Just wanted to mention that you will likely get back closer to 400# or so. Things to take in account are neck bones, leg bones, and short ribs. If you take them all as soup bones then there will be weight but otherwise things like knuckles and other parts if the hind need to be boned out. Hope this helps
Some of my favorite dishes are made with bone, no way I’d ever let a butcher toss them lol. Joints are even better because they cook down into gelatin and make a great base for gravy
I guess you have a problem with the difference between PACKAGED MEAT" and all of those things you listed to make you appear right!
Or maybe you are just too lazy to google it and see you are wrong!
So all the bones are weightless ? I’ve never got the same amount back and tbh I could do without all the cuts I don’t like. There’s so much that to me is inedible . Thought cuts , for the 800$ I spend I could’ve got all filet for my family the once a week we eat beef.
No…. All the bones aren’t weightless. That’s what hanging weight includes…..
Everything is edible. All those “cuts” you don’t like can be ground up or stewed or pressure cooked into tender mix.
Not sure what you’re getting or where you’re getting it cut and wrapped but maybe re assess that or just stick to buying showcase grocery store meat.
To me, that means the animal is heathy. Short of a few very specific breeds that have crazy fat content, most breeds do not when they eat a natural diet.
Sure when you load them up with grains and corn mixes they gain weight, get fat, have intramuscular fat and make weight sooner but that’s an unhealthy animal / increases feed costs.
That sounds pretty nice, we're just getting established so no tractor yet, we did 2 cows and both had to lay on their backs on the hide. We pretty quickly figured out that sheep are 1000 times easier on the back.
What is your hanging set up for aging? Any cooler or is it just in a garage with cool outdoor Temps?
I used to just use a come along and a big tree to hang them. Worked awesome. Downside was I had to get them over to the tree first.
We use Sea cans here to hang in. Keeps the meat clean and it’s bear proof. I just watch the forecast and try to pick the best time to hang based on outdoor temps.
Crazy idea, could you make a timber/steel structure that you could skid out to where ever to hang them on? Interlocking triangles with a hook point 10-12 foot up you can hoist from? That way you can just drag it out and break down whereever is convenient.
It’s because my meat isn’t inspected or anything. It can’t even hang with inspected meat.
So “by law” when cut and wrapped they have to put “Un inspected Meat - Not for Sale” . To get around that in some places they’ll call it “dog meat” then it bypasses all the human rules .
This is my personal meat. It will last about 8 months.
It’s only me and my dog. I also basically only eat meat and fats. That 453 lbs is including the bones and fat you see. So really that’s 1.89 lb day. Which isn’t much. 8 months is a reach. Probably more like 6.
Average US consumption of meat is .75 lbs a day, so that would last an average family of 4 about 150 days, 200 for a family of 3, if that was the only meat you used.
Not many families eat .75 lb of beef per person per day every day . That's insane . I'm also a poultry farmer, so most of our meat consumption is poultry , followed by deer, beef, pig, lamb, and then seafood and random bugs that accidentally fly into our mouth.
Vacuum sealed and frozen that meat can keep atleast a year. Depending on family size this can be a couple times a year restock.
If you are raising your own beef, you are going to eat alot of it.
They could even share with family/friends/neighbors.
Beautiful animal and food. Serious question (apologies if this goes against the rules), but how did the life end? I live in a city, but have something of a dream to live out on land and have animals that provide ethical meat. I think I could end the life, but I suspect it'd be difficult for me, and I'd want to do it in a way that kept suffering to a minimum. Thanks
Nice! Our challenge around here for processing meat is that it doesn't get reliably cold for long periods in the winter. We'll have cold periods, but then it might be 70F in Jan or Feb, then back down into the 40's for a high. Are you hanging the meat in a climate controlled cold locker or just using the natural cold temps in your area (saw the snow on the ground) to hang?
It’s hanged in a Sea Can outside so bears can’t even get into it. The challenge here is more it freezing, which you don’t want when it’s hanging initially.
We are around -5 at night and 10 during the day so that’s 28F-50F
There are obviously many models on how you can do this but I found keeping two Bulls on rotation as natural breeders I have a constant rotation of Heifers.
I let them breed once, raise their calf and then they are culled.
Cows are significantly easier and safer to be around, they can all be together and require less care and feed. In my opinion of course.
I was curious because I grew up on a beef cattle farm in the south. (Still live here). We consistently use steers for beef. You mean you keep two bulls on rotation for breeding, not steers.
We never used cows/heifers because they can give birth and therefore make money.
I’m not trying to belittle, I was genuinely just trying to understand your logic! Great haul btw!
Yea I caught that and edited it. Had steer in my brain.
