"Buying a cow" made me think you were buying a milk cow, and I was going to recommend a Jersey or Holstein. We had Jersey cows for milk.

When my father butchered a cow for meat, my mother would always request that about half of it be ground up into hamburger meat, but that's because that was easier for her to cook.

I can't give you recommendations for steaks - just make sure to specify what weight you want the packages to be.

My mother had a very large chest freezer, and that was very efficient for large quanities of meat.

If 90% of 200 pounds is going to your daughter, then you will end up with only 20 pounds yourself, which should be easy for you to store. It won't be like when Lucy and Ethyl bought a cow. If you have one pound packages, then that would be 20 packages, easily storable in the freezer that you have, I think, depending on what you already have in there.

My butcher asks what cuts you want, so if you want particular cuts, such as T bones, or brisket roasts etc, let him know.

Lars, I hadn’t done the math! Thanks! 20 lbs sounds so much more manageable than 10% of 200 lbs. 🙄 My upright freezer is going to DD and fam. They are too hard to buy now. I will replace it with a small chest freezer. I don’t think I can make it with just the freezer that is part of my side by side fridge.

Went to YT and watched that Lucy episode, Lars. Hilarious!

Colleen, thanks for reminding me of brisket. My usual cuts of beef are filets, roasts, and ground beef.

My mother always bought beef and lamb by the side before the empty nest.. We had a wider variety of meals because there were all the different parts to use. Don't forget stews and other good things from the lowly chuck! :) And ribs!

When I read the title, and considering you said "cow" rather than "beef", my first thought was "don't make friends with it". Our family friend had a sheep ranch, and ended up with a few beef cows, but couldn't bear to send them to the butcher... They followed him around like puppies. :D

You will get lots of ground beef. Most places around here do 1 lb packages so I'd check to see how they do it. Did I mention that you'll get a lot of ground beef? I like ground beef but know people that decided against buying 1/2 a cow because of it.

I used to work for a Cattle Processing plant and was introduced to many cuts that way. But not offal. I'm with you on that one. I've actually tried a few since and just can't stomach it. I'd be surprised if they offered offal. Back before our plant was bought out by a much bigger fish we'd collect offal, ect and hides from smaller processors. The hides we'd process and sell to china and the offal went straight to the rendering plant.

Ok ok, back to cuts of meat!

This is what I'd ask about above the steaks and briskets options.

Some cuts might seem obvious but when my SIL got her cow slaughtered I was surprised by the short list of cuts they were given. I was expecting more.

Hanging Tender - there is only one.

Flap Meat - you see this at the store but I don't think it was on my BIL list.

Skirt Steak - there is Inside and Outside Skirt. The Outside Skirt has a thick membrane on one side that has to be removed.

Flat Irons - also seen at the store. The Flat Iron is from the Clod. The whole Clod can be cut into Cross Rib Roasts or can be ground so they may or may not break it down to the Flat Iron. Side Note - when I see Cross Rib Roasts on sale at the store I always check to see if there is one that is the Flat Iron. It's fairly easy to spot if you can see the cut end since he has thick piece of gristle in the middle.

Clod Tender/Petite Tender - from the shoulder and is surprisingly tender. Great for Kebabs.

Tenderloin - You've probably seen a whole one in the case at Costco but if you haven't bought one you might not know that one end is really bulbous (can't think of a better word) and then ends up tapering to off at the other end. The tapered end, since it's so thin, isn't great for steaks but still good stuff. Called tenderloin tails and we sold it below tenderloin price since it isn't a steak piece. I'd ask about where it ends up.

And not that you'd want to keep the good cuts for yourself but here's a story about it. One of our Salesmen told me that way back when they'd process local people's cattle they had an older lady who would split one with her family. She'd have them label some of the tenderloin as ground beef and made sure it went home with her :)

Digressing to the ground venison. You may not want the meat ground with the suet or beef fat. We do not do so. We combine it with a ground pork for flavor. Also by adjusting the ratio of venison:pork, you can use that for making homemade sausage. Breakfast sausage can be frozen in a tube or patties and is excellent and it sounds like your's will be chemical/medicine free.

Also, I recommend vacuum packing the meat for longer storage to avoid freezer burn.

We raise a small herd of Hereford and Hereford/Angus mix (called Baldies) and take ours to a local Amish butcher for processing. You should have options for package size...1 or 2 steaks per package, 1 lb. or 2 lb. tubes of burger, etc. You should also have the choice of either T-bones or strip steaks and tenderloins, whether you want roasts or have them ground into burger, if you want to keep the organ meat, etc. Our processor used to offer to smoke the brisket for you for a small fee but it looks like they no longer offer that. I'm sad about that because it was really tasty and tender.

