats, a focus on protein, and moderate carb intake.  

 

Part of this change in strategy includes buying grass-fed beef.  I found a farmer local to me (Wade) who claims to be a regenerative farmer.  He raises cows, pigs, and chickens.  He uses the "Chicken Tractor" method for his chickens, which I think is very clever.  I think it works well as long as he drags the tractors to fresh grass every couple of days.  The pigs are kept only in pens and I'm not sure what he feeds them.  They look well cared for.  I asked why he didn't put them outside and he said they are very destructive and will ruin their enclosure in just a few days.  Too much work.  I've decided not to buy pork from him because I found another farm near me that does keep their pigs outside and I'm more confident that this farmer feeds them better food as well.  I've ordered half a pig from this farmer.  

 

I bought a new 21cf upright freezer for $1,000 in preparation for all this.  I'm fortunate that I've got extra space where I am, due to my business, and I found a perfect place for it inside where it is conditioned space.  

 

I just got the half cow into the freezer.  Wade dropped everything off on his way through from the processor.  The meat was cold but not frozen.  The freezer worked hard for a couple of days getting it all down to temperature.  

 

I started this thread because I hope this information is helpful to those thinking of doing the same and because I have questions for the group.  But I'll wait to ask my questions as this thread develops - this first post is long enough as is.  

 

Here's a breakdown of the order:

 

Processing fee was $434.35

Wade's fee for half cow $1,350

Total $1,784.35

Per Pound of processed meat average $10.64 (not including bones for broth, fat for ??, and kidneys for my dog)

 

In pounds:

Total of everything received = 199.87

Meat other than Ground Beef Total = 75.69

Ground Beef Total = 92

Bones, Fat, Kidneys Total = 32.18

 

Individual cuts, total and breakdown of pieces:

Rib Roast

7.56

 

New York Strip Total = 2.17

1.06

1.11

 

Chuck Roast Total = 14.27

3.95

2.25

4.06

4.01

 

Rib Steak Total = 7.27

1.89

1.91

1.61

1.86

 

Skirt Total = 3.29

1.04

2.25

 

Flat Iron Total = 1.44

.52

.50

.42

 

Flank

1.68

 

Brisket Total = 9.51

4.59

4.92

 

Rump Roast Total = 12.83

2.68

1.69

3.69

2.07

2.70

 

Sirloin Steak Total = 5.45

1.28

1.28

.9

.9

1.09

 

T-Bone Total = 9.63

1.33

1.50

1.04

1.35

1.44

1.43

1.54

 

Filet Total = 2.27

.34

.34

.61

.55

.43

 

Bones Total = 17.68

1.42

2.72

1.65

2.38

.77

1.43

2.36

2.26

1.13

1.56

 

Fat Total = 12.44

2.47

4.99

4.98

 

Kidneys Total = 2.06

1.06

1.0

 

I didn't get the hanging weight of the cow.  

 

 

[Smithy]

Thank you for this detailed description. I'm sure it will generate a lot of good ideas and discussion. I'll start with an idea for the fat: your dog may wish some of it, but I'll also point out that beef fat, rendered to get the tallow, can make an excellent frying medium. It depends on your cooking style, of course. I have no idea how much rendered tallow you would get out of 12.44 pounds of fat; maybe somebody else will know.

[rotuts]

@BaxterBaker

 

thank you for starting this thread .  this is a fine start .

 

when you get to the various cuts , can you post of pic of a few of them ?

 

Id like to see what the cut meat looks like ,  intramuscular fat , etc.

 

and , generally speaking , where are you from ?

 

does this cow have a ' grade ' to it , if that's something in your area ?

[blue_dolphin]

@BaxterBaker, make sure to check out this earlier topic: Buying Half a Cow

[Dr. Teeth]

Looks like they ground most of the braising cuts?  Although it looks like you got a bunch of brisket and chuck.

 

Did you get any short ribs?   Did you get a hanger steak?

 

What’s your plan for the cow and what do you like to cook?

