We got half a cow once, the dog got all the interesting bits. If you're going by taste, home frozen meat is not as good as meat you buy frozen and not as good as fresh so there is a loss of quality issue especially by the time you are finishing it out. We had one of those giant chest freezers so space wasn't an issue, there is no way on earth if all you have is the little box above your fridge.

My parents have purchased whole pigs and sides of beef before. They've shared it amongst the family. It comes in handy when meat prices at the supermarket are high, but you have to make sure your freezer is at the proper temperature and you've wrapped it well to avoid freezer burn.

My boyfriend's grandpa is a Saskatchewan Farmer with a lot of cattle. We frequently get ground beef from him since we know it's organic and processed on site instead of being sent to a big facility where he can't control the environment. It has to be the best beef I have ever had. Mmm mmm!

My husband's family lives on a farm in Western Nebraska. Having raised their own animals this isn't a new thing to us.
Packaging isn't an issue as long as it is done properly, and after butchering your first side of beef, you get over the whole "ick there's a giant half cow on my kitchen table... ick ick ick," and start to move on.
Now that we all live away from home, my husband's siblings all still share animals and have whole animals butchered and then split the meat amongst themselves.
That way they don't have exclusively beef in their freezer, they have a nice combo of beef, lamb, chicken, you name it... and none goes to waste!

I'm looking at doing this sometime in the near(ish) future.

I love the idea of not being at the mercy of market pricing every week.

I've been tempted. Our CSA does beef shares. But it's far too much beef for us and we don't have the room to store it.

I think a lot of people are intrigued by this scientific seeming "sous vide" cooking they see on Top Chef or high-end restaurant menus.

In reality, sous vide is vacuum packing--not "FoodSaver" vacuum packing. If you cannot afford to buy a sous vide machine for your garage (anywhere between 1k-5000k dollars) have someone, like the butcher, do it for you. This is the only real way to make purchasing a whole or half animal worth it as the quality of the meat will not be compromised.

I used to buy whole hogs at 4-H livestock auctions. A pal's two sons raised one each. He'd bid on and buy one, I'd get the other. The 4-H Club would then ship the animals to a butcher (two options were offered). You call them up a week later and walk down your checklist of how thick you wanted your chops, whether you wanted your hams fresh or cured, whole or butchered, what kind and how much sausage you wanted, if you wanted the organ meat, etc. Then about a month later you picked up your cryo-frozen, buthered pig bits.

Oh joy.

One while 210lb hog on the hoof yielded enough meat to fill a standard fridge's freezer if nothing else was in it.

We never buy cuts of meat anymore - just whole animals. We raise all-natural, grass-fed lamb for ourselves and other people and beef for ourselves here on the farm, and we buy whole hogs from friends who raise them.

You can't beat the quality and price, and even the cost of a freezer will quickly pay for itself (and even a large chest freezer literally only costs a few dollars a month in electricity to run). And if you have extra space in it, you can stock up on fruits and veggies when they're in season and eat better while saving even more money. (We love our FoodSaver!)

We never have to deal with large or odd cuts of meat - the animals are processed by a small family run butcher according to our exact cutting and packaging specifications: ground beef in 1-pound packs, 2 ribeye or T-Bone steaks to a package, 4 double lamb chops to a package, lamb legs cut into 1-1/4 inch steaks (awesome on the grill), etc.

Even just a half side of beef is a tremendous amount of meat (our last steers weighed about 1,100 pounds each live), but a most of a processed 120-pound lamb will fit in a large cooler.

As for the quality of frozen meat, we've never had a problem with meat going bad, even after a couple of years - and that's just wrapped in heavy white butcher paper. Our processor now offers vacuum sealing and we've had a few lambs done that way. It does make the meat last longer - plus you can see the cuts of meat. We pick up our meat from the processor already frozen solid, and I think this makes a difference - freezing it yourself even in a chest freezer probably won't do as good of a job as a large walk-in commercial freezer.

As for the different cuts available, the processor and/or farmer should be able to help you figure out what cuts you might like/want: pork chops vs. pork tenderloins, hocks smoked or not, lamb ribs and roasts and shanks or stew meat, etc. There are lots of special options often available, too - Canadian bacon from a hog, beef pepperoni, lamb salami, etc.

I've created a flyer and checklist for our lamb customers explaining the different cuts available, how they're usually packaged, etc. which really helps them out, especially the ones who have never bought a whole lamb before. I'd be happy to send you a copy if you're interested.

