Anyone have any experience with bulk meat orders

[Big Cliff]

Just had a call from a company offering freezer orders of meat. They claim the beaf is all Black Angus, you can order what ever cuts you want, it's all vaccuum packed and that their prices are about 20% less than typical retail. You have to order 6 months at a time but delivery is free. Sounds like it might be a reasonable deal but wanted to see if anyone else has any experience good or bad and would appreciate any help.

 

Thanks

 

Big Cliff

[huntervasili]

No idea about how that works but I am sure there must be farms near you that raise cows and have them certified, works the same way you order alot at a time and tell them several months in advance and you get a deal. Usually helps dealing straight with the farmer, not people adding more cost to the product.

[Crazyhook]

not sure what company it is Cliff but my friend used to sell meat for a company like that and the steaks were excellent...

[irishfield]

Cliff, save yourself some heartache, and cuts of meat you'll only watch freezer burn, and go see that local butcher for a 1/4 or 1/2 side of beef. Cut and wrapped to your normal meal amounts.

[Big Cliff]

We have done the 14 and 1/2 thing before but we find that we end up with some cuts that we just don't use. This meat is all supposed to ve Vaccuum sealed so no freezer burn and the part that interested me most is you can order only the cuts you want. it's not just beef, apparantly you can get all your meat from them. Anyway we'll see if anyone else has any experience.

[Fisherman]

Okay, lets try this one, Cliff, I have some mountainous terrain for sale in florida. These guys are like the guys that sell electricity/gas, etc, not out there for anything but the money, much better to go to a reputable home grown butcher(and I don't mean M&M's either) and get what you pay for.

[oxcowboy]

i will second the idea of going straight to the farmer....( i am a beef cattle farmer in ohio) if i were you i would try to get a buddy or 2 depending on how much meat you want and split a beef. you will never have better meat than what you will get this way. on another note, dont be suckered into the certified angus beef premium price! to be considered certified angus beef, they only have to have predominantly black hair. you could be paying a higher price for a different breed even a dairy breed or cross. yes the cab steaks are good, but their are also alot of other beef breeds that are good as well, simmental, hereford,charolais maine anjou are all good and limousin are good but often leaner which is healthier but maybe not as tasty. just my 2 cents.

 

jason

[Cookslav]

Hey Cliff,

 

I'm sure your aware already but I thought I'd throw it out there just incase.

There is a big differnce in Price, and sometimes Quality as well between "certified Angus and normal run of the mill Angus beef.

 

There are grades A AA and AAA grades of Angus beef were Certified Angus is called "Prime" or "Natural" and is strait up AAA and is actualy only the cream of the crop being the top 8% of all graded Angus.

(If you buy into all that....)

 

Just be sure the price your paying is for What your getting(Ie. don't be fooled into paying for Certified Angus if is AA regular Angus)

 

 

I personaly beleive you can get normal Angus beef as good or better at a local shop, or at a whole peice provider, yes....even a place like Zehrs "if" you know what to look for in marbling, cut, and Age (Assuming its a stand up honest company and butcher)

 

Anyway...

You can save a lot of dough with those deals, but it is a little bit of a crap shoot, being you don't have the optiong of inspecting the cuts first.

 

And like you said...your also paying for some peices you don't want....it might be better to avoid the waste and spend the extra on some Prime cuts at a local butcher?

[danc]

All cows are not created equal. I've bought whole cows, half cows and 1/4 cows. Some were good. Others not. If you buy a big order, be prepared that you might not like what you get. On the other hand, you may get a beauty.

 

It's a risk for sure.

[Hooked]

From my understanding, its all in the feed the cows get and the slaughter process, not to mind the curing process. If you don't know a farmer, drive up to a cattle farm and ask them, most are rather friendly people. Geez, wished I remembered some facts on a steak show I watched recently, on the Food Network, he went through everything, but I missed several parts of it unfortunately.

I am, however, always weary of people I don't know calling me and telling me of a good deal.

[OhioFisherman]

Just me but I like to see the cuts of meat I am buying before I pay for them. LOL We had one of those places that sold the package deals near me, key word was had. We bought one of their sampler packages like 15 years ago, the sample was enough to convince us not to go back.