 

Also, I’m curious how the meat goes in the freezer.   Is it vacuum sealed?

[Dr. Teeth]

Hey, another random question.   Has anyone done something like this with another family/cook/carnivore with different  culinary preferences?

[Smithy]

12 minutes ago, Dr. Teeth said:

Hey, another random question.   Has anyone done something like this with another family/cook/carnivore with different  culinary preferences?

 

Please clarify your question. Do you mean, say, two families splitting a cow but asking for different cuts? And do note that BaxterBaker did this on his own, at least this time around.

 

@rotuts, he states in his "introduction" post that he's in Tennessee. But you raise a good question about whether directly-sold, grass-fed cows are graded the way wholesale, standard-commercially-sold cows are. @BaxterBaker, I echo rotuts' request for shots of the meat as you pull it out for cooking. I applaud your paying attention to the treatment and feeding of the animals.

[rotuts]

@BaxterBaker

 

Yes indeed , supporting local , and husbandry id a very fine thing !

 

I know you will truly enjoy every cut , burger , and meatloaf meatloaf.

 

P.S.  who got the tail ?   and cheeks !

 

congratulation on your project .

 

Yum Yum .

 

P.S.:  Id like to hear about that 1/2 ' hog'  ' pig ? '  

 

if you can manage it .

 

Quite some time ago , people who had the land , and , you bet help

 

raised 6 or so pigs .  maybe more , maybe less .  Breed unknown 

 

but this was before attention to breed , over all 

 

so , generic pig.  parts were individually gifted to local friends

 

a rack , loin and tenderloin , fresh , not injected etc , was gifted to friends of ypur

 

' up there ' , and we went over , and had roasted ' straight ' rack of lamb. 

 

I took care of the Jus  and made gravy from it

 

and made Mashed Russets    

 

it was very tasty.    and so very different from pork , in any way 

 

id had in a great great while .  Its a wonderful direction you get to enjoy following.

 

looking forward to it .

Edited Wednesday at 05:54 PM by rotuts (log)

[Dr. Teeth]

16 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

Please clarify your question. Do you mean, say, two families splitting a cow but asking for different cuts? And do note that BaxterBaker did this on his own, at least this time around.

 

@rotuts, he states in his "introduction" post that he's in Tennessee. But you raise a good question about whether directly-sold, grass-fed cows are graded the way wholesale, standard-commercially-sold cows are. @BaxterBaker, I echo rotuts' request for shots of the meat as you pull it out for cooking. I applaud your paying attention to the treatment and feeding of the animals.

My bad.   I was flipping back and forth between the two threads in buying half a cow and put that comment here by mistake.   I’m not offended if you move it to the other thread 

[pastameshugana]

15 hours ago, Smithy said:

I have no idea how much rendered tallow you would get out of 12.44 pounds of fat; maybe somebody else will know.

 

I asked this question to Dia (AI browser) and it gave me:

 

Estimated yield from 12.44 lb of beef fat 

Beef suet is roughly 70 – 80 % pure fat; the balance is mostly moisture and a little connective tissue that cooks away or is strained out. Seasoned Advice’s meat‐science contributors put the average fat fraction at about 75 %. ⁠ Redditors who routinely render at home report getting anywhere from 70 % tallow when they chop coarsely and rush the process to 90 % when the fat is finely ground and rendered low-and-slow.

⁠

Applying the mid-range 75 % figure to your 12.44 lb (5.64 kg) of raw beef fat: 12.44lb x 0.75 = 9.33lb

 

So you can expect roughly 9 lb of finished tallow. If your trim is especially clean and you grind or mince it before a long, gentle render you could see close to 10 lb; if there’s a lot of connective tissue or you hurry the cook, yield might dip toward 7½ lb. ⁠

 

In short, plan on ending up with about 9 lb of shelf-stable, ivory-white tallow from 12.44 lb of beef fat, with a plausible range of 7.5 – 10 lb depending on how meticulously and patiently you render.

[BaxterBaker]

19 hours ago, rotuts said:

@BaxterBaker

 

thank you for starting this thread .  this is a fine start .

