Buying whole/half cow

Off the subject but when I read this I had a good laugh so I thought I would share.

Maybe twenty years back, the wife's (no pictures) Dad (no pictures) had a small place in the country, and he decided to buy three Beef calves to raise for the freezer. He got them as bottle feeders and carried them to good kill size - maybe 1 year old then had them slaughtered one a year. He had a neighbor who observed this activity over her fence, watched him bottle feed, spend time in the field with them, watched the cows come running whenever he entered the field with feed, whatever. Mr. B would pet them as they stood beside him to keep them gentle and eventually named them so he could mention one and his wife (Ms. B) would know which cow he was talking about.

The neighbor was a busy body and one day said, "Mr. B, I can't believe you are going to kill those wonderful creatures. Why, you stand there and pet them and talk to them by name!"

Mr. B replied, "I'm not talking to them, or petting them. I slap them on the rump and work my way forward, Marking my way forward as I say, Rump Roast, Sirloin, Porterhouse, T bone, Club Steak, Rib roast, Chuck Roast, Brisket."

He was serious. She was outraged.

Buying a Side is great if you eat a lot of beef and know your butcher well. I have had friends say they got shorted. Be sure to get a price by the finished pound for what you are buying, and a good honest finished weight for what they sell you. I know I am not a trusting guy, but you are dealing with a butcher after all.

You also might consider going to Sam's or Costco and buying whole cuts and getting the meat you actually want, in quantities that won't freezer burn before you eat them. If you want a big hunker roast, they will sell you that also, brisket, loin, strip steaks, rib eyes, bulk hamburger, beef ribs, all of it, fairly priced, with the bones cut away so you don't need to figure out what to do with them.

Places like Sam's Costco, have taken a lot of the smarts out of buying bulk beef.

I would not do it unless you knew the butcher VERY well. You are depending on the slaughterhouse to be 100% dependable in giving back what you brought in. So many of them will skim the prime cuts off the top and replace them with inferior grades or just short you all together. Back when my family would send a calf each year from our farm, it was hit or miss whether you got that same calf back. We went through several slaughterhouses before finding ONE that was almost honest.

I've never understood this. It's like people like to say, "I bought a freezer call." People did when when they had to (and took turns and split with neighbors so it wouldn't spoil). It was a necessity. Today with the slaughter houses we have and/or local butcher shops, why in the hell would you fill the freezer chock-a-block slam-arse full of meat to freeze when you can eat it fresh.

Further, instead of a half/whole freezer calf and having cuts you'lol grab last to eat, go buy a little of your favorite cuts at a time. Two or three month's worth.