 

K-Mart here has t-bone, strip steaks, and rib eyes on sale all the time for 4.99 a pound and I get to pick them.

[Big Cliff]

Thanks for the input guys, very much appreciated. I think that based on the replys we'll just stay with doing it the way we are now and using our local butcher. He has always provided us with good quality and stands behind what he sells and we can order exactly the cuts we want.

 

The price is a bit higher than what we could get it for at the local markets but we've never had a bad cut of meat from him. Nothing worse than sitting down to a nice steak and it's tough!

 

Once again, many thanks!

[oldphart]

~~~I did the Black Angus route once, they offer you a choise of sides hanging there, at the price they quoted, and it looks real aged. And on the other side of the room is the fresher sides, at a little higher price, and of cource that's the side you want, and pay more for. It still was a great deal with frozen Veggs, and fruit also in the package. A few years ago, in the spring I was up in Woodsville at a farmer aution held every Sat. a guy came to sell some Holteen male calves (7) it was late in the day and he had missed the calf sale, they were going for $11.00 each, but I told him if he wouls deliver them to my brother-inlaw in Port Perry I would give him $15.00 a head for them. We stuck a deal, 7 month later, took them to local meat packers in the area, who took them giving back 4 all nicely packaged up free. And that why I suffer from Gout today, boy do I miss my Beef

[aniceguy]

there are so many great farmers in Ontario within a 3 hr drive that provide some of the best beef imaginable.

 

My brother a few back found an organic farmer who feeds the cattle according to your likes butchered a full cow costs us 1600 and we split it between 3 guys....always well worth the money

 

Not a fan of prepackaged flash frozen anything, as in a vacuum seal it could be well over a yr old and then some...Im pretty sure OFA the farmers association has links to all kinds of great farmers

[Gerritt]

I purchase all my beef directly from the farmer. I order a animal and usually keep 1/4 - 1/2 for myself. I have done this for years as did my family. Always from the same farmer. I have yet to have a bad animal. His animals are free range for the most part and are not pumped full of the crap that you normally see in the grocery stores (Did you know the grocery stores add chemicals to the meat to make it look red and fresh? they do).. Once the animal is about 1-2 months away from slaughter the animal is fed corn. I believe this makes all the difference. I have yet to have a tough steak or roast.

 

I know it is good as my son can eat it with no allergy concerns... I cant feed him chicken and it is not because he is allergic to chicken he is allergic to the chemicals the commercial farmers inject into them.

 

It is good for my family and the family of the farmer. As we cut out the middle man (The Packer) I pay the farmer 2.00 per pound and the butcher gets .40 cents a pound. A packer would pay a farmer nowhere near to 2.00 a pound.

 

I support the farmer that supports my family with a quality product. He has people as far away as toronto coming to purchase his animals they are that good.

 

I would be hard pressed to even buy decent extra lean Ground Beef @ 2.40 a pound in the grocery store. So I save money and the farmer gets to put food on his table and support his.

 

Win Win.

 

G

Edited February 8, 2008 by Gerritt

[aniceguy]

2.40 is a great price

 

Is the beef organic? If so at that price its a steal

[Gerritt]

Yes, as far as I know there is nothing added to animal. Their feed is natural grasses etc.. I am unsure if antibiotics are used however I highly doubt it unless the animal is ill.. All I know is my son has no issues with it and average animal from him has a hanging weight of 500-700lbs. I pay 2.00 a lb on the hanging weight. The butcher then gets .40 a pound and a 70.00 kill fee.

 

I cant go wrong with the end product (better then anything I can buy) and the price suits my budget. I have another animal coming in the spring (End of May)

 

All animals are government inspected and stamped.

 

The butcher does a great job too.

 

G.

 

PS.. I may have a 1/4 left to sell......

[The Provider]

I agree totally with Gerritt, I just grabbed two whole strip loins and about 40 chicken breasts from a farmer buddy of mine and the steaks are outstanding and the chicken breats are huge and tender. I have been buying from him for about two years and the quality has been nothing less than 100%. It is all in the feed and the quality of the animal, I always know what I am getting and the price is amazing as well. this last bunch bunch I bought, the steaks were $2.20lb and the chicken breasts were $1.20lb. Two weeks ago I bought 7 top sirloin steaks (Black Angus) about 2 inches thick from the Barn in Hamilton, cost me $78.00 and they were really disappointing, chewy was not the word. Worst part is I even marinated them for about 6 hours before cooking and they were still brutal.

 