As Elizabeth mentioned, it is far better to take your beef to a butcher that vacuum seals the meat rather than one that still uses freezer paper.

We will be taking a whole hog that we are buying from a farmer friend in to have processed soon.

A half of a 1200-1300 lb. beef will easily fit into a 15 cu/ft chest freezer with a little room to spare. I use paper ream boxes to keep it organized. The general rule is that the hanging weight is 60-65% of the live weight and the processed weight is about 65% of the hanging weight. You will probably have at least 50% of the weight in burger. I've never heard of keeping the suet. A lot of the fat is used in the burger and the steaks aren't trimmed close like you would get in a store.

Below is a link to our butcher's website that will give you an idea of what options you may have for processing/packaging your side of beef.

Beef processing

HA! @plllog, growing up, my parents had a good friend who had a few head of cattle. They were named things like ”Roast Beef” and ”Ground Chuck.”

@Elizabeth, I’ll mention to my friend your suggestion to add ground pork to his ground venison. We all have Food Savers, so we’re set on the vacuum packaging. I don’t know how it is going to come from the butcher. When I was little, my parents would buy a half a cow and take it to the local little grocery to be broken down. The butcher would hand the pieces to Mother who was working at a side table wrapping the meat in butcher paper. My, how times have changed!

@aziline, your breakdown is so helpful. I told my friend there were certain cuts that were only one to a cow. He said only the heart and the tongue. I thought there was only one hanger steak per cow. You’ve confirmed it.

Yep, I’ve bought the whole tenderloins at Costco. I even have a boning knife just for cleaning the silverskin off them. Depending on what I’m going to do with it, I usually split off the chain, cut off the chunk on the side at the thick end, and cut the tail off if I’m cutting into steaks or tuck it under if I’m cooking a whole tenderloin. At one time The Fresh Market had really good prices on tenderloins. They would trim them for me. I asked that they grind the trimmings for me; I didn’t have a chain or tail to deal with when they did that.

If the membrane is removed from the Outside Skirt is there any difference between it and the Inside Skirt? Is the membrane any harder to remove than the silverskin on a tenderloin?

I know nothing about Flat Iron steaks or Cross Rib Roasts. I do know that butchering nomenclature can be somewhat regional. Googling, it seems we might call a Cross Rib Roast a Chuck Roast. I do a lot of braising, so I like chuck roasts.

I also cook sous vide. I once cooked a chuck roast for 36 hours at 135 degrees. Then seared it and served it like a steak. You could not cut it with your fork, but you could cut it with a plain table knife. It was firmer than a filet and a beefier flavor. It also had a nice chew to it.

Where do Ribeye steaks come from? I love a good ribeye if it isn’t too fatty.

Hmm….lots of ground beef, huh? Is that mostly because of scraps or is it because some cuts are just too tough to use otherwise?

Funny story about the lady labling her tenderloin ”ground beef.” My late husband hated eggplant. My sister would bring me hand made toffee from a candy store near her. To keep DH from eating it all, I would wrap it in parchment and put it in a Ziplock bag labeled ”eggplant.” HA!

The amount of ground beef you get depends on whether you choose to get all of the roasts or not. We usually just ask for the chuck roasts and the pikes peak roasts and have the rest ground.

If we are butchering a young ~2 year old steer then we keep more roasts but if we are butchering an old cow that is no longer calving then we will have most of it ground into burger because the meat is of lesser quality with more fat but it still makes exceptionally flavorful burger.

You may also have the option for the fat content of your burger. We do not have that option but what we get is in the 85%-90% range based on the little amount of draining required when browning.

Thanks, Lone. I think the cow we are getting is relatively young. We aren’t getting it until the end of July, mostly for our convenience. Many thanks for the link to your butcher’s website. That will give me a chance to talk to DD & DSIL so we can be thinking about what we want, even if our butcher’s form is different.

Under Roast Options, it says ”12-14 per 1/2 beef.” Is that 12-14 lbs or 12-14 roasts using their 3 lb/roast average?

12 to 14 roasts. I believe I got 7 or 8 chuck roasts alone from the last side of beef we kept.

ETA: this is from a steer that was 1475 lbs. live weight which is larger than what is normally taken in for processing.

If you know where your beef will be processed, I bet they have a similar website for making your processing choices.

I did this during the pandemic, but I only bought half a cow because there's only three in my family. The type of cow we got was a Limousin but I'm not sure if that makes any difference. We didn't really like it. The cow wasn't "veal" but it had to have been by just barely. It was way too much meat for the three of us and we gave a lot of it away.