 

when you get to the various cuts , can you post of pic of a few of them ?

 

Id like to see what the cut meat looks like ,  intramuscular fat , etc.

 

and , generally speaking , where are you from ?

 

does this cow have a ' grade ' to it , if that's something in your area ?

Baxter, TN, just outside of Cookeville.  Move here from Maine with my wife Laurie and built our home/shop about ten years ago.  Actually still building!  

 

I don't think there is any grade to this cow.  I saw 'USDA' somewhere in regards to this farm but I don't know if my cow was inspected by USDA.  I will ask.  When I spoke with the hog farmer, he said that the meat that he sells retail is USDA inspected.  I don't know if that's a requirement or not.  The inspection is optional when he sells a half or whole hog to a customer.  The cost is an extra $200 approximately.  I decided not to spend that because I'm certain that I'm getting the same hog that he would have inspected to sell retail, and is probably of the same quality.  Good idea??  

 

Here's a picture I took this morning - two small NY strips and 2lbs burg.  

 

Greg

 

 

[rotuts]

@BaxterBaker

 

Thank you for those pics.

 

I do recall that ' inspection '  can get expensive.

 

Nice packaging on that burger .

[BaxterBaker]

19 hours ago, Dr. Teeth said:

Looks like they ground most of the braising cuts?  Although it looks like you got a bunch of brisket and chuck.

 

Did you get any short ribs?   Did you get a hanger steak?

 

What’s your plan for the cow and what do you like to cook?

 

Also, I’m curious how the meat goes in the freezer.   Is it vacuum sealed?

I did a bit of research about how I wanted the half cow processed and this is the cut sheet that I came up with:

 

Cut Sheet Notes:

 

·       Grind all usable meat trimmings and less-used cuts into ground beef. Do not include organ meat in the grind.  Use only enough fat to achieve an 80/20 or 85/15 blend – target thirty lbs.

·       Roasts: ~3–4 lbs each or larger, standard trim

o   Chuck roast boneless – target six to eight roasts

o   Cut a rib roast off the chuck end of the ribeye  

o   One Rump

o   Bottom Round – target two to three roasts

·       Steaks: 1.5” thick, 1–2 per pack, standard trim (~¼" fat) 

o   T-bone with bone-in – partial filet (front part) – reserve the remaining tenderloin for filet mignon steaks – target ten to twelve T-bone and four to six filet mignon

o   Sirloin – target six to eight

o   Boneless Ribeye – target four

o   One Skirt

o   One Flank

o   One Chuck eye

·       Cut brisket into two portions, each containing part of the flat and point muscles

·       Include soup bones suitable for making broth (e.g., marrow bones, knuckles, neck bones); portion in ~2–4 lb bags so that I can make bone broth in batches

·       Please include 5–10 lbs of clean, external fat trimmings (e.g., suet or back fat), avoiding internal organ fat or gristle. Package in 1–2 lb portions for rendering or broth use

·       No organs

 

 

I like to cook roasts, especially slow-roast with veggies, and I also like to use ground beef a lot.  I eat about two ounces of GB each morning mixed in with two or three eggs and a bit of cheese.  An 'Egg Bowl'.  Quick and easy in the microwave and very nutritious and filling.  I love to make comfort chili, which takes about four pounds of GB per pot.  

 

I would love to have input from the group on changes to make to the cut sheet notes for a future order.  

 

Greg

[BaxterBaker]

4 hours ago, pastameshugana said:

 

I asked this question to Dia (AI browser) and it gave me:

 

Estimated yield from 12.44 lb of beef fat 

Beef suet is roughly 70 – 80 % pure fat; the balance is mostly moisture and a little connective tissue that cooks away or is strained out. Seasoned Advice’s meat‐science contributors put the average fat fraction at about 75 %. ⁠ Redditors who routinely render at home report getting anywhere from 70 % tallow when they chop coarsely and rush the process to 90 % when the fat is finely ground and rendered low-and-slow.