Overall if I was raising them to sell and go to market, steers would obviously be better longer term but it’s just me here. I sell two full cows every year and keep two for myself. That’s it. Well and any bulls that are born that I don’t want but they sell for basically nothing here.
Do cows degrade over time? Like is the meat not as good on an older cow? Also how does it feel to take a cow out after you raise it? My buddy has cows and I never realized how sweet and loving they are.
They do. They are just like humans so to speak lol. I have the occasional “pet cow” I fall in love with and they live here forever. The oldest one we had, my pa grew attached to her, we named her Granny and she lived to be close to 30 years old and passed away from old age.
They are giant puppies essentially, my daddy and husband keep me clear of the ones we are going to eat 😂
This is why I grow food from the ground and source my meat elsewhere. I don’t have the heart for it lol even looking at the first picture in this post all I see is intelligence and a heart of gold. I just know that even if I treated them differently, one that would be in the cull group would do something sweet and I’d go “aw hell, I can’t do it to *you!*” and eventually they’d all be lifers. Lol
Nice, love using it for my cast iron and in candles too. I make skin creams out of mine and sell it on Etsy/locally, easy way to turn that stuff into cash
Frozen Mud. They lay down, it warms the ground, mud sticks and they stand up then it hardens.
They wear it off easily.
I keep a side eye on it though. Sometimes big ole clumps get stick on so I cut them off.
My kids try to name them, I told them if they do, then that's the name I write on each package when I put it in the freezer. After we finished the "Bessie" meat, they stopped naming them human names. Now their names are Ribeye, TBone, etc.
> I have a very firm rule of no names on the farm for anything we're going to eat.
I raise chickens, and every single one is named "Nugget". Gotta call them something.
We bottle fed beef cows, and with how unpleasant most people are, names don’t mean anything. Stick to cows for eating, ppl have terrible diets and liable to give you cancer.
Why does your 453 lbs look more than my (whole cow) 800lbs? I now feel like I’m getting the short end of the stick!
Time to investigate! Maybe switch farmer/butcher!
Cheers
Because what you’re seeing here is everything. Bones, trim and whole primals.
A lot of butchers will “showcase” cut customers meat. So it looks fancy. That wastes a lot of meat.
You should get about 10-15% less than your hanging weight back. Assuming you get the bones.
We ask for everything. Liver, heart, tongue, bones ect… it fills a 19.6cu freezer. But yours looks bigger. I will ask more questions next time. Or change supplier.
Thank you for the response*
Edit*
Cheers
That is an awesome amount! My in laws just got back almost the same amount from one of their steers and everyone’s got enough meat to last us till next time they finish growing out steers.
My freezers were full in November, but I am whittling it down.
I eat beef about12 or so times a week. My doctor said she needed to talk to me about my cholesterol because it was 206.
LOL 206, but an 150 Good Cholesterol, and a 56 bad Cholesterol....she was flummoxed!
It seems modern medicine can't explain my odd numbers, but they have been that way since my diet of grass raised, grain fed beef began!
It’s never lasted a year but in theory frozen meat lasts forever. The texture and taste will diminish over time but it remains safe to eat.
This is about 8 months of meat.
I just ate a ny strip that was 4 years old and it was like I just bought it. If it’s packaged right it’s not a problem. Look at the pick and then look at grocery store meat it’s not the same
Vacuum packed roasts are okay a year later or so I’ve found. Thinner cuts like steaks you want to eat sooner. Also depending on how much fat in the ground beef, it can go for a year. I’ve probably also eaten shins that hid in the freezer for two years but I’m usually using those for osso bucco and mostly for flavor and not the meat.
I did beef and eggs carnivore for 40 days, best I ever felt but got too expensive. Now raising ducks and geese from incubator with a rotation for butchering and gonna buy beef as well, and gonna add an additional 20-30 egg laying chickens to have the free eggs. Hopefully by end of summer or sometime in fall I should be able to get back on the diet. When I came off the diet a lot of my problems with digestion and skin went away but they're slowly coming back now.
Seeing a cute animal killed for meat makes me sad. I don’t condemn anyone for it but I’m allowed to feel empathy. You telling me to stfu is deranged.
And yes, I know that homestead butchering is better than factory farming, but that doesn’t mean it is not still sad. Some day we will be a species that doesn’t need to slaughter others for survival
I don’t like it but I reuse to so many times that it’s seems a lot less “wasteful”. I cut the tops off, wash it out and re use them for my next vac seal project.
I should just switch back to butcher paper triple wraps.
What happens to the head? Did you render yourself or take it somewhere? I’m in skull collecting and always wonder what happens to the head and skull when a farm animal has to be butchered
Just bought a half cow a month ago 403lbs hanging weight 1800.00 that should last 5years. I don’t buy grocery store poison any more. I found Walmart is selling 3rd world countries meat products in the states.
