Ordering Bulk Beef

[BCClone]

The oddity to remember, when buying a beef and having it processed yourself, the most expensive thing you have is hamburger patties, followed by hamburger and then the steaks. Each time the locker has to handle it or do something with it, it costs more.

Also know who you are getting it from well. I bought a beef for my sister once from someone I didn't know very well. The market was on a hot streak looking to drop, they ran a beef in that should have stayed on the lot for another month to get the higher price. My sister hasn't done it since. My wife had a friend that we bought a side from every year, he would run them too long and I was always trimming a good amount of excess fat off the steaks.

When it comes to pork, sadly, it is cheaper to buy from a grocery store. Have a friend who is a large hog independent hog farmer and he said he can't get pork chops for what they cost in the grocer and that is when he figures the pig is no cost. Processing has climbed quite a bit.

 

[Nader_uggghhh]

I get all of the roasts except for arm and rump. Make sure you ask for the brisket if you want it. With a quarter you might not get the option anyway. 3# roasts and 1.5# packs of burger. T-bones> strips/fillets. Some people grind it all into burger but I like to do both minute steaks and round steaks.

 

[baller21]

For those who are making these orders and don't want beef ribs, send me a PM, I can take them off your hands.

I have no idea if they’re good or not but the Cookies Rib Wagon is parked at the Grimes HyVee today.

 

[JP4CY]

I get all of the roasts except for arm and rump. Make sure you ask for the brisket if you want it. With a quarter you might not get the option anyway. 3# roasts and 1.5# packs of burger. T-bones> strips/fillets. Some people grind it all into burger but I like to do both minute steaks and round steaks.

Everyones different but I like arm and rump roasts. Even the 7 bone roasts are good.
I use arms for Mississippi Mud roasts (usually calls for chucks but arms work).
Rump I use for the old school carrots, onions, celery roast.

 

[Nader_uggghhh]

Everyones different but I like arm and rump roasts. Even the 7 bone roasts are good.
I use arms for Mississippi Mud roasts (usually calls for chucks but arms work).
Rump I use for the old school carrots, onions, celery roast.

I like arm roasts, I just don't eat a ton of traditional roasts. Rump usually ends up turned into jerky if I get it. I usually pick up some chuck roasts at fareway when they go on sale for 2.99. That's what I use for smoking or as traditional roasts.

 

[JP4CY]

I like arm roasts, I just don't eat a ton of traditional roasts. Rump usually ends up turned into jerky if I get it. I usually pick up some chuck roasts at fareway when they go on sale for 2.99. That's what I use for smoking or as traditional roasts.

Chuck smoked and shredded are great. I always save some for chili.
I've had really good luck making jerky from bottom rounds.

 

[Brandon]

We got a 1/2 beef about a couple months ago from the Story City Locker. We went in with 2 others but it order to get the brisket I had to 1/2. So I split out what I thought would even everything out in terms of steaks, roast and hamburger. I did get some short ribs. We went with 2 lb packages on burger.

Story city has a great locker

 

[CoachHines3]

why would you pay for the locker to make the hamburger into patties for you? seems like something fairly easy to do at home with a pound or 2 of hamburger.

we always get a few less roasts/stew meat for a few more pounds of hamburger. this last batch we got in july i think we had almost 100 pounds of hamburger.

 

[Stormin]

why would you pay for the locker to make the hamburger into patties for you? seems like something fairly easy to do at home with a pound or 2 of hamburger.

we always get a few less roasts/stew meat for a few more pounds of hamburger. this last batch we got in july i think we had almost 100 pounds of hamburger.

The best thing about frozen hamburger patties is that no prep is needed if you need to grill a few more burgers. From freezer to grill. Convenient. Always nice to have patties which can be thrown on quick.

Not a fan of grass fed beef. Give me that nice grain fed steer or heifer. Every time.

