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How should I get my cow butchered

post #1 of 16
10/20/11 at 4:09pm
Thread Starter 
I'm getting 1/2 a cow (1/2 a black angus steer, grass fed and grain finished to be accurate), and honestly, have no idea how I should get it butchered. I will obviously get some ground, and some steak, and probably some made into sausage (there is a guy who does metwurst) but I'm really at a loss. There are going to be about 250 lbs of beef altogether. Anyone passing through Moscow ID, I can promise you some kick ass meat to eat.

Ideas? Halp?
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post #2 of 16
10/20/11 at 10:22pm
briskets for smoking? bones for soup? marrow to roast? tail for braising?
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post #3 of 16
10/20/11 at 11:00pm
Holy crap. I hope you have a big freezer. I guess it depends on which cuts you like to eat, and how you like to eat them. Personally, since you are a family of at least 4, I would have my steaks, rib, NY and fillet, cut at least double thick. Have stew meat cut into cubes, rather than having it whole. That will make life easier. You are going to end up with a shitload of beef.
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post #4 of 16
10/20/11 at 11:27pm
Id have the ribeye kept whole, in case you feel like doing a prime rib for xmas or easter. Its easy to cut your own steaks if you choose not to cook it whole.
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post #5 of 16
10/21/11 at 12:06am
Are you just going to bury it in the yard for "cold" storage? How the fuck are you going to keep 250lbs of beauf?
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post #6 of 16
10/21/11 at 8:52am
Thread Starter 
Thanks guys.

I'll keep all of that in mind. We also do a fair bit of ground and cube steak from less desirable areas - I like to make skillet burgers throughout the year, and have a weakness for minute steak from my youth. The idea about keeping the roast whole.

Matt, how thick is double thick? like, 3 inches? Also, any suggestions on decent, but not uber expensive, knives, and sharpening stones, irons? My current knives could not cut through butter. But I don't need anything awesome. It would be like giving me one of those sharkskin swimsuits. I'd still finish is the lowest recorded time, and possibly drown.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rambo View Post

Are you just going to bury it in the yard for "cold" storage? How the fuck are you going to keep 250lbs of beauf?

We have a big ass freezer. When the apocalypse comes, trepassers will be shot on site.
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post #7 of 16
10/21/11 at 8:58am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by iammatt View Post

Holy crap. I hope you have a big freezer. I guess it depends on which cuts you like to eat, and how you like to eat them. Personally, since you are a family of at least 4, I would have my steaks, rib, NY and fillet, cut at least double thick. Have stew meat cut into cubes, rather than having it whole. That will make life easier. You are going to end up with a shitload of beef.

Matt, I'm coming to SF in a few weeks. Not much time, but I'll be staying in Union Square (not cool, but close to where I need to be) and I can bring you some stuff - I think that I can fit some dry ice into my carry-on. The steak is being butchered today. I guarantee that it's better than most stuff you can pick up in SF. These local farmers really know their stuff.
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post #8 of 16
10/21/11 at 9:02am
LA guy, I am crazy jealous. nothing to add about butching, but I am jealous
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post #9 of 16
10/21/11 at 9:44am
My friends mom used to do this, and we'd eat steak all year whenever I visited my friend's house (daily) - just pan steak and huge broccoli florets, more like trees. If it were me I'd want the brisket, the ribeye, and the chateaubriand left whole so that I could smoke the briskets and cut the ribeyes and filets down for big parties or week long orgies of steak, the short ribs trimmed to Korean galbi cuts, the thighs cut into cheap steaks, tail, etc, etc, then the rest ground, and all of the marrow bones split. a 2" thick steak is serious shit, it will take some time to cook too. You can feed 2-3 on a big 2" steak.
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post #10 of 16
10/21/11 at 10:58am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by impolyt_one View Post

My friends mom used to do this, and we'd eat steak all year whenever I visited my friend's house (daily) - just pan steak and huge broccoli florets, more like trees. If it were me I'd want the brisket, the ribeye, and the chateaubriand left whole so that I could smoke the briskets and cut the ribeyes and filets down for big parties or week long orgies of steak, the short ribs trimmed to Korean galbi cuts, the thighs cut into cheap steaks, tail, etc, etc, then the rest ground, and all of the marrow bones split. a 2" thick steak is serious shit, it will take some time to cook too. You can feed 2-3 on a big 2" steak.

I cut to 1", I think.
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post #11 of 16
10/21/11 at 2:12pm
get a decent vaccuum sealer to make sure you don't freezer burn that meat !!
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post #12 of 16
10/21/11 at 6:46pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bradden View Post

get a decent vaccuum sealer to make sure you don't freezer burn that meat !!

yeah, the butcher will do all of that for us...
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post #13 of 16
10/23/11 at 12:03am
1/2? Holy crap. My parents typically order 1/8, and while that's not their only beef (still occasionally buy some from the store), it's a fair amount. As for the butchering, the way theirs works is they get 1/8 of all the various parts. The cow is butchered, then split up evenly among the orders. There's an assortment of steaks, roasts, ground, tips, and everything else you can imagine.

Also, grass fed beef fresh from the farmer is tasty as all hell.
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post #14 of 16
10/23/11 at 8:54am
how much does half a cow cost?
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post #15 of 16
10/23/11 at 7:33pm
I can't believe no one has mentioned the I Love Lucy "Side of Beef" episode

264
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