A cow considered to be veal is only 4-5 months old and in the 400-500 lb. range. A half of that would give you only about 100 lbs. of meat or less on average.

I'd never heard of the Limousin breed but it sounds like it is a good quality beef breed but also pretty rare. I read that they are often bred with Angus to yield very good beef.

AFIK, from aforementioned rancher, a lot of rarer breeds are bred with angus because you do get very good beef, and angus bulls are plentiful and amenable, :)

Wow! That’s a lot of roasts!

A Limousin is a BIG animal. Fully grown Limousin bulls weigh 2500 pounds, compared to my Hereford's 1800 pounds. They are said to be a "carcass" animal, having an excellent beef/waste ratio and are naturally very lean.

Locally grown or homegrown beef often are different in flavor and texture than commercially available beef. The feedlot cattle spend their miserable lives standing in a lot, getting little exercise and sometimes without even the space to lie down. Their diets consist largely of corn and other grain with some "roughage", and have a larger percentage of body fat. They are pumped full of "baseline" antibiotics so they don't die from their unhealthy lives before we can eat them. If I had to eat commercial beef, I'd give up eating beef, the way they are raised bothers me.

More naturally grown cattle will be on a pasture for some or all of their lives. Local farmers here like to say that their cattle have 18 happy months and then one bad day. Those animals get more exercise, which means less fat, which means less tender. That doesn't bother me, I have teeth but others, like my brother, want to eat beef with a spoon. (shrug) People do say the beef tastes "beefier", which I would think a good thing, but many people dislike that and it is not what they are used to, which also bothers some people.

Here, you can get any of the parts of the animal you want, as long as you are willing to pay the 55 cents per pound cutting and packaging. Most packers here use the vacuum packed clear packages. I get the tongue for Peppi, the liver for dog/cat treats, the suet for the bird feeders (although I have been known to render it for frying potatoes for Mother), soup bones for stock (I occasionally share with the dogs, LOL), tail and shanks for soup. I've gotten the cheeks before, but usually just don't bother. My packager will cut me any specialty cuts I ask for, not just what's on his "list", so if you want something specific, just ask. Most packagers won't mind, they're cutting anyway and you're paying. That's why they call them "custom cuts". I usually have small boneless roasts from the round because I can roast them very rare and slice them paper thin on the slicer for sandwiches. I always get the brisket for the smoker and have sacrificed the Porterhouse a couple of times for tenderloin. There's always a trade-off, one year I got 7-bone standing rib roasts, but had to give up the ribeyes. And, as has been mentioned, you'll get a lot of ground beef. Fortunately, my family likes ground beef and it gets used before any of the other parts.

Venison? Elery usually takes 2 per year, one year he took 3. You don't get a lot of meat from one deer. He doesn't mix beef suet with the ground venison, usually, he uses ground pork, but I have made "meatloaf mix" with a pound each of venison/beef/pork and he's used that same mix for summer sausage.

Lars is right, if 90% of the animal is going to your daughter, you're going to have about 20 pounds of beef, LOL. I was always told the formula for figuring freezer space was 35 pounds of meat per cubic foot of freezer space. I think that's generous, and weird shaped cuts (like that standing rib roast) or cuts with large bones will take more space, of course.

Annie

I spent a lot of years getting a beef and a hog every year. Most were angus Hereford crosses but sometimes we got an angus....and eventually one farmer took to raising charlois crosses.

IK always liked to have at least one beef and one pork "company roast....like 5 or 6 pounds....the rest I liked in the 3 pound range. I had some of the round made into minute steaks, some into slices to make into stew meat. i had the hamburger "very lean" and had some suet ground to add to the burger if I wanted to make burgers, but I liked it lean for things like chili and meat loaf ( because I mix with pork). After the first couple of years I askedw here the shank bones were....and found that unless you specify you want meaty bones for soup, they scrape them clean and scrap the bone. I found we didnt think the short ribs were worth the freezer space, so had that ground into burgers....

Always saved the liver tongue and kidneys and heart, we ate the liver but the rest went to the animal rescue league.

Enjoy...nothing like your own beef...usually...because my husband was like he was we often took as our portion a less desirable animal....like an old milk cow that had to be put down and once a fairly young heifer that had broken her leg.....but there were a fair number of prime quality angus/herefords.