And here's a blog post I wrote a while back about working with the butcher and discovering grilled lamb leg steaks and lamb spareribs - a little known but very tasty cut! : )

http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2008/03/how-to-cook-lamb-onion-herb-crusted.html

P.S. That photo is a riot!

Yeah, farmgirl susan. Hysterical. I know that I LOVE seeing pictures of a defenseless animal killed so that humans could eat its flesh.

Ha. Haha.

Today is NOT a good day for vegetarians browsing apartment therapy: this, a post about Jamie Oliver killing chicks, and a promotion for lethal squirrel traps all in one day.

You guys do remember that a large portion of your readers are vegetarian and vegan, right?????

agreed, Joy. I am a meat-eater, but definitely think the posts today are particular vegan/veg unfriendly. A reality of the food industry, and a fair representation of the diversity of the readers, but probably would have been more tasteful to spread them out.

add to the list the latest post of "truly great meats"...do you folks conspire to post on a certain topic exclusively for a bit? about two weeks ago I thought I'd never hear the end of summer cocktails, and now it's meat time, I suppose?

I've looked through Joy R.'s latest twenty comments and over half of them are aggressive.

I'm not trying to pick a fight, but really, chill out! It's just the internet...

Joy R.,
While I have complete respect for peoples' eating choices, I have one question for you:

Have you ever considered just how many 'defenseless animals' are killed to put a vegetarian meal on your plate?

A squash bug or a flea beatle or a frog or a rabbit or a tomato hornworm or a mole or a snake or a honeybee or a bird or a butterfly (I could go on and on) might not be anywhere near the size of a cow or a lamb - and you might not actually be 'eating their flesh' - but they're definitely still dying to give you dinner - everywhere from in the field and garden to on the road when they're splatted on a delivery truck's windshield. Even if you're eating totally organic.

Something to think about.

agreed - after reading Joy's post, they could use to cut down on the aggro (or balance with some positive posts), but I do agree with the sentiment here. I love coming to this site for the variety of posts - sometimes it is just lacking.

Amandica,
Your comment posted while I way typing mine. I agree with you. : )

@Farmgirl Susan,

The paper wrapped meat will last a long time in the freezer but it can still get freezer burned and absorb flavors from the air.

Have you noticed a difference in flavor between the vacuum packed cuts and the paper wrapped cuts?

Hi Art,
Yeah, the meat definitely needs to be wrapped well. One butcher we used to use for our beef would put pieces of a thick plastic wrap type stuff between the cuts and then wrap the whole package in it before putting on the butcher paper and that made a difference, but on the other hand I hated all that plastic waste, especially since we don't have any garbage pick up out here on the farm.

I can only remember a couple of packages ever getting any freezer burn, and that's out of literally hundreds. As for flavors being absorbed, I'm a little obsessive when it comes to that. (You should see how well I wrap my butter in the fridge and freezer.) We are fortunate to have the space for several chest freezers, and the only stuff that ever goes in the meat freezers are veggies and other things I'm not worried about giviing off odors.

As for the vacuum vs paper wrapping - we've only had two lambs vacuum wrapped so far, and I can't say that I noticed any discernable flavor difference. I do like that vacuum packaging, though, and so do our customers. The only problem is that sometimes we'll get a package that doesn't have a super tight seal, but we just eat those first. : )

Oy, vey. Here we go.

I apologize if my latest comments seem aggressive. I tend to comment more when something rubs me the wrong way, for sure, but I also comment on things I like as well. Lately, there have been a ton of very meat-centered posts in thekitchn, and I find it frustrating. Less than a year ago, thekitchn did a survey and discovered that a LARGE number of its visitors are vegetarian/vegan. Yet they continue to post very graphic images of things like pig's skin, whole dead animals, etc. I comment because I don't like seeing these things.

Farmgirl Susan,
I understand that it is impossible to live without ever inadvertently or indirectly killing an animal, but my choice to be vegan/vegetarian was made to limit any direct animal death I might cause. I can't control everything, but I can control my own meal choices, the shoes I wear on my feet, etc. I can strive to be as cruelty-free as possible. Your argument is commonly made in an attempt to negate the benefit of veganism.

Look, I don't want to "get into it" with anyone. But I do want thekitchn to know that some of us out here would love a reduction in the dead animal posts.