Find yourself a farmer, you will not be disappointed!

[bigbuck]

OOOOOOOOOOOO............ A topic close to my heart. I was a butcher working part time at Knob Hill Farms (remember the blue collar grocery chain??) going through high school and university. The biggest problem buying a bulk order of beef like that is whether or not you will use everything and how long it will take you to use it all. If you've got a big family, it might be worth it depending on whether or not they package everything exactly how you want it.

The problem going directly to a farmer to get your beef is that it's not federally inspected (as opposed to provincially) when the butcher takes down the carcass? Is the butcher inspected??? I can tell you horror stories about provincially inspected packing plants. Federally inspected plants have to meet a much higher standard that provincially inspected plants. A lot can happen from the time your cow gets slaughtered till it gets packaged. My dad was the meat buyer for Knob Hill and part of his job was to inspect the packing plants the Knob used for suppliers. He was very picky on who he did business with. Too bad, since Knob Hill closed the doors, the price of beef has more than doubled in the grocery stores but on the production level (farmer's side), the price hasn't changed all that much. Knob Hill kept the big chains honest on their pricing.

[TroutnMuskieHunter]

We do the same as Gerritt does and buy a full side of beef from a buddy of mine that's a full-time farmer.....no complaints whatsoever!!

 

Most farmers will ask you what size of animal do you want...We prefer the younger animals because the steaks are smaller in size and we find the meat a little more tender.

 

The other beauty of ordering your own beef is that you get to choose the cuts that you want. My buddy gives me a printout with all the cuts of beef and also has a column to right down how thick you want your steaks cut, how many lbs you want your roasts to be, etc... and it's up to you to fill it out.....we don't like Blade steaks or Blade roasts so we get them to grind them into hamburg...it's amazing how many different cuts there are to choose from!!.....I have to go grab lunch, all this talk about beef is making me hungry!!

 

Support your local farmer and buy Canadian Beef

Edited February 8, 2008 by TroutnMuskieHunter

[Badger Shark]

MMMMMMMMMMMMM STEAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for making me extremely hungry : :

 

If I had the room I would be looking into this.

[douG]

I went shopping a few months ago for some fine steak. I chose AAA Angus steaks from Longo's. These were very nicely marbled, and delicious. Cut em with a fork.

[Pinch]

Just had a call from a company offering freezer orders of meat. They claim the beaf is all Black Angus, you can order what ever cuts you want, it's all vaccuum packed and that their prices are about 20% less than typical retail. You have to order 6 months at a time but delivery is free. Sounds like it might be a reasonable deal but wanted to see if anyone else has any experience good or bad and would appreciate any help.

 

Thanks

 

Big Cliff

 

I did a meat order from this place http://www.blackangusmeat.com/index.php a couple of months ago and the meat is excellent. It cost $700 and filled my entire full sized stand up freezer with steaks, roasts, chickens. ground beef, stir fry beef.....and on and on.

 

You get whatever cuts that you want, so you arent left with something you wont use.

 

Once I called them up and went to collect it, they threw in an extra 60lbs of goods for free. Anything from the store that I wanted!

 

I though that their service and the quality of food was excellent.

 

Everything was double wrapped to save from freezer burn.

 

Pinch

[Big Cliff]

Well, I fully believe in supporting our local farmers, got a few of them that I hunt with but buying a 1/4 side of beef (typically 150 or so lbs) is a lot for us since there are only the two of us. We don't do a lot of roasts so most of what we use are steaks, the odd pot roast, ground beef and occasionally in the summer some nice beef ribs. The butcher that we deal with (the guy that helps us with the saussages for the Tyler event) only deals with local farmers so we are supporting them indirectly. based on what some of you are saying, he sure is expensive though, strip loins for $4.99 a lb, I wouldn't even think of making any kind of a change, his quality is excellent but I pay a lot more than that!

[bigbuck]

Cliff, 4.99/lb for strips, that's a pretty good price, they are in excess of 10 bucks/lb in the big chain stores. If you are happy with your butcher, AND his shop and cutting room are CLEAN, stick with him.