We too buy a hog and half a cow. There is a wild turkey and deer or elk each year. I prefer bison to other red meats, but how much meat do you need for two people? I invested in a heavy duty grinder and make my own ground beef and pork in 1 lb tubes, breakfast sausage, Italian sausage and salami or summer sausage. I find recipe sites by hunters to have the best recipes. Ground venison and pork can be made into a flat loaf, smoked or baked and sliced into bacon strips. Liquid smoke is necessary if baking.

Giving some of it away is greatly enjoyed by our family who receives it.

A lot of great advice already. I would offer up a bones one. If you can claim the larger marrow bones and have them split during processing. Do it. Roasted beef marrow is a divine treat to eat, and then the bones can be used for excellent stock and reductions. Good in the tail too. I'd trade off a ribs for the good marrow bones. If I only had 20 pounds worth, and 10 of that was good marrow bone, I'd do it. Briskets next and scrap meats if there was any weight leftover from that.

Almost any grind can be a good grind if it's done right. Straight cuts are great but in the long run I'm the kind of cook that would go for the bones. Especially since the suet is already claimed.

This thread has been really helpful because I have been considering a half cow for quite awhile. However I don't love ground beef and i have some in the freezer that I was given, so I made what i thought would be delicious meatballs last night and i do not like them. Parmesan, garlic, onion, spinach, parsley, lemon zest, greek seasoning, eggs, a small amount of homemade crumbs.

Still very hamburgery. And the meat is sooo lean.

@annie1992, this cow has been pastured. The farmer is going to grain feed it from now until the end of July. I’m told that will improve the marbelization.

The buyer of the other half wants the bones to cook as marrow bones. Because I’ve never eaten nor cooked marrow bones and he has, I’m willing to let him have them. Maybe he and his wife will invite me over for dinner when they cook them!

I love liver, but to be honest, I’ve never cooked it. If I find it on a menu, I’ll order it. Can you make pate out of it? I’ve made chicken liver pate. I’m pretty sure DD et fam would probably not put it in their mouths. Maybe my friend and I can split the liver. I don’t know how he feels about liver.

Bumble, I wish I had a way to make your ground beef less hamburgery. Is it the flavor or is it the texture you dislike? Have you tried the trick of adding 1/4 tsp baking soda per pound of ground beef and letting it sit for 15 minutes before cooking? It is supposed to improve the browning. Maybe getting better caramelization will help you enjoy the meat better. Here is the science behind adding baking soda to ground beef.

Thanks all. I’m making notes for the butcher and to discuss with my friend!

I will try the baking soda next time but not the pork. I'm also trying to keep it lean so I do like the fact that they weren't fatty. I would like them to be moister so I may add gelatin. I've seen that done on cooking shows.

I dislike the mouthfeel of things with gelatin added. I’m assuming thse aren’t the first meatballs you’ve ever made so you know about not overworking them (says the woman who has never in her life made a meatball).

Have you tried adding a panade (bread soaked in milk)? I think the usual ratio is 1:1 - 1 cup of milk to 1 cup of bread crumbs. Let sit for 10 minutes. Mash together into a paste and work into the ground beef.

To make meatballs tender, yes, bread soaked in milk and only one egg per pound of ground meat. Cook them in liquid. Do not brown them at all. Be very careful not to break them while simmering in sauce.

I make very tasty meatballs with no tricks but veg. 15-20% fat. I use matzah as a binder because it's very dry, but truly dry breadcrumbs would work as well. One sheet of square matzah (weighs about 1 oz., for comparison) per half pound of ground beef or bison. 2 eggs for 1.5 lbs. of meat. Run the matzah through the FP first, then an onion bigger than a baseball, smaller than a softball, then about 3/4 pound of carrots. Mix by hands (I use the baggie kind of food service gloves) with a large handful of dried parsley, and whatever seasoning. Portion and roll between hands until they hold together but aren't compressed. Brown in a skillet for best results, or bake on a parchment lined sheet until nicely brown. Optionally simmer in the sauce of your choice after they're brown, but not fully cooked through. The reason for dry breadcrumbs and parsley is that the veg shed water. Some people just add water and skip the veg, but the flavor in the onion and carrots are key. The water steams from the inside, keeping the meatballs tender. No rubbery meatballs!

I had 2 lb of meat and used two eggs. A scant handful of breadcrumbs that were soft but not soaked and parsley bundle and about 10 oz of fresh wilted baby spinach along with Parmesan, garlic , lemon zest and a medium chopped onion. And seasoning. I think I browned them too long. They looked fantastic. I love browned meat so that was part of the problem, along with the fact that the hamburger itself had absolutely no fat.

I used to make meatballs all the time and I always cooked them first in the oven before dropping in the sauce but the meat was usually 85/15.