Here's the question.... Who of you Carnivores would consider purchasing beef off a ranch, rather than out of a grocery store?

???

Last year the wife and I purchased 1/2 a beef from a local rancher.  It was processed nicely and it has taken us a year to eat it all up.  This year, due to us going Ketovore and eating so much more Beef, we opted to purchase a whole calf.  The Angus calf just went to the processor, is 16 months old and weighs 1,100 live weight.  It was completely milk/grass raised until the last 30 days, when it was given a diet of Meadow Hay and Cracked Corn, which will boost the fat content.  

After processing and paying for the calf, it will cost me $5.45 a lb for everything.  Yep, that is a lot of money up front, but everyone on this forum knows the cost of Beef at the store these days.  

Sam's Club Pricing this week.........

Tenderloin is $20 a lb

Ribeye is $15 lb

Sirloin is $10 a lb

Hamburger is $4.79 a lb for Organic, non-Antibiotic.

Oh... my Ranch raised steer is Organic, non-Antibiotic.... So check those prices at Whole Foods!!!!!!

Also, when you buy a beef and have a local processor kill and package your meat, you get to choose the cuts you want.  And you get to choose the fat percentage of your hamburger.  We opted for 85/15 for our hamburger.

Like I said, we have to pay north of $3,500 for a full beef, but there is two of us and that only amounts to about $150 a month per person for a year.  

And here is the BIG DEAL... We know how that calf was raised and fed and processed.

 

PS... the other cool thing is... you can request all of the big bones and you can make your own Bone Broth.

 

We are in this current discussion. My wife just did a 30 day carnivore stint and for now, it is just not her cup of tea. My son does it on and off and his wife is not interested. We live next door to one another and share a common freezer. 

We are looking into going in halves between the household for a 1/2 cow and then go from there. We did the math and ours worked out to be in the $5.70 a pound range. I am sure that is dependent upon location. 

I agree with all the points you made and I feel like we will be heading that way soon. 

Our two households are 3/4 non-carnivore but we go thru a boat load of red meat. 

Scott

In my opinion, anyone on the carnivore diet that has the means to do so should be buying their beef this way.  Its not about the quantity, its about the quality.  Store beef tastes and acts nothing like what we get back from our local butcher.  Cost savings is also huge, and not to be overlooked.

We have been raising beef at the farm for a lot of years now, and sadly the prices have skyrocketed over the last 5 or so.  Last year's rangy looking little feeder calves were going for $2.50 to $3.00/lb at the auction, so $5.45 a lb all done up nice for freezer camp isnt too bad from what Ive been seeing.

We put a whole beef in the freezer every fall now, and it doesnt last the year.  Gonna have to pony up and buy another upright unit (or a walk-in haha)

It’s the second best way to go for sure. 
If you have the means then this is my preferred way. 

raising my own. 
It isn’t cheaper but I love doing it and I know exactly what’s in my meat. That goes for my lambs as well and my chickens and eggs. 
And you are absolutely correct about the custom processing. I get my burger 70/30. 
I keep all fat trimmings and suet that isn’t used in the burger so I can make tallow. Bones go to the dogs and bone broth. Steaks cut to preferred size. Heart, liver and kidneys kept. 
Raising your own or buying one and having it processed is the best, healthiest and cheapest way to eat. 

Sold.

 

Scott

Geoff... all I see is Ribeyes!!!!    

Oh my goodness... beautiful pics.

You know... back in the day (1960's) my family was cross breeding Bison with Domestic Cattle.   They claim the steaks were awesome. 

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  On 3/20/2025 at 4:11 AM, Mesa_John said:

You know... back in the day (1960's) my family was cross breeding Bison with Domestic Cattle.   They claim the steaks were awesome. 
.....

Beefaloe.


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Received a call on Friday that my beef is ready.  Net package yield is just over 500 lbs.  After paying for the calf and processing, it all came to $7.63 a lb.  That might sound a little high, when compared to the cost of grocery store ground beef, chicken breast and/or pork chops, but it is a darn good price when compared to organic tenderloin ($25 a lb), ribeye's ($18 a lb), etc...   Heck, Sam's is charging $8.29 for trimmed briskets.   Plus, we know everything about this calf.....  what it was fed, what vaccinations it did or didn't received, etc. and he would easily qualify for certified organic.

 

We pick up the meat on Friday and the challenge begins.... Can we eat 500lbs of beef in the next 365 days????    That's 11 oz consumed per day between two of us for the next year.  I think we can do it.

 

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Edited April 2Apr 2 by Mesa_John

  On 4/2/2025 at 12:31 PM, Mesa_John said:

After paying for the calf and processing, it all came to $7.63 a lb

I don’t think that’s high at all for what you are getting. 
We raise our own but we have to count in the feed that goes into them. My wife keeps track of that but I don’t want to know what it is, 🙈Ain’t none of it cheap but like you said, you know what you’re getting. 

 

  On 4/2/2025 at 12:31 PM, Mesa_John said:

That's 11 oz consumed per day between two of us for the next year.  I think we can do it.

I eat more than a pound a day so that would last me a year. 

You can DEFINITELY eat that in a year.  Some days you might eat less, but then again, when you have a barbecue and have people over, a bit more will go.  I find it evens itself out in our house.  

If you arent cutting it up yourself, cut&wrap fees are usually around a dollar a pound (and UP) so that is a big jump to the price at the end.  I dont think 7.63/lb is bad at all!

Sure can be miserable sometimes scaring up that much free cash all at once to put in the freezer, but I have to think of it like "theres our food for the year"  I hardly go to the grocery store anymore.

 

Now THATS what Im talkin about!!!  That sure as heck looks like a full beef right there.  Id guess 650-700 lbs hanging weight?   I think I see some bones under the ground beef in the second picture?  

Carnivore paradise right there. 

  On 4/6/2025 at 10:59 PM, Skeptic said:

Now THATS what Im talkin about!!!  That sure as heck looks like a full beef right there.  Id guess 650-700 lbs hanging weight?   I think I see some bones under the ground beef in the second picture?  

Yeah, the processor bagged us 9 big bags of soup bones.  Big ole bones with a ton of marrow.  

Gotta wrap the wife's head around this, as she is reluctant to 'stew' them all, with all the goodies floating around in the broth.  

I will show her how to stew, break up the marrow and then use an emulsifier blender to "make it all happy", for the best Bone Broth on the planet.

  On 4/7/2025 at 1:45 AM, Geezy said:

Carnivore paradise right there. 

Probably heresy... but I am not a fan of Roasts.  I had all the roast meat ground into hamburger.  Out of this calf, we ended up with 198 lbs of Hamburger....  but we flippin love hamburger in all sort of varieties.

Our newest thing is to mix it 50/50 with ground Pork, Boston Butt with some Italian seasoning for the best Sausage Balls on the planet.  We like eating the Sausage Balls by themselves without tomato sauce.

  On 4/7/2025 at 3:17 AM, Mesa_John said:

Probably heresy... but I am not a fan of Roasts.  I had all the roast meat ground into hamburger.

Nothing wrong with that.