Buying a side of beef?

Sorbate said:
I raised beef cattle as well, I didn’t know you could force feed beef.

Yeah antibiotics are fine, as long as you wait the time period to clear. We never used hormones, nor did any of my farming friends. Not sure if they hammer them while finishing them at the feed lot.
Great thing about growth hormone is it cannot be passed along thru ingestion. Or we could drink our gh in milk, lol.
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Dude hopefully you see I am agreeing with you for the most part. Not all but most.
Yes you can force feed beef. Over feeding extra calories is still force feeding. maybe not the right term, but it is what it is.
My family business deals with feedlots and still do, it is something else to experience. It takes about 8-12 months longer duration to finish grass fed beef. Because of the feedlot mentality that most if not all grocery stores sell to the general public.
That is why butchers and meat sellers such as yourself are a gift to the community.
I am not going to post more quotes etc, but you can and do get the hormones etc in the milks and meats passed on through animals. How much, who knows, and I really don't care, I attempt to be as au natural as I can be. That is all.

Not trying to cut in on your knowledge here as you are more versed than many folks I have dealt with on the subject.
I hope im not coming across as a dickhead as I am not meaning to be. I as well have done this my whole life so I will stand up for my knowledge and pride on the subject, as will you and I think that's great...
voila.
 
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Sorbate said:
I’m putting in a plot for a garden this year. I want real fresh veggies. I’ll blanch and freeze the leftovers. Not the best but better than ripened in carbon dioxide in a truck tomatoes, lol.
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Yeah buddy. One can never have too many foods we do ourselves. It is also fun and having your hands in the earth will ground you and pass along electrons which also have a very positive effect on the body.
 
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ironwill said:
Dude hopefully you see I am agreeing with you for the most part. Not all but most.
Yes you can force feed beef. Over feeding extra calories is still force feeding. maybe not the right term, but it is what it is.
My family business deals with feedlots and still do, it is something else to experience. It takes about 8-12 months longer duration to finish grass fed beef. Because of the feedlot mentality that most if not all grocery stores sell to the general public.
That is why butchers and meat sellers such as yourself are a gift to the community.
I am not going to post more quotes etc, but you can and do get the hormones etc in the milks and meats passed on through animals. How much, who knows, and I really don't care, I attempt to be as au natural as I can be. That is all.

Not trying to cut in on your knowledge here as you are more versed than many folks I have dealt with on the subject.
I hope im not coming across as a dickhead as I am not meaning to be. I as well have done this my whole life so I will stand up for my knowledge and pride on the subject, as will you and I think that's great...
voila.
Click to expand...


Sorbate's not disagreeing with you I don't think... I think he's making a point that you can't feed a cow more than it wants to eat, but you can deffinitely drug it up with hormones for size.

If a cow eats what it naturally eats, it won't over eat. If you change up its food it will deffinitely stuff itself..

My father in law told me you need to be really careful feeding a grass fed cow oats. The cow will eat and eat and eat until it essentially plugged itself up with gas and grain. He siad when they are given grain and over eat you can see their belly's swell fast and big.. You need to release the gas or it can die. I think you can stick a tube down their throat or there's a way to cut into the side of a cow in an emergency.

I don't think your coming across as a dickhead lol.. We each come from different background with different experiences to go along with it. Much of my info comes from a father in law who is a life time farmer who has held on to traditional methods and has explained to me why. So most of my info comes from a 60 year old guy who hasn't left his farm or read a book in 50 years.. he gets all his info from his farmer buddies, livestock autions, vet's who stop by etc..
 
ironwill said:
Dude hopefully you see I am agreeing with you for the most part. Not all but most.
Yes you can force feed beef. Over feeding extra calories is still force feeding. maybe not the right term, but it is what it is.
My family business deals with feedlots and still do, it is something else to experience. It takes about 8-12 months longer duration to finish grass fed beef. Because of the feedlot mentality that most if not all grocery stores sell to the general public.
That is why butchers and meat sellers such as yourself are a gift to the community.
I am not going to post more quotes etc, but you can and do get the hormones etc in the milks and meats passed on through animals. How much, who knows, and I really don't care, I attempt to be as au natural as I can be. That is all.

Not trying to cut in on your knowledge here as you are more versed than many folks I have dealt with on the subject.
I hope im not coming across as a dickhead as I am not meaning to be. I as well have done this my whole life so I will stand up for my knowledge and pride on the subject, as will you and I think that's great...
voila.
Click to expand...

I was talking about gh, I know other hormones are passed on. That is why I buy hormone free beef. Sorry I should have been more specific, I was actually trying my attempt at humour.

As far as force feeding, I meant how would you force feed a grass fed cow? Hold their head in the grass, lol.
I do not know all the processes at a feed lot. Nor have I really cared.

Truthfully I thought we had pretty much discussed this to death and was just making jokes now.
 
