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Car averaged 28.2 mpg with it in there and the a/c cranking as well.

Do you buy by the hanger pound? What is the USDA quality? Do you go for the front or hind 1/2? What about ground beef; how much does it yield - 100#? Will your butcher package it in your desired format (1# ground beef etc...)?

Im pondering doing the same thing. Saves a ton of $ along with getting a better cut of meet.

My buddy has been getting halves for several years from the same cow grower guy so I jumped on last year and this is as much as I know:

The cow is gutted before weighed so we're not paying for waste.

The farmer sends the cow to the meat place and they do all the processing. They meat place will call when the cow is in or about to be in and confirm the order. They keep your old order on file so if you have no changes it's quick easy.

They will package pretty much anyway you want. Last year I had 3/4's of my ground beef in hamburger patties, one inch thick, and 4 to a package. The other quarter was one pound packages of ground beef. This year I told them to keep everything the same but do half and half on the ground beef. Otherwise, I have t-bone steaks, rib eyes, sirloins, roasts, stew meat, and etc. Everything is wrapped in plastic, and then paper, labeled and dated. They will save you the heart and tongue if you want it but I can never find a suitable bun for either.

The name of the processing place is Country Village Meats in Sublette, IL. The cows come from a farmer my buddies brother in law knows.

You obviously need a deep freezer. I also recommend a bunch of coolers for transport since it is a cruise out there. I drove the 60 miles home with the AC cranking so I was more or less blue by the time I got home.

I've got a farm that has grass fed blah blah, good this and that. We would pay for meat and bones (usually 750#), no guts and get the meat packaged however we like.

So, what did you pay per hanger pound? The quote I got up here from a Wisconsin farmer was $3/hanger pound (about 380#) + $150 butcher fee (this is usable meat, bones etc... Not guts, tounge, head, hoof or anyting else yucky). So, the average price for a hind 1/2 would be about $1280.

We would get:

-1 whole short loin (can be made into either tenderloin and NY strip OR into porterhouse and t bone steaks.- about 25lbs)
-sirloin steaks (about 10lbs+)
-ribeye (about 10lbs+)
-1 flank steak
-1 skirt steak
-7 4lb chuck (pot) roasts
-1 4lb sirloin tip roast
-1 4lb eye of round roast
-6lbs of brisket
- 80 to 100lbs of ground beef

A mess of dog bones, soup bones, etc to use as well.

Good news is, we have a refridgerator sized freezer to store it all.<ul><li><a href="http://www.dietzlerbeef.com/buy-dietzler-beef.html">http://www.dietzlerbeef.com/buy-dietzler-beef.html</a</li></ul>

Only paid the processing today. I don't know if I would do a full cow. My buddy has always done halves and he does a ton of BBQing and is a huge meat eater and will still have some left over after a year. Our first one didn't last that long as the 2 freezers I had running in the basement last year had lost power and it thawed which then became an invite for the dogs so when I got home it looked and smelled like a crime scene from a Saw movie.

Either way, the meat is GOOD. The fact it's all done in nice little packages to your liking is a plus.