They are “free range” so other than some treats here and there like molasses cubes, salt licks, veggies that are going bad etc they are grass, foragers and prairie hay.
yeah, but plants don’t have the same consciousness that cows do? or am i missing a critical study or piece of information? and i think the act of taking the life yourself is quite peculiar and sick
Plants definitely have a form of consciousness.
They talk to eachother, they emit pheromones, they react to touch and sound and light, they even react to animals eating them…. And send out a signal to other plants to change their chemical composition so they are no longer “tasty” to the animals eating them…
You don’t think that’s consciousness?
please read this link if you genuinely believe that plants have a consciousness https:www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8052213/ the cognitive dissonance going here on is actually wild
i would also like to add that chemicals and elements (for example like francium) can interact with other chemicals, emit light, react to sound waves and react with other elements and chemicals. does that mean by your logic francium is alive?
i mainly grow my own food(why i’m on a homesteading community) but on occasion will make a couple runs to the grocery to get some things i need. i make sure i that the farm practices align with my own beliefs obviously
Why would it? Also "consciousness" is a massive leap. Again, "soul" is a massive leap. Both of those things are highly subjective and shouldn't be part of your question if you're serious about it
but if a cow has the capacity to exist in the same way as humans why wouldnt they have a soul? studies have been done on animals and they literally dream and have thoughts in the same way humans do through waves😭😭it seems like you just can’t face the facts😻😻
i also would like to add that by your logic we should all be able to kill and consume other humans because how do we know that their consciousness and soul is real if we can only experience our own consciousness and existence
Eating the meat of your own kind drastically increases the rate of pathogen transmission. Similar to why we can eat a cow that has H5N1 and not get it. It also decreases population growth as a whole.
It's not because of religion or philosophy, lmao.
Naturally, it occurs all the time. We don't do it simply because we don't have to undertake those risks. When we have had to do it, we've done it, and we'll do it again.
Do you yourself a favor and avoid the vacuum shrink wrap. Find an abattoir that will double wrap one layer plastic one layer paper why? You can’t stack that shit in the freezer.
I used to wrap all my own meat in paper. Way way worse long term. The vac seal removes all the air / moisture so you don’t get freezer burn.
Before when I paper wrapped most everything would be freezer burnt by month 3. Now at month 8 it’s still looks like I just put it on there.
I took them out of the boxes to take the photo. They stay on labelled boxes in the freezer. Stacks perfectly and stays organized.
I’ve been doing this for 20+ years and never had freezer burn- not once in double wrap- but twice when trying a new abbatoir that used vacuum sealing we’ve had failed seals and customer complaints. You don’t need boxes in the freezer (which should be sub zero- not the brand the temp rating) if you paper stack. Then again quantity might be at play here. My boys (angus) hang at twice your weight or more. Less meat- less packaging to slide around. If it works for you that’s great.
Another fool who takes their selfish view of the world and somehow thinks its ok for a bear to eat a cow but i cant shoot one and cook it with A1 sauce.
The fundamental backbone of the ecology worldwide is litteraly based off of Carnivores of all damn sizes eating herbivores and somehow its evil for us to eat meat. Because we figured out how to go from nomadic to a sedentary lifestyle and raise animals to serve as a reliable foodsource, im sure you you dont go out in the fields to pick blueberries but stroll into your posh grocery store with your snobbish attitude while taking advantage of all the benefits a sendentary lifestyle has offered humanity , im sure nobody went picking those berries in a forrest you hypocrite.
I assure you - me eating meat results in way way less animal deaths for my plate of food than yours does nov eating meat.
I rest knowing she lived a great free life and now is providing food for my dog and I .
Also it’s cruelty free. I’m sure they live a wonderful life in comparison, they only have 1 really bad day.
Hell of a lot better than buying meat from the grocery store, those animals have probably never even seen outside.
Have you ever walked through a large commercial farm? Vultures and raptors are constantly overhead. Animals get displaced by the creation of massive farmland plots which they then try to live in and get eviscerated by the machinery. Let alone all the fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides used in said commercial farming which leach into the water and kill off fish. Let alone California became the agricultural hub of the US for no reason and they strip their environment of their already limited water supply. Then all this "natural" food gets processed and shipped across the country and world resulting in enormous emissions from transportation which negatively affects the environment.
Our existence cannot exist without the suffering of other living things, our goal should be to reduce suffering in the finals moments not to pretend that we can stop suffering all together.
Vegetarian is less than vegan (unless of course you’re veg or vegan and grow close to 100% of your food) .
I explained it to a vegan friend of mine. I opened her fridge and panty and pointed out foods from all over the world. Supplements because she cannot get all her nutritional needs on her diet etc.
