About a year and a half ago, food prices started to rise, then inflation at the grocery stores hit full force. Many people have been perplexed, struggling and even scared. If that’s you, and you haven’t read Tightening the Belt yet, I strongly recommend that you give it a look. It works, Really well. I’ve been even more committed to resilient living since we retired, so our personal budget was less affected than many others when the food prices skyrocketed so drastically. I say this to encourage you. There are many ways to get healthy food for less money.
Why Buy a Side of Beef?
Let's look at why you might buy a side of beef and how to get the most out of it. Granted, if you’re a one-person household or don’t have a freezer, this won’t be helpful. But if you have quite a few people in your household and enjoy eating meat, read on.
Grass-fed, grass-finished beef, at least in our area, has become fairly well known and readily available. Many consumers are now aware of the benefits so demand has increased supply. Before that, its cost was extremely high. Now, not so much. However, watch out for false advertising – make sure you’re not getting taken in by a steer that ate a mouthful of grass in its lifetime. You want to find a rancher whose cattle are raised on managed pastureland and never fed grain at all.
Is It Economical?
Buying a side of beef involves a hefty investment of cash, so you might be wondering why I think it’s an economical way to provide meat for your family.
♦ Purchasing directly from the rancher cuts out all middleman, transportation and end retailer markups. That benefits both the one who raised the beef and the one who consumes it – you. Buying local is always a smart thing to do if you care about food sustainability for the long haul.
♦ The cost per pound is the same whether you pull out a package of short ribs, ground beef, or prime rib steak. You will never catch me buying filet mignon or ribeye at grocery store prices, but when I have a side in the freezer, the price is the same as for hamburger. Burgers or steaks for the weekend? Both are wonderful. Both are affordable. You have choices.
♦ You buy the hanging weight. That means half of the animal belongs to you. What most buyers don’t realize is how much more of the poundage that you paid could come to you if you speak for it. Butchers have a standard range of cuts they take from a side. The rest is considered undesirable because most customers don't want it – they simply do not know how to use any of it. These valuable assets are yours for the asking.
Nose to Tail
Soup Bones – many butchers will include some marrow bones, or the oxtail. Good. But ask them to include all the bones that can be cut into stockpot-sized pieces for making bone broth. Given all the information available nowadays about the benefits of including broth in our diets, soup bones are no longer cheap or free. Quite the opposite.
Organ Meat – undeniably good for us. Ask for the liver to make pâté or grilled liver and onions. Heart becomes a lovely, slow simmered stew. Steak and kidney is a classic British combination. Tongue always shows up in sandwiches in Agatha Christie mysteries. Take a little time to learn the techniques and benefits of eating organ meat.
Suet – the fat around the kidneys and loins can be cut into small pieces and slowly cooked until all the fat is liquid. Strain it well and harden it on shallow trays lined with parchment paper, then break it into pieces and keep it in the freezer. Congratulations. You have made tallow. As well as being a desirable cooking fat, tallow is in high demand for skin care products, which by the way are easy to make at home.
Odd Cuts – beef cheeks or hangar steak are not well known and unlikely to show up on a butcher's list. Beef cheeks are lovely slow cooked like pot roast, and the hangar steak is delicious grilled. Why miss out?
Every part of the side that you use decreases the price per pound because you have paid for all of it anyway whether it goes to your freezer or gets thrown away. Less waste, more value.
Practicalities
Jim and I find that a side of beef fits into a mostly empty freezer with no problem. This photo shows our last side freshly loaded into the upright freezer. A side lasts us about two years. And yes, we do have another freezer for garden produce.
Price per pound and butcher arrangements will vary depending on where you live. Here in the Fraser Valley as of this date, the price for a side at our favourite ranch is $10.45 CAD a pound, hanging weight. Cutting and wrapping are included in that price.
You'll want to do a little research into the best ways to roast or grill grass-fed beef. It turns out beautifully as long as you don't subject it to high temperatures.
I really enjoyed this practical, encouraging approach to buying a side of beef. The emphasis on nose-to-tail use is especially valuable—bones, organs, suet, and less familiar cuts can turn what seems like a large upfront expense into a much better long-term value. I also appreciated the point about grass-fed beef requiring different cooking techniques; that’s an important consideration for anyone making the transition from conventional beef. The focus on reducing waste while supporting local ranchers makes this a particularly worthwhile read.
Karen, another amazing post for the books. So informative! I wondered how much meat you and Jim ate. I like the visual of your freezer. Have you actually made steak & kidney? Tallow? Skin care products?
In the distant past, I have bought a 1/4 cow, but unfortunately, due to being accustomed to the taste of mass produced, consumer-focused beef, did not like the texture and taste of the grass fed, local beef. Embarrassing and sad, I would like to switch over but don’t know how to transition. Perhaps a blog on this is in your future?
Thanks, once again, for the nudge and encouragement to a) consider what you are buying and b) think about how to be economical while being health conscious.
Yes, I’ve made steak and kidney stew. I remember my Nana’s steak and kidney pie, and steak and kidney suet pudding. Traditional British food.
I use tallow for skin balm and lip balm with added essential oils. It is lovely.
Grassfed beef does required a change in techniques. It’s also possible that you got an older steer. Shannon Hayes was my first mentor in cooking grassfed beef, as she was to many other online recipe writers, it seems.