Sorbate said:
I was talking about gh, I know other hormones are passed on. That is why I buy hormone free beef. Sorry I should have been more specific, I was actually trying my attempt at humour.

As far as force feeding, I meant how would you force feed a grass fed cow? Hold their head in the grass, lol.
I do not know all the processes at a feed lot. Nor have I really cared.

Truthfully I thought we had pretty much discussed this to death and was just making jokes now.
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Sounds good. I’m done. I’m gonna hug you now. Seriously though it’s cool to meet someone on the board that’s been around the beef. Very cool to see someone carrying on your family traditions and deep knowledge. Now can I get some sausage recipes from you? No homo
 
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animal-inside said:
Sorbate's not disagreeing with you I don't think... I think he's making a point that you can't feed a cow more than it wants to eat, but you can deffinitely drug it up with hormones for size.

If a cow eats what it naturally eats, it won't over eat. If you change up its food it will deffinitely stuff itself..

My father in law told me you need to be really careful feeding a grass fed cow oats. The cow will eat and eat and eat until it essentially plugged itself up with gas and grain. He siad when they are given grain and over eat you can see their belly's swell fast and big.. You need to release the gas or it can die. I think you can stick a tube down their throat or there's a way to cut into the side of a cow in an emergency.

I don't think your coming across as a dickhead lol.. We each come from different background with different experiences to go along with it. Much of my info comes from a father in law who is a life time farmer who has held on to traditional methods and has explained to me why. So most of my info comes from a 60 year old guy who hasn't left his farm or read a book in 50 years.. he gets all his info from his farmer buddies, livestock autions, vet's who stop by etc..
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yes sir in cattle it is bloat and that’s because they take in too much at once and don’t digest proper. We lost a couple when they got in to the chop bins on the farm. Had to cut the guts on the ones that survived. In horses they founder. On too much rich grass or oats or given too much water after being heated up. Scary shit really.
 
ironwill said:
Sounds good. I’m done. I’m gonna hug you now. Seriously though it’s cool to meet someone on the board that’s been around the beef. Very cool to see someone carrying on your family traditions and deep knowledge. Now can I get some sausage recipes from you? No homo
Click to expand...

Sorry don’t tell my secrets, lol. That’s how I make my money.
Actually about 15 years ago I got the spice companies to preblend all my formulas. I cannot remember what the hell is in everything anymore. I always had everything memorized, never wrote it down out of fear a staff member would quit, steal them and start their own place. I swapped to preblended because less chance to screw up if you only have to mix a couple ingredients instead of 10.
 
Only time I saw a bloated cow was when one died.
I was 12 I think, me and me brother were standing on it trying to pierce its belly with a hay fork. We were about to sharpen the points when my dad came home and screamed wtf were we doing, lol.
I just imagine us looking like little devil kids jumping and trying to ram this hay fork in it. Farm life was really boring as a kid.
 
ironwill said:
I agree 100%, I wasn't even really into the whole Bison idea, but I am starting to change my mind a little on that subject. Still a whole different ball game than raising beef, with completely different safety and penning issues. I do believe domesticating them is what saved them from extinction and now we have some decent wild herds once again. hopefully I get drawn to hunt them up here where I live this fall. my bucket list for a hunt.
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Just saw this..

There's a bison farm down the road from me. It's done properly to my knowledge. Lots and lots of grazin land and not many animals. They are grazed all year except in the winter they are fed hay (not grain).

My neighbors across the road were going to get into bison farm. They said they decided against it when they considered the cost of fencing, difficulty with interacting with the animals (helping birth, giving medical treatment etc).. they said it just wasn't worth it. They claim it seemed to be much more difficult and exepnsive then cows.

And I just realized, I hunted on a bison farm once. Again, tons of land and not many animals. Farmer told me the bison are completely fine to be around. Said I could walk through the herd no issues. I choose not to hunt in the area they were contained in at that time. Walking through grazing/bush land in the dark and possibly bumping into a herd of 20 bison wasn't something I wanted to try. They are seriously big animals. This farmer told me they were great for livestock. Docile and if your fencing was good, they didn't need to be tended to much.
 
Has anyone ever butchered a whole side of beef? I've done a quarter Heifer (Females are cheaper as they have less fat mass on average, unless they're producing dairy at some point) on my kitchen island. I did tape the entire thing off with garbage bags and saran wrap... But you can be certain the vegan ex girlfriend coming home to that was truly appalled. Haha.

You can get cheap vacuum packers and bags on amazon. I use a 20k$ machine at work, but at home, for my meat storage, I use a 30$ Vacuum sealer and the bags (I buy rolls, so you have to seal both ends) cost me around 100$ for 1000ft from restaurant supply stores.
 
Arcygenical said:
Has anyone ever butchered a whole side of beef? I've done a quarter Heifer (Females are cheaper as they have less fat mass on average, unless they're producing dairy at some point) on my kitchen island. I did tape the entire thing off with garbage bags and saran wrap... But you can be certain the vegan ex girlfriend coming home to that was truly appalled. Haha.