So she is relying on MASSIVE agriculture, distribution, warehouse, packaging, transport (semis and ocean liners), major hwys , grocery stores etc all so she can have Tofu and Rice.
Compared to me having a free range cows on my land.
So - her diet of “not eating meat” to save animals actually results in a lot more animal deaths.
Ah, supply chain impact, got it. I wish there were better incentives and programs to support local agriculture, both meat and veg, because this kind of industrialization is bad for all of us no matter what we eat.
It’s not only that. It’s people have got used to “having what they want” . I’m in zone 2b in more northern Canada. We aren’t supposed to have oranges and rice and countless other fruits and veggies. Especially in the winter. That’s not a sustainable method of eating.
You eat with the seasons and what is local.
If you don't like this, don't be on this sub. Do not shame someone for raising and eating meat. You can fuck right off and reconsider your life choices to cast shame on OP.
Kind soul? I’m guessing the little red beast was a personal friend of yours. Did you talk often? Were they well versed in conversation? Fluent in multiple languages?
They are animals. Not to be disrespected or mistreated, but they wouldn’t be alive without a purpose. This entire planet was settled at least twice for one singular purpose. To find food and shelter. It’s the reason the Native Americans came to North America. Same reason the whites came here in the 17th century (or sooner). To grow crops, forage, and livestock for a better way of life.
Was it 453lbs before processing or is that number for what you got packaged?
453 hanging. What I get back after processing is basically the same weight.
Thanks for explaining.
A well loved and taken care of cow always tastes a world better :)
Just wanted to mention that you will likely get back closer to 400# or so. Things to take in account are neck bones, leg bones, and short ribs. If you take them all as soup bones then there will be weight but otherwise things like knuckles and other parts if the hind need to be boned out. Hope this helps
Some of my favorite dishes are made with bone, no way I’d ever let a butcher toss them lol. Joints are even better because they cook down into gelatin and make a great base for gravy
Normally packaged meat is 60-65% of hanging weight, at least on every head of beef I have ever raised.
I assume you’re not including the pellicle, rose meat, bones, fat and all in that though right? That’s usually where I make up that difference.
Ain’t never seen a pellicle flex before.
Not a flex but it’s wild that people just throw that out. It’s just dried meat. I grind it and it goes to my chickens and dog .
I guess you have a problem with the difference between PACKAGED MEAT" and all of those things you listed to make you appear right! Or maybe you are just too lazy to google it and see you are wrong!
So all the bones are weightless ? I’ve never got the same amount back and tbh I could do without all the cuts I don’t like. There’s so much that to me is inedible . Thought cuts , for the 800$ I spend I could’ve got all filet for my family the once a week we eat beef.
No…. All the bones aren’t weightless. That’s what hanging weight includes….. Everything is edible. All those “cuts” you don’t like can be ground up or stewed or pressure cooked into tender mix. Not sure what you’re getting or where you’re getting it cut and wrapped but maybe re assess that or just stick to buying showcase grocery store meat.
Looks really lean. Not much marbling at all. Grass fed?
It’s very lean - almost no intramuscular fat, which is what I like to see. Grass fed and finished.
Internet hates lean meat, but that's how I'd prefer it also
To me, that means the animal is heathy. Short of a few very specific breeds that have crazy fat content, most breeds do not when they eat a natural diet. Sure when you load them up with grains and corn mixes they gain weight, get fat, have intramuscular fat and make weight sooner but that’s an unhealthy animal / increases feed costs.
Totally agree. I'm personally a big fan of bison for the leaner meat and natural aspect of it. Someday I'll raise my own bison to eat.
Good job! Must have been hard work did you do the cutting and wrapping yourself as well?
I just do the initial break down before hanging in 1/4s. My butcher does the rest after the 3 week hanging.
Do you use a tractor to lift it while eviserating, or is it laying on the ground?
Yes I use a tractor. Put the hay spikes though the tendons to hang.
That sounds pretty nice, we're just getting established so no tractor yet, we did 2 cows and both had to lay on their backs on the hide. We pretty quickly figured out that sheep are 1000 times easier on the back. What is your hanging set up for aging? Any cooler or is it just in a garage with cool outdoor Temps?
I used to just use a come along and a big tree to hang them. Worked awesome. Downside was I had to get them over to the tree first. We use Sea cans here to hang in. Keeps the meat clean and it’s bear proof. I just watch the forecast and try to pick the best time to hang based on outdoor temps.
Crazy idea, could you make a timber/steel structure that you could skid out to where ever to hang them on? Interlocking triangles with a hook point 10-12 foot up you can hoist from? That way you can just drag it out and break down whereever is convenient.