⁠

Applying the mid-range 75 % figure to your 12.44 lb (5.64 kg) of raw beef fat: 12.44lb x 0.75 = 9.33lb

 

So you can expect roughly 9 lb of finished tallow. If your trim is especially clean and you grind or mince it before a long, gentle render you could see close to 10 lb; if there’s a lot of connective tissue or you hurry the cook, yield might dip toward 7½ lb. ⁠

 

In short, plan on ending up with about 9 lb of shelf-stable, ivory-white tallow from 12.44 lb of beef fat, with a plausible range of 7.5 – 10 lb depending on how meticulously and patiently you render.

Thank you for the detailed information.  

 

I'm using high-quality fats for cooking and eating now.  No more seed oils for me.  Tallow certainly fits into that, however, given the time it will take to make it and then keeping it stored and easily accessible to use, I think I'd rather just use olive oil or avocado oil.  Thoughts?  Is there higher omega-3 in Tallow?  I'll have to check.  That would make me more interested in processing it.

 

Greg

 

[BaxterBaker]

I got a lot more ground beef than I expected.  That makes me wonder what I missed out on!  

 

I do like GB though.  It is very versatile and easy to cook.  

 

Greg

 

 

[Smithy]

1 hour ago, BaxterBaker said:

I got a lot more ground beef than I expected.  That makes me wonder what I missed out on!  

 

I do like GB though.  It is very versatile and easy to cook.  

 

Greg

 

 

 

Some years back I had a grass-fed beef burger at some upscale country club and it was wonderful. It's hard now to remember whether it was strictly due to the flavor of the meat, or there was something special about the bun and condiments as well. I haven't had as much luck myself with grass-fed beef burgers, but that was because my husband always wanted more fat in his, and strongly preferred hot Italian sausage and chopped onions mixed in with it. Someday I'll finish my stock of those burger patties we made, and then I'll be in a position to try the grass-fed beef burger again.

 

I would have asked for some stew meat rather than having all the trimmings ground into burger. Other than that I'm not sure what else I'd suggest from your list. Echoing an earlier question: did you get the tail? What about a cheek?

[rotuts]

Ive had grass fed beef twice , from a local farm that raised and butchered the meat

 

and sold it frozen at the town's farmer's market, in various cuts.

 

100 % grass .   the butchering was a bit uneven , where a slice of meat varied in thickness for each cut

 

and was uneven ,  the meat was very lean .

 

these were sirloin cuts.

 

both issues were solved w SV , then a torching.

 

the taste was quite different from feed lot beef , and I enjoyed it.

 

these pieces of meat would have been ruined by ' standard steak cooking , of your choice '

 

ending up tough and dry.  this thread got me thinking to go look for that truck on Saturday .

 

 

Edited 23 hours ago by rotuts (log)

[Raw/Cooked]

5 hours ago, BaxterBaker said:

 

 

I don't think there is any grade to this cow.  I saw 'USDA' somewhere in regards to this farm but I don't know if my cow was inspected by USDA.  I will ask.  When I spoke with the hog farmer, he said that the meat that he sells retail is USDA inspected.  I don't know if that's a requirement or not.  The inspection is optional when he sells a half or whole hog to a customer.  The cost is an extra $200 approximately.  I decided not to spend that because I'm certain that I'm getting the same hog that he would have inspected to sell retail, and is probably of the same quality.  Good idea??  

 

 

 

Definitely a good idea. There is no reason to pay for USDA inspection if you are buying a whole or half animal. Inspection is only required if the farmer wants to sell individual retail cuts. Fractional carcass sales are exempt. This kind of USDA inspection has nothing to do with meat quality. It is purely a food safety inspection and the inspectors are from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Quality grading is done by a different USDA division, its Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). In my experience small processors generally don't offer grading.

 

Price-wise I think you did great! It is expensive and a heck of a lot of work to raise quality animals in the most humane manner. You did right by not buying an indoor-raised hog. Pigs need room to root, forage, and run (they are surprisingly fast). 

