Buying A Half Cow? Here's How Much Beef You Can Expect To Get

If you're sick of weekly trips to the butcher counter or just want to get a better deal on ground beef, your best bet is to buy beef in bulk from a farmer. While the upfront price is pretty steep, knowing that you have a half or a whole cow's worth of meat in your freezer will make for easy meals and fewer trips to the store. But how much meat you actually get when you buy in bulk can vary significantly. On average, you'll take home anywhere between 130 and 230 pounds of beef when you buy a processed half cow.

The exact amount of meat you'll get and in which cuts will depend on the farm you purchase your cow from. Single business ranches often offer a set list of cuts and grinds for a half cow order, all harvested from the same animal with consistent quality. However, since these are generally smaller operations, you may be paying more to guarantee that quality while walking away with less. Co-ops, groups of ranchers that work together to fulfill orders, give you more flexibility in the exact cuts you can get and might even offer you a better deal, but the quality may vary far more.

While you can expect to spend upwards of $2,000 on half a cow, you'll receive an abundance of steaks, roasts, ground beef, and other cuts — both classic and unique. This is a great way to learn how to cook all the most popular cuts of steak and get creative with cuts not typically sold at the grocery store. Keep in mind that you may need to pay extra for specific parts of the cow, like marrow-rich bones, organ meats, or tallow. 

One of the best parts about buying half a cow is you won't have to process much of the meat yourself. Whereas you can get cheaper steaks at Costco by breaking down certain cuts yourself, most butchers who process bulk beef orders are happy to do the work for you. The real problem is storage — failing to store your beef properly can easily ruin your investment. Most of the time, the answer is as simple as ensuring you have enough space and using a decent-quality vacuum sealer.

Generally, you'll want to plan on having 1 cubic foot of freezer space for every 25-30 pounds of beef. This may not sound like much, but remember that most side-by-side and top mount freezers max out somewhere between 7 and 10 cubic feet, so a half cow can easily fill up the whole thing. If you plan on buying half a cow, you might also want to invest in a chest freezer.

Most businesses vacuum-seal individual portions of beef, which makes for easy immediate freezing. Less air means fewer ice crystals, which preserves the texture and tenderness of your protein. However, if you want to save money on wrapping costs and pick up refrigerated beef to wrap yourself, there are steps you can't skip before freezing your meat. Be sure to double-wrap each portion in butcher paper and plastic wrap to guarantee longevity and keep you stocked with beef until you get through it all.