 

[CoachHines3]

The best thing about frozen hamburger patties is that no prep is needed if you need to grill a few more burgers. From freezer to grill. Convenient. Always nice to have patties which can be thrown on quick.

fair

i like to make my own is all

 

[clonefreek]

I'd appreciate some tips or recommendations on ordering a sections of beef. This is our first time on our own ordering as my parents used to handle this but aren't eating 200+ off beef as the number of mouths to feed doesn't justify 1/2's anymore. Starting with just a 1/4 this time. Happy to no longer be paying $5.99/lb at HyVee for 85/15 and $14/lb for steak

Thank you

Dont get beef ribs, have your steaks cut into 1.5 inch thick cuts. makes you appreciate them more haha. I got a half a cow a couple of years ago and we blew through the steaks and still have a ton of roasts

 

[clonefreek]

The best thing about frozen hamburger patties is that no prep is needed if you need to grill a few more burgers. From freezer to grill. Convenient. Always nice to have patties which can be thrown on quick.

Not a fan of grass fed beef. Give me that nice grain fed steer or heifer. Every time.

You throw frozen patties on your grill??? You sir are no longer allowed to have an opinion on anything food related...

 

[ISUTex]

Feel very fortunate to have a brother in law that sends several steers to the locker every year and only charges us market price for the beef and we pay for the processing. Get 200lbs or more for a 1/4 depending on how big of steer for under $3 lb. I am a steak guy so the big thing I tell our locker is don't grind or roast any of the sirloin, cut it all into steaks. Even if you don't eat them as steaks sirloin makes good stir fry or all purpose meat IMO if you need to slice or cube up some beef for something. I go back and forth on what to do with the T-Bones, they are big steaks but my oldest daughter is eating more these days so we can grill 2 of them up and eat most of them up or have little for leftover whereas 2 NY Strips aren't big enough to feed 2 adults and 2 small kids anymore. I love the filets but finding if I just leave them as T-Bones we get 2 strip steaks and 2 filets in a package basically which is perfect for our family.

Just work with your locker, if you want more roasts you probably will get lest ground beef but IMO we tell ours to put as much as they can into steaks and roasts and grind the rest and we still have plenty of ground beef out of it. Out locker also does beef sticks and summer sausage too so I usually do 10 lbs of beef sticks now too.

That's nice of him. Actually, there are a lot of farmers that only charge market price (hanging weight). Just another reason for people to do this. Don't forget about doing the same thing with hogs. We usually do a whole hog and 1/2 or 1/4 beef every year.

 

[Stormin]

You throw frozen patties on your grill??? You sir are no longer allowed to have an opinion on anything food related...

LOL. You obviously have never cooked burgers for large gatherings. Frozen Patties do not break up into pieces. Pork Patties it is even better that they are frozen to put on grill.

Everything else I grill is thawed, trimmed and rubbed prior to hitting the grill.

 

[clonefreek]

LOL. You obviously have never cooked burgers for large gatherings. Frozen Patties do not break up into pieces. Pork Patties it is even better that they are frozen to put on grill.

Everything else I grill is thawed, trimmed and rubbed prior to hitting the grill.

No I have, I thaw season then before i put them on the grill i throw them in the freezer for about 5 minutes and the patties hold their form.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

I hate you all for making me crave a burger right now. My morning will creep until lunch.

 

[DSMCy]

I haven't read back through the whole thread, so some of this is probably repeating.
We've been ordering a 1/4 for about 5 years now.

A few years ago we started getting 1.5# ground beef packages. Highly recommend this.
I get my steak cut 2" thick. Our locker also offers shrink wrapping the steak. If you can get this, definitely do it. It makes thawing the steak much easier and I do think it keeps the freezer taste out better.

To give you an idea of what you might get, here are the package quantities that I wrote down from last year's order. We didn't do very well on our roast this year so I'll probably get more ground beef this year
Ground beef: 38
Ribeye: 4
T Bone: 7
Sirloin: 3
Rump Roast: 1
Chuck Roast: 3
Sirloin Roast: 1
Arm Roast: 1

 

[JP4CY]

2" thick @DSMCy ?!

 

[Cytasticlone]

We got a 1/2 beef about a couple months ago from the Story City Locker. We went in with 2 others but it order to get the brisket I had to 1/2. So I split out what I thought would even everything out in terms of steaks, roast and hamburger. I did get some short ribs. We went with 2 lb packages on burger.

Story city has a great locker

Is the Story City Locker the best way to go around Ames? I'm a newby if it matters.

 

[JP4CY]

St

Is the Story City Locker the best way to go around Ames? I'm a newby if it matters.

Stanhope has a nice locker too.