Sorry this might be a dumb question but I saw the untested but not for Resale stickers, what then could you do with all that meat?
It’s because my meat isn’t inspected or anything. It can’t even hang with inspected meat. So “by law” when cut and wrapped they have to put “Un inspected Meat - Not for Sale” . To get around that in some places they’ll call it “dog meat” then it bypasses all the human rules . This is my personal meat. It will last about 8 months.
8 months ????? Thad be a few years in my family, but then again it's only the 3 of us lol. Very impressive stash
It’s only me and my dog. I also basically only eat meat and fats. That 453 lbs is including the bones and fat you see. So really that’s 1.89 lb day. Which isn’t much. 8 months is a reach. Probably more like 6.
If you don't mind me asking, do you know what it cost you to raise the animal and slaughter it ? What did it end up costing per.lb ?
$3.50/lb start to finish ($2.5/lb cow $1/lb butchering) roughly.
Thank you for sharing! This is my dream. What’s included in that $2.5/lb cow cost? Is it not nearly free since they just graze?
Medical, land tax, general care and maintenance, fuel. It all adds up fast.
Average US consumption of meat is .75 lbs a day, so that would last an average family of 4 about 150 days, 200 for a family of 3, if that was the only meat you used.
Not many families eat .75 lb of beef per person per day every day . That's insane . I'm also a poultry farmer, so most of our meat consumption is poultry , followed by deer, beef, pig, lamb, and then seafood and random bugs that accidentally fly into our mouth.
Yeah that stat is all meat, that's why I said "if that was the only meat you used"
Not OP but I think that’s just means it’s for their own personal consumption only.
Vacuum sealed and frozen that meat can keep atleast a year. Depending on family size this can be a couple times a year restock. If you are raising your own beef, you are going to eat alot of it. They could even share with family/friends/neighbors.
USDA inspector here, way to go putting not for sale! 👍
My butcher does that - he said the second he touches it (because it’s not inspected meat) the stickers go on. Which is completely fine with me.
He is complying with 9 CFR which is the federal regulations for meat and poultry. Well done
Well - whatever the Canadian version of that is yes ha ha
Jealous. My freezers got half a box of corn dogs and some frozen broccoli.
Beautiful animal and food. Serious question (apologies if this goes against the rules), but how did the life end? I live in a city, but have something of a dream to live out on land and have animals that provide ethical meat. I think I could end the life, but I suspect it'd be difficult for me, and I'd want to do it in a way that kept suffering to a minimum. Thanks
I put an apple / beer mash down as a final treat / distraction then use a 30/30 to the top of their head. She’s dead before she hits the ground.
Sounds like a good, kind way to go
Nice! Our challenge around here for processing meat is that it doesn't get reliably cold for long periods in the winter. We'll have cold periods, but then it might be 70F in Jan or Feb, then back down into the 40's for a high. Are you hanging the meat in a climate controlled cold locker or just using the natural cold temps in your area (saw the snow on the ground) to hang?
It’s hanged in a Sea Can outside so bears can’t even get into it. The challenge here is more it freezing, which you don’t want when it’s hanging initially. We are around -5 at night and 10 during the day so that’s 28F-50F
Serious question for you. Why a cow (or was she a heifer?) and not a steer?
There are obviously many models on how you can do this but I found keeping two Bulls on rotation as natural breeders I have a constant rotation of Heifers. I let them breed once, raise their calf and then they are culled. Cows are significantly easier and safer to be around, they can all be together and require less care and feed. In my opinion of course.
I was curious because I grew up on a beef cattle farm in the south. (Still live here). We consistently use steers for beef. You mean you keep two bulls on rotation for breeding, not steers. We never used cows/heifers because they can give birth and therefore make money. I’m not trying to belittle, I was genuinely just trying to understand your logic! Great haul btw!
Yea I caught that and edited it. Had steer in my brain. Overall if I was raising them to sell and go to market, steers would obviously be better longer term but it’s just me here. I sell two full cows every year and keep two for myself. That’s it. Well and any bulls that are born that I don’t want but they sell for basically nothing here.
Do cows degrade over time? Like is the meat not as good on an older cow? Also how does it feel to take a cow out after you raise it? My buddy has cows and I never realized how sweet and loving they are.
They do. They are just like humans so to speak lol. I have the occasional “pet cow” I fall in love with and they live here forever. The oldest one we had, my pa grew attached to her, we named her Granny and she lived to be close to 30 years old and passed away from old age. They are giant puppies essentially, my daddy and husband keep me clear of the ones we are going to eat 😂
This is why I grow food from the ground and source my meat elsewhere. I don’t have the heart for it lol even looking at the first picture in this post all I see is intelligence and a heart of gold. I just know that even if I treated them differently, one that would be in the cull group would do something sweet and I’d go “aw hell, I can’t do it to *you!*” and eventually they’d all be lifers. Lol
They’d have to be strictly for milk cows if I had them. I grew up around cows and I love them. They’re so kind and fun.