 

 

[YvetteMT]

On 8/20/2025 at 11:22 AM, Dr. Teeth said:

Hey, another random question.   Has anyone done something like this with another family/cook/carnivore with different  culinary preferences?

I've done this a couple times- a couple bison, a couple steers and then we got a whole steer during Covid and 2 sets of friends split another whole steer. It is very commonplace to have a standard cut sheet from the processor that you can deviate from. IE-how thick you want steaks, (and what cut of steak you want), how much burger per package, stew meat, etc etc. My experience is that if you are getting a half or whole, you can specify how you want your cuts. Those farms that offer 1/4s typically do a standard cut only. 

 

Regarding meat inspection in the US- there are different types of inspection and most of these type of purchases (whole, half, quarter animal) fall under what is considered custom exempt. There is an inspector assigned to the slaughter facility but they are not being inspected for retail sale (ie, your local butcher counter at a local meat shop). 

 

Example of a custom cut sheet-

 

 

 

Edited 22 hours ago by YvetteMT (log)

[BaxterBaker]

2 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

Some years back I had a grass-fed beef burger at some upscale country club and it was wonderful. It's hard now to remember whether it was strictly due to the flavor of the meat, or there was something special about the bun and condiments as well. I haven't had as much luck myself with grass-fed beef burgers, but that was because my husband always wanted more fat in his, and strongly preferred hot Italian sausage and chopped onions mixed in with it. Someday I'll finish my stock of those burger patties we made, and then I'll be in a position to try the grass-fed beef burger again.

 

I would have asked for some stew meat rather than having all the trimmings ground into burger. Other than that I'm not sure what else I'd suggest from your list. Echoing an earlier question: did you get the tail? What about a cheek?

I've been eating grass fed ground beef for the last three months.  I can easily find it in any of the grocery stores around here, even at Walmart.  I am a bit skeptical of the source and quality of this beef, but I kept buying it because it was convenient and I knew in short order I'd be getting my own.  

 

The grass-fed ground beef that I bought locally tastes different than the grass-fed ground beef I was buying in the grocery store.  The GFGB that I got locally tastes and smells a bit gamey.  I'm having to season carefully to cover it up.  The GFGB from the grocery store tastes better to me - more what I consider normal.  So far, my GF beef is reminding me of the times I was served venison back in Maine.  It was a chore to eat it.  

 

I like your idea of stew meat in place of some of the GB.  I've added that to my cut list for next time. 

 

Greg  

[Smithy]

7 minutes ago, BaxterBaker said:

The grass-fed ground beef that I bought locally tastes different than the grass-fed ground beef I was buying in the grocery store.  The GFGB that I got locally tastes and smells a bit gamey.  I'm having to season carefully to cover it up.  The GFGB from the grocery store tastes better to me - more what I consider normal.  So far, my GF beef is reminding me of the times I was served venison back in Maine.  It was a chore to eat it.  

 

I hope you aren't talking about the ground beef you just purchased? What a shame, if so!

 

My mother learned about this recipe for venison marinade, which also works well on beef, pork and chicken. If you need careful seasoning, this may be of interest to you.

[rotuts]

@BaxterBaker

 

is ' locally '  the beef from your 1/2 cow //steer ?

[TdeV]

@Smithy, were you intending to add a recipe? (Not that I'll ever need it!)

[Smithy]

18 hours ago, Smithy said:

<snip>

My mother learned about this recipe for venison marinade, which also works well on beef, pork and chicken. If you need careful seasoning, this may be of interest to you.

 

50 minutes ago, TdeV said:

@Smithy, were you intending to add a recipe? (Not that I'll ever need it!)

 

Whoops! Yes, I had intended to include this link. Thank you for pointing out the lapse.

 

[Tropicalsenior]

9 minutes ago, Smithy said:

Yes, I had intended to include this link.

Thank you. It sounds delicious. Does it also tenderize the meat or does it just add flavor? Maybe with something like this, there's hope for the crappy beef that we get here, which by the way is all grass-fed. Not a feedlot in the country.