Do you butcher meat or buy it at the grocery store?

[kschick96]

Not literally butchering it yourself , but knowing someone who will let you buy all or part of a cow and it get hauled off to the butcher for you.

Just wondering who on here butchers beef and who buys it at the grocery store?

We are lucky and several family members who run cattle, so we have the option of butchering. We tend to do it about every 1 1/2-2 years and get a half a beef. I love have a freezer full of meat of all different cuts to choose from.

The only bad thing, it once you hit that 1 1/2-2 years stuff is starting to freezer burn, but usually there is very little left. Plus I don't like having to pay all at once-it's hard to write a check for that big amount-but it ends up saving us money in the end.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

We are going to split a cow this year with a family member and a friend. Last year we bought a lamb and had it butchered. We bought it from a friend of ours who's kids raise lambs for 4H. We are really enjoying the lamb meat although I cannot wait till it is grilling season again as that I how I like the lamb. I am a little worried about buying all that beef though because we don't really eat a whole lot of beef outside of ground beef and the occasional roast. I don't really care for steak by my DH does. We are going to buy the cow from the local college who has an ag. program. The final cost ends up being about $3.00 a lb. I would love to do an organic raised cow but the cost there is almost twice per lb. Maybe once we see how this years order goes...

I Foodsaver all of my meat and it lasts 2+ years without any freezer burn.

[foggierbard9]

I really want to do the 1/2 or 1/4 cow, but our freezer is currently full of all kinds of other stuff and it won't fit. We would be paying a bit more per lb I think, because the only place to get it from that I have found gets all grass fed beef from local farms.

[angeliainwonderland]

What about Venison? We are a family with Deer hunter's. A tag for my son is $3. We try to get the max allowed each yr. We process it ourselves. Including streaks, roasts, burger and sausage. Takes just a few hrs per deer to process. WE love the taste and the price can't be beat!!

[JrandMdB]

We have gotten a side of beef about every yr. We use it and chicken more than anything else and with processing it runs us about 500.00 for approx 350 lbs. I couldnt touch beef locally in stores for that cost so its just a smart spend for us every year. Not to mention.. When I have had to buy any beef from the grocery.. the quality is just not as good.

[JrandMdB]

Deer meat is something I have never cared for.. just a personal thing. LOL But I do love rabbit and squirrel! We can get tame rabbit for about $3 here for a whole one which isnt too bad.

What about Venison? We are a family with Deer hunter's. A tag for my son is $3. We try to get the max allowed each yr. We process it ourselves. Including streaks, roasts, burger and sausage. Takes just a few hrs per deer to process. WE love the taste and the price can't be beat!!

[kschick96]

What about Venison? We are a family with Deer hunter's. A tag for my son is $3. We try to get the max allowed each yr. We process it ourselves. Including streaks, roasts, burger and sausage. Takes just a few hrs per deer to process. WE love the taste and the price can't be beat!!

We do deer too, but do a sausage and summer sausage with it. My MIL calls the opening of deer season her new fav "holiday," because she gets to spend nearly a week with the baby because DH hunts on their farm. I always go along too, but never hunt-it's too cold for me!

[jdymitc]

Well, my grandfather has a farm and raises beef, chicken, and pigs and my husband is a hunter. My husband actually does do the butchering of the meat that we get. We have a grinder so we can make burger and my uncle owns a butcher shop so any smoking or anything like that we can get done there in trade for a couple hours worth of work. Overall we find that there is no way we can match the price per pound if we had to pay at the store for our meat.

[ProudMommyof2]

We process our own deer too. My husband, father, sister, and brother hunt so that's quite a few deer. We put it in freezer bags and then wrap it in freezer paper. It will last several years without getting freezer burnt. We are thinking of buying a pig this year and getting it butchered it would be a first for us. We use lots of deer meat and buy chicken, pork, and beef occasionally.

[dalton&riley]

We do butcher our own beef and hogs, as well as wild game since our whole family hunts (myself and children included!). I would not have it any other way because I know where the meat has been and where it came from. It is far cheaper than buying it in the store and we can make as much or as little of each cut as we want. We also vacuum seal all of the meat except the burger and it keeps well for several years.