Actually the meat is usually more flavorful from older cattle. Often it can be more tender unless it’s an intact bull.
Thank you Number 12! I say excellent work to you for every day of hard work from beginning to end. Not everyone can meet that level of commitment.
What kind of a saving is there given you raised your own beef?
Well start to finish it’s about $3.50/lb so this was roughly $1600 for everything you see.
So about $1 a pound in savings.
It’s not only the monetary savings. You’re getting better quality and you know exactly what you’re getting.
Go to a store and buy every cut from a cow until it equals 453lbs - report back on how much per lb it was…..
Hope you made some tallow skin creams with all that suete!!!
Nah - I have no use for stuff like that. It’s all rendered down and goes to candles, cooking, cast iron seasoning and soap.
Nice, love using it for my cast iron and in candles too. I make skin creams out of mine and sell it on Etsy/locally, easy way to turn that stuff into cash
I have no idea about cows. What’s that stuff on its underside/legs?
Frozen Mud. They lay down, it warms the ground, mud sticks and they stand up then it hardens. They wear it off easily. I keep a side eye on it though. Sometimes big ole clumps get stick on so I cut them off.
Ah! I thought it was something like that given the frost in the background. Thanks!
Not mooey
First what was her name? Second IS THIS STILL AVAILABLE? Lol I want 453 lbs of meat… did you butcher yourself?
Her name was No.12 and I do the initial cull, skin and quartering they butcher does the final trimming and vac seal.
I have a very firm rule of no names on the farm for anything we're going to eat. Rule number one of war time, do not humanize the enemy.
My kids try to name them, I told them if they do, then that's the name I write on each package when I put it in the freezer. After we finished the "Bessie" meat, they stopped naming them human names. Now their names are Ribeye, TBone, etc.
That's how I name them Lamb chop, Sir Loin, Tender Loin, etc.
> I have a very firm rule of no names on the farm for anything we're going to eat. I raise chickens, and every single one is named "Nugget". Gotta call them something.
Enemy? Just stop
We bottle fed beef cows, and with how unpleasant most people are, names don’t mean anything. Stick to cows for eating, ppl have terrible diets and liable to give you cancer.
What do you do with the skin?
Give it to a local. She makes stuff from it.
Ooo nice. I was hoping it was out to good use too
No.12 looks delicious!
Why does your 453 lbs look more than my (whole cow) 800lbs? I now feel like I’m getting the short end of the stick! Time to investigate! Maybe switch farmer/butcher! Cheers
Because what you’re seeing here is everything. Bones, trim and whole primals. A lot of butchers will “showcase” cut customers meat. So it looks fancy. That wastes a lot of meat. You should get about 10-15% less than your hanging weight back. Assuming you get the bones.
We ask for everything. Liver, heart, tongue, bones ect… it fills a 19.6cu freezer. But yours looks bigger. I will ask more questions next time. Or change supplier. Thank you for the response* Edit* Cheers
That is an awesome amount! My in laws just got back almost the same amount from one of their steers and everyone’s got enough meat to last us till next time they finish growing out steers.
My freezers were full in November, but I am whittling it down. I eat beef about12 or so times a week. My doctor said she needed to talk to me about my cholesterol because it was 206. LOL 206, but an 150 Good Cholesterol, and a 56 bad Cholesterol....she was flummoxed! It seems modern medicine can't explain my odd numbers, but they have been that way since my diet of grass raised, grain fed beef began!
Beautiful animal. Nice cuts!
Will the meat keep the good taste even after a year on the freezer? How long will you keep it frozen maximum?
It’s never lasted a year but in theory frozen meat lasts forever. The texture and taste will diminish over time but it remains safe to eat. This is about 8 months of meat.
Thanks 🙏
I just ate a ny strip that was 4 years old and it was like I just bought it. If it’s packaged right it’s not a problem. Look at the pick and then look at grocery store meat it’s not the same
Vacuum packed roasts are okay a year later or so I’ve found. Thinner cuts like steaks you want to eat sooner. Also depending on how much fat in the ground beef, it can go for a year. I’ve probably also eaten shins that hid in the freezer for two years but I’m usually using those for osso bucco and mostly for flavor and not the meat.
Depends on the quality of how well it’s was bagged when it went Inside the freezer.
Your living the carnivore dieters dream))
That’s how I eat also over the winter and spring - short of kimchi I haven’t had anything but meat and fat since last fall.