You can get cheap vacuum packers and bags on amazon. I use a 20k$ machine at work, but at home, for my meat storage, I use a 30$ Vacuum sealer and the bags (I buy rolls, so you have to seal both ends) cost me around 100$ for 1000ft from restaurant supply stores.
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Youre $20,00 machine will putt down to almost complete vac, your home sealer doesn't, lol. Its fine to package for the freezer though.

I've boned out beef for people in their garages. Takes longer. AT the shop I'm around an hour for a whole cow including grinding it, if someone else wraps.
 
Geezus an hour!! We’ve done lots of butchering pigs, cows, moose, deer, bear it’s a days project lol.
 
faller said:
Geezus an hour!! We’ve done lots of butchering pigs, cows, moose, deer, bear it’s a days project lol.
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With a person wrapping and grinding the ground, I can bone 4 deers an hour all day long, and that's cutting the steaks and tying the roasts. It only slows down if some dude wants all stew instead of ground. Moose about an hour.
If I have to run it thru the saw (so cutting pigs into chops and such) it takes longer because you have to scrape off the bone dust.

If you had done thousands you'd be fast also. My dad taught me a trick to count my strokes and try to cut with as few needed, plus don't saw when you are cutting, nice fluid strokes, not sawing motions. Also a sharp knife is very important. WHen I worked on a boning line, my knife was so sharp that you couldn't shave hairs, the blade would slice right into the skin, and not glide across the skin because it was too sharp. That was when I used stones to sharpen (not a belt grinder like now) and my steel was so fine it was as smooth as a front fork on a motorcycle. I would use 400 wet dry sandpaper to smooth it. I'm too lazy to be that particular now, lol.

Oh, I've slowed down, I've stabbed my arm clean thru the bones in my forearm, my hands are covered in scars. Speed isn't worth the pain of a cut healing anymore.
 
Sorbate said:
Youre $20,00 machine will putt down to almost complete vac, your home sealer doesn't, lol. Its fine to package for the freezer though.

I've boned out beef for people in their garages. Takes longer. AT the shop I'm around an hour for a whole cow including grinding it, if someone else wraps.
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That's fucking fantastic. Breaking down the quarter cow took me well over 3 hours, as it was my first (and only) time doing it. And yeah, obviously the home machine only gets a few atmospheres below ambient... Those 20k vacuum chamber sealers will purge 99.5% of the air (5 millibars) whereas the cheap home ones will only get 95% of the air out, or a measly 50 millibars. Either way, fine for the chest freezer as you said.
 
Arcygenical said:
That's fucking fantastic. Breaking down the quarter cow took me well over 3 hours, as it was my first (and only) time doing it. And yeah, obviously the home machine only gets a few atmospheres below ambient... Those 20k vacuum chamber sealers will purge 99.5% of the air (5 millibars) whereas the cheap home ones will only get 95% of the air out, or a measly 50 millibars. Either way, fine for the chest freezer as you said.
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The one I bought was only $15,000 17 years ago, big enough to fit a whole shortloin. Mainly bought it because it could do modified atmosphere packaging. So we suck out all the air then replace the air in the bag with carbon dioxide and nitrogen (30% co2, beer gas, lol). Anyhow it’s like the air in a potato chip bag. Helped to extend shelf life plus you can pack fragile or multiple items that you don’t want squished together, like pepperettes. I recovered the money in a year from savings of lost product.
$15,000 is entry level, you can spend a million dollars, depending on how fast you want it to vac, if it’s automatedand so on, but you likely already know that, lol.
 
Sorbate said:
With a person wrapping and grinding the ground, I can bone 4 deers an hour all day long, and that's cutting the steaks and tying the roasts. It only slows down if some dude wants all stew instead of ground. Moose about an hour.
If I have to run it thru the saw (so cutting pigs into chops and such) it takes longer because you have to scrape off the bone dust.

If you had done thousands you'd be fast also. My dad taught me a trick to count my strokes and try to cut with as few needed, plus don't saw when you are cutting, nice fluid strokes, not sawing motions. Also a sharp knife is very important. WHen I worked on a boning line, my knife was so sharp that you couldn't shave hairs, the blade would slice right into the skin, and not glide across the skin because it was too sharp. That was when I used stones to sharpen (not a belt grinder like now) and my steel was so fine it was as smooth as a front fork on a motorcycle. I would use 400 wet dry sandpaper to smooth it. I'm too lazy to be that particular now, lol.

Oh, I've slowed down, I've stabbed my arm clean thru the bones in my forearm, my hands are covered in scars. Speed isn't worth the pain of a cut healing anymore.
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holy fuck man... I'd pay you cash to come do 2 steers each year if you were closer. I'd do the grinding and wrapping.. You'd to the deboning, steaks and roasts.

I use a stone for my knives still. And I leather strop them.. I don't own a really good steal yet.. It's on my list to buy.
 
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