But the beef! I hope we have enough room in the freezer- we've been working hard at making space. I took out the last of my stash of flour- we're almost out upstairs and had only 5lb left in my container in the freezer. I can still take out the oatmeal but hopefully we won't need to. Supposedly our half a cow was 272.5 lbs. OMG!!! I've never had that much beef in my house- EVER!!! What ever possessed us to buy that much! I know it was a good decision on many levels but we historically haven't eaten that much beef- probably because we couldn't afford it and/or I didn't want to support industrial feed lot beef production. Toward the end of the farmer's market season we got 10 lbs of ground beef from a guy there and we still have some left. I'm having some fear of what will we do with this much beef!!! I did pass on the tongue that the guy offered us- I had tongue as a child but I don't think I could sell anyone else here.
Ok- Now I'm just rambling. I need to look at the freezer again. We were told that we would need approximately 4 cubic feet of space. EEEK!!
If your weather is anything like ours, you could probably store some of it outside!
ReplyDeleteLOL! With the weather we're having, I would probably never find it again until the spring thaw!!
ReplyDeleteJudy
Wow. I've been thinking about that since we got the freezer. I can't wait to hear how you fit it in the freezer. Can you tell us what you ordered?
ReplyDeleteI am thinking about half a pig. We eat more pork than beef, and we have a smaller freezer. I need to find a custom butcher and taste his sausage and bacon first.
So are you tired of the snow yet? grrr
ReplyDeleteThat is a lot of meat. We are supposed to go in on a half with a friend from Mount Vernon this spring and I was worrying 1/4 was going to be too much for all of us!
Go for it though, if you have the space in the freezer. It will give you a nice feeling to have that food tucked away.
You may want to chunk a couple of roasts and can them. I can dig up the specifics if you need it. It's so great to have those jars of meat for a quick beef and noodles dinner. We've had ours in the pantry for going on two years (the same amount of time in the freezer starts to give it freezer burn). This would help on the freezer space too. I need to do that with some of the chicken and pork in ours, actually!
ReplyDeleteYou'll enjoy having your own beef right in the freezer - we typically do a 1/2 for us every year, and it never lasts the full year. But when you figure out how much you paid per pound (including processing) you are thrilled to be eating good steaks and good hamburgers that cheaply. You can take a roast, bake it in the oven with bbq sauce and have bbq beef sandwiches pretty easy! Our favorites lately have been steak and eggs for breakfast on Sundays....Enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteKris
I know we've been waiting for this, but really? Half a cow... now that's a lot of beef...
ReplyDeleteThanks to all for the comments.
ReplyDeleteMatriachy- we are buying a half of a grass fed steer from a local Amish farmer. We really tend to eat more chicken and turkey than anything else although we eat quite a bit of pork. We like beef but generally don't shell out that much money for it. But at $3 a pound paid to the farmer it was a pretty good deal. Much less than you can get it in the store and grass fed.
Stephany- Yes I'm tired of snow!!! It will be a nice feeling to have all that tucked away. We have enough to afford this now but with V's job situation it will be nice to have this on hand.
Gina- Thanks- I had thought of this. This fall Justine and I went to a food preservation workshop and canning grass fed beef was one of the presentations. I took notes!
Kris- I'm glad to know that someone is able to get through that much in a year. I guess we'll be eating more beef from now on.
Justine- Yes, it's half a cow. Maybe you'll look less anemic with some good red meat on your bones...
I posted on your latest post, but had to comment here too - especially on the storage of the meat. I am daunted by the storage of veg, and as a veg I don't know how the food safety aspects of meat work. I'd love to read more about your experiences on the blog....
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