Joy R., I am a vegetarian (and a former vegan) but I also find your reaction to every animal post excessively pugnacious. There are different ways to be a conscientious consumer, and being a vegan does not automatically make you righteous. I am a vegetarian because I think that in my circumstances it's the best choice. In other situations, it may be more sustainable and even more humane to eat meat/fish/whatever. I dislike shrill vegetarians/vegans just as much as people who preach at me about the joys of meat consumption. You don't like the pictures, don't look at them.

Bubble,

I admit that I am passionate about a crualty-free diet. I admit that I can get overzealous in my reactions because I feel so strongly about it. I do not intend to come off as righteous or holier than thou, but it really does bother me that a site I love visiting seems to relish in posting rather "in your face" images of animals killed for food. I'd avoid looking at them if I could, but it's pretty impossible when you have to scroll through an entire page to read any new posts. You can only turn your head away so many times.

Again, I don't want to battle it out with anyone. I just want to read thekitchn without seeing dead things every other post.

I bought half a cow many years ago and plan to again as soon as I work out logistics. It is so much easier to get food I trust that way. If Farmgirl was closer, I'd buy one of her lambs but shipping costs would me really awful! At least people who buy her lambs know they are raised without garbage in their diets and in a lamb-like environment.

Now I must go find all the articles about vegetables and post pointed queries about the treatment of the people doing the labor to bring the vegans their GMO soy.

Not to drag it out...

But wanting a food blog not to have too many posts about meat is a bit much to ask. It's not just a quirk, it goes with the territory. That's like asking Apartment Therapy not to show too many sofas because you like futons.

Rockgirl,

It's not the posts about meat but rather the graphic images of the deceased animals "pre-meat", if that makes sense. I can handle a picture of a pork chop. Dead pig in a box??? Not so much.

Anyway... not trying to hijack the post, here. To get back on track with the topic:

I'd rather people participate in this kind of local, single-animal meat consumption more than the cut-off-from-reality hamburger diet most Americans eat. I feel like it promotes the death of fewer animals, and greater responsibility for the eater. Growing up, my family lived off of a single doe my dad had hunted for an entire year. It's the same idea as growing your own veggies instead of shipping them in from Chile.

Hate to keep the thread-hijacking going, but i felt like i needed to comment.

At first i was simply going to say "personally, i really like the meat pictures. a whole hog in a bbq pit makes me salivate, and a food blog that makes me salivate is a good one".

Then i tried to figure out why seeing a whole animal ("pre-meat" and not just "meat" as stated above) seems like a good thing to me and i think its the growing interest people have in knowing where their food comes from. Eating locally is one part of it, but the other part is actually seeing that you are in fact eating an *animal*. Gives you more respect for it, and makes you think twice before throwing something away. Thinking this way has definitely lead to a decrease in the amount of meat i buy lately, as well as a heightened interest in eating animals that were raised and killed humanely. Personally, getting people to see more images like this and getting them to think about these issues is a good thing, in my opinion.

PS - i actually think the pig in the pic above is "meat", not "pre-meat" ... its not fleshy and pink and looks cooked/smoked in some way to me.

"I can handle a picture of a pork chop. Dead pig in a box??? Not so much."

Got it.

We plan on purchasing a whole lamb and a side of beef this fall from a local farmer who will have it cut to your exact specifications. My in laws raise several animals a year for their own consumption (as well as ours) that they also have processed locally and cut to their specifications. We have never had a problem with the "odd bits" as they make divine stock. Most recently we decided to raise our own chickens (more accurately, my in laws are raising them and then we will process them). We will have 25 chickens by the end of summer. If you are going to purchase meat in bulk, you will have to get a large chest freezer. We use ours for meat, locally grown berries and vegetables, and homemade stock. This was the most economical way for us to purchase humanely raised, grass fed, locally raised, antibiotic and hormone free meat.

dudes!! yall are forgetting about all the muslims worldwide who have goats for eid. my parents took it one step further and now get all their meat from a local slaughterhouse.

I dont eat meat now, but when I was a child we got some of our meat from a local farmer. I remember my parents going in on a pig with friends. The taste difference between that and what was in the grocery store was amazing.

I agree with some of the comments above.

If you AT:Kitchn, you have to assume that it has an omnivorous philosophy.

"If you READ AT:Kitchn..."

that pig looks like it has already bee roasted....the cardboard box helps soak up the excess oil and fat.
...and it looks DELICIOUS!

mmm....roasted lamb and pig...mmm....

The Kitchn: please don't censor a thing.