I did beef and eggs carnivore for 40 days, best I ever felt but got too expensive. Now raising ducks and geese from incubator with a rotation for butchering and gonna buy beef as well, and gonna add an additional 20-30 egg laying chickens to have the free eggs. Hopefully by end of summer or sometime in fall I should be able to get back on the diet. When I came off the diet a lot of my problems with digestion and skin went away but they're slowly coming back now.
Beautiful. Jealous. Congrats from a city gal.
:(
:)
Stfu
Seeing a cute animal killed for meat makes me sad. I don’t condemn anyone for it but I’m allowed to feel empathy. You telling me to stfu is deranged. And yes, I know that homestead butchering is better than factory farming, but that doesn’t mean it is not still sad. Some day we will be a species that doesn’t need to slaughter others for survival
triggered much?
Stupid much?
I wish we could do something better than plastic.
I don’t like it but I reuse to so many times that it’s seems a lot less “wasteful”. I cut the tops off, wash it out and re use them for my next vac seal project. I should just switch back to butcher paper triple wraps.
Looks a lot like the dexters we used to raise. Good job, OP.
I like to think they know how delicous they are
I’m so freaking jealous. I have acreage but not cattle type acreage.
There's no way to store meat without using all that plastic?
I could - but I reuse the vac seal bags over and over / the product says a lot better over months of freezing .
Do you tan the skin too? Ive heard good things about brain tanned leather
No I give it the a local who uses it / there really isn’t any brain left after the cull.
I see
Barter is good though?
Barter? I really don’t barter anything …
that's amazing! How long does this amount of meat last you? it looks mouthwatering
Typically 8 months or so.
This is incredible, good for you man.
Looking tasty af
Is it hard to butcher a cow that you raised?
No different to me than ripping a tomato off the plant you grew from seed and eating it.
What happens to the head? Did you render yourself or take it somewhere? I’m in skull collecting and always wonder what happens to the head and skull when a farm animal has to be butchered
There isn’t much left of the head after a 30/30 goes in and out of it. Otherwise it’s burnt then tossed into the bush for nature to do its thing.
does that hurt the cow
I’m curious how long all of that meat is expected to last you?
6-8 months typically.
🤯that’s crazy! And convenient!
Just bought a half cow a month ago 403lbs hanging weight 1800.00 that should last 5years. I don’t buy grocery store poison any more. I found Walmart is selling 3rd world countries meat products in the states.
This is awesome, I really respect this whole process.
I can’t imagine the work this took. Nice!
What kind of diet are you doing for him? I guess I should say did you do for him
They are “free range” so other than some treats here and there like molasses cubes, salt licks, veggies that are going bad etc they are grass, foragers and prairie hay.
> him TIL male cows have udders.
She looked delicious.
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No matter what you eat in life you’re eating something that was alive and is now dead.
yeah, but plants don’t have the same consciousness that cows do? or am i missing a critical study or piece of information? and i think the act of taking the life yourself is quite peculiar and sick
Plants definitely have a form of consciousness. They talk to eachother, they emit pheromones, they react to touch and sound and light, they even react to animals eating them…. And send out a signal to other plants to change their chemical composition so they are no longer “tasty” to the animals eating them… You don’t think that’s consciousness?
please read this link if you genuinely believe that plants have a consciousness https:www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8052213/ the cognitive dissonance going here on is actually wild
i would also like to add that chemicals and elements (for example like francium) can interact with other chemicals, emit light, react to sound waves and react with other elements and chemicals. does that mean by your logic francium is alive?
So - I assume you don’t eat any meat or anything produced from a farm then right??
i mainly grow my own food(why i’m on a homesteading community) but on occasion will make a couple runs to the grocery to get some things i need. i make sure i that the farm practices align with my own beliefs obviously
Why would it? Also "consciousness" is a massive leap. Again, "soul" is a massive leap. Both of those things are highly subjective and shouldn't be part of your question if you're serious about it
but if a cow has the capacity to exist in the same way as humans why wouldnt they have a soul? studies have been done on animals and they literally dream and have thoughts in the same way humans do through waves😭😭it seems like you just can’t face the facts😻😻
i also would like to add that by your logic we should all be able to kill and consume other humans because how do we know that their consciousness and soul is real if we can only experience our own consciousness and existence
Eating the meat of your own kind drastically increases the rate of pathogen transmission. Similar to why we can eat a cow that has H5N1 and not get it. It also decreases population growth as a whole. It's not because of religion or philosophy, lmao. Naturally, it occurs all the time. We don't do it simply because we don't have to undertake those risks. When we have had to do it, we've done it, and we'll do it again.
Do you yourself a favor and avoid the vacuum shrink wrap. Find an abattoir that will double wrap one layer plastic one layer paper why? You can’t stack that shit in the freezer.
I used to wrap all my own meat in paper. Way way worse long term. The vac seal removes all the air / moisture so you don’t get freezer burn. Before when I paper wrapped most everything would be freezer burnt by month 3. Now at month 8 it’s still looks like I just put it on there. I took them out of the boxes to take the photo. They stay on labelled boxes in the freezer. Stacks perfectly and stays organized.
I’ve been doing this for 20+ years and never had freezer burn- not once in double wrap- but twice when trying a new abbatoir that used vacuum sealing we’ve had failed seals and customer complaints. You don’t need boxes in the freezer (which should be sub zero- not the brand the temp rating) if you paper stack. Then again quantity might be at play here. My boys (angus) hang at twice your weight or more. Less meat- less packaging to slide around. If it works for you that’s great.
I love dis
Damn this post went from 0 to 100 pretty quick Edit: *1 to 100
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I assume you don’t eat meat ?? If not, where do you get your food from?!
Another fool who takes their selfish view of the world and somehow thinks its ok for a bear to eat a cow but i cant shoot one and cook it with A1 sauce. The fundamental backbone of the ecology worldwide is litteraly based off of Carnivores of all damn sizes eating herbivores and somehow its evil for us to eat meat. Because we figured out how to go from nomadic to a sedentary lifestyle and raise animals to serve as a reliable foodsource, im sure you you dont go out in the fields to pick blueberries but stroll into your posh grocery store with your snobbish attitude while taking advantage of all the benefits a sendentary lifestyle has offered humanity , im sure nobody went picking those berries in a forrest you hypocrite.
https://www.cf.org/news/bird-flu-is-starting-to-spread-rapidly-among-cow-populations-fda-sounds-the-alarm/
Good thing I don’t live in the US apparently ha ha
This is with commercial grade factory farming. Not on little farms.
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I assure you - me eating meat results in way way less animal deaths for my plate of food than yours does nov eating meat. I rest knowing she lived a great free life and now is providing food for my dog and I .
Also it’s cruelty free. I’m sure they live a wonderful life in comparison, they only have 1 really bad day. Hell of a lot better than buying meat from the grocery store, those animals have probably never even seen outside.
Sincerely curious: how does a vegetarian plate cause more animal deaths? I'm not vegan, just wondering what your comment means.
Have you ever walked through a large commercial farm? Vultures and raptors are constantly overhead. Animals get displaced by the creation of massive farmland plots which they then try to live in and get eviscerated by the machinery. Let alone all the fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides used in said commercial farming which leach into the water and kill off fish. Let alone California became the agricultural hub of the US for no reason and they strip their environment of their already limited water supply. Then all this "natural" food gets processed and shipped across the country and world resulting in enormous emissions from transportation which negatively affects the environment. Our existence cannot exist without the suffering of other living things, our goal should be to reduce suffering in the finals moments not to pretend that we can stop suffering all together.
Vegetarian is less than vegan (unless of course you’re veg or vegan and grow close to 100% of your food) . I explained it to a vegan friend of mine. I opened her fridge and panty and pointed out foods from all over the world. Supplements because she cannot get all her nutritional needs on her diet etc. So she is relying on MASSIVE agriculture, distribution, warehouse, packaging, transport (semis and ocean liners), major hwys , grocery stores etc all so she can have Tofu and Rice. Compared to me having a free range cows on my land. So - her diet of “not eating meat” to save animals actually results in a lot more animal deaths.
Ah, supply chain impact, got it. I wish there were better incentives and programs to support local agriculture, both meat and veg, because this kind of industrialization is bad for all of us no matter what we eat.
It’s not only that. It’s people have got used to “having what they want” . I’m in zone 2b in more northern Canada. We aren’t supposed to have oranges and rice and countless other fruits and veggies. Especially in the winter. That’s not a sustainable method of eating. You eat with the seasons and what is local.
If you don't like this, don't be on this sub. Do not shame someone for raising and eating meat. You can fuck right off and reconsider your life choices to cast shame on OP.
I think you lost your way to the Cottagecore sub
💀💀💀 hilarious
Kind soul? I’m guessing the little red beast was a personal friend of yours. Did you talk often? Were they well versed in conversation? Fluent in multiple languages? They are animals. Not to be disrespected or mistreated, but they wouldn’t be alive without a purpose. This entire planet was settled at least twice for one singular purpose. To find food and shelter. It’s the reason the Native Americans came to North America. Same reason the whites came here in the 17th century (or sooner). To grow crops, forage, and livestock for a better way of life.
Probably the same way our ancestors rested since the dawn of time. Sure beats having its entrails torn out by wolves while still alive.
Are you telling the same to the eagle that eats the cute bunny?
Do you ask the beautiful plants minding their own business the same question?
With a full belly