Is Purchasing Beef in Bulk a Wise Choice? Consider These 14 Factors

Whether you’re looking to create a masterful spread of beefy goodies or just like the thought of having enough food on hand for months, buying beef in bulk is a wise move since it provides multiple benefits. There are a number of things to consider before you simply load up your grocery cart with packages of supermarket beef. In fact, the first thing you want to consider is where to buy your beef. A number of options are available, including your local rancher, butcher, and supermarket, all of which may be either in-store or online.

Getting your beef in bulk typically means you have the option for a variety of cuts. It also means you’re less likely to load up on just ribeye or strip. Some cuts, like the filet mignon, are considered special or high-end because you get very few of the same cuts from one cow. But this presents an opportunity to try other styles of beef and enhance your cooking skills at the same time.

With the convenience of online shopping and nationwide shipping, it’s certainly possible to source your favorite cut in bulk, but you may miss out on other benefits such as lower overall cost or supporting a local farm. The best and most valuable way to source beef in large amounts is to order from your local farmer, rancher, or butcher.

How many times have you passed by a pasture full of cattle grazing and said, “moo!” as you drove by? Buying your beef in bulk from a local farm or ranch means you get to know what kind of life the cows have. You may even get to know the farmer. At the very least, you’ll know your beef comes from right down the street and not from an unknown country of origin. Additionally, all of your beef comes from one source and not multiple farms.

Your local butcher store is your next best option. Many butchers offer the opportunity to order large quantities of beef at one time. Butchers may source from a few different farms that are spread across the country, but they can usually provide you with information about the source of their meat. Buying a lot of beef from the supermarket means you may never know where the beef comes from. Of course, this option is still a convenient and viable one.

Buying beef from a local farm or butcher provides you with more cut options than you typically get from a supermarket. Supermarkets don’t necessarily keep a pile of beef cuts in the back, but you may be able to order some types of beef in bulk, such as ground beef or chuck roast. Even if the meat section of your local grocer is fully stocked, it may not feature a wide selection that includes higher-end or specialty cuts. However, it’s worth talking to the butcher on duty to find out what that particular store’s policies are. Butcher stores vary from place to place and may offer everything from head to tail, or you may only find the most popular cuts of beef.

You also have the option of ordering beef in bulk online. Not every farm, store, or butcher offers this option, so you need to research your chosen source to find out. You may have to order from multiple stores or farms to receive all of the cuts you want. Some farms offer up to a full cow for delivery, but unless you live nearby, shipping costs may not be worth it. To combat this, many farms or butchers feature premade bundles or boxes of popular cut varieties.

A big surprise for many people when purchasing beef in bulk is the price. Of course, when you buy an enormous amount of product, it’s going to cost you more upfront. But if you’re new to ordering tens or hundreds of pounds of beef, the initial price tag may startle you. Depending on how much beef you’re buying, there may also be a deposit to lock in your order. The plus side is that it typically costs less in the long run, especially if you source your beef from a local farm.

Think of your local farm like a wholesaler. When you cut out the middleman, you usually see lower prices. When you order beef in bulk from a farm or ranch, the total price is often less than $10 per pound of meat — many farms average about $5 to $6 per pound. That means even the higher-end or specialty cuts cost less. But be prepared to drop hundreds to thousands of dollars upfront. Because of this, you may need to shift your budget or save for a bulk order. It’s not unheard of to purchase bulk beef as a group (friends or family) to make this a viable option.

On the flip side, ordering beef in bulk from either a supermarket or butcher may not save you money at all in the long run. You’re still dealing with a middleman, and depending on your location, you could end up paying higher prices. If your supermarket has a sale, you may be able to scoop up multiple packages of beef for short change, but there may be a limit imposed by the store as to how much you’re able to purchase. You may or may not have the opportunity to speak with the butcher to place an order for a large volume of beef at a discounted price. (It’s always worth asking.)

Butcher stores typically offer boxes of various beef cuts, sometimes mixed with poultry or pork cuts, in addition to the cuts of meat you can find in the freezer bins. Stores set their own prices, though, so you might find a good deal at one butcher store and feel prices are far too high at another.

Ordering beef in bulk usually means purchasing directly from a farm, whether it’s online, in person, or via a butcher. The beef is typically offered as a quarter-side, half-side, or whole cow, which is the best value. After all, you don’t get much more farm-to-plate than getting your beef from one local source. Other bulk options include box sets with a mix of predetermined cuts or custom-made to suit your preferences, but this varies from place to place. Sometimes, a butcher can custom order up to a side of cow from the farms they source their beef from and pass that onto you.

A quarter, half, or whole cow gives you the widest range of cuts, including chuck roast, beef ribs, cubed steak, stew meat, and ground beef, the last of which makes up the majority of available beef. But there are also other steak cuts like sirloin, ribeye, strip, filet, brisket, flank, and skirt. You’ll even have the option of less common cuts like liver, heart, kidneys, tongue, and suet. Most farms will give you the breakdown of cuts offered, the amount you’ll receive of each, and the option of turning some of those cuts into ground meat instead.

Buying hundreds of pounds of beef requires patience. If you need a bunch of beef quickly — say you’re hosting a BBQ in a week — visit your local supermarket or butcher. The beef you receive from a farm is so fresh, you’re either placed on a waiting list or you need to wait a few weeks for processing.

There are a lot of options when it comes to buying beef in bulk, whether it’s from a farm, via a butcher, in-store, or online. If your idea of bulk beef is 10 pounds of ground meat, your options range from the supermarket to your local farmer’s market. Check with the butcher at your supermarket because there’s a chance you can get bulk ground beef at a discount price. Purchasing beef from a farmer’s market doesn’t always translate to lower prices, but many farms are ready with tens of pounds of meat and may have order forms available for reserving beef in larger quantities.

However, if your idea of bulk beef is larger amounts up to 200 pounds and you’re looking to fill your chest freezer with a variety of cuts, your best bet is ordering a half cow directly from a farm. But no matter how much beef you want, there’s usually a way to get it.

Many farms or butchers offer their customers a choice of premade boxes with a variety of meat cuts. You may have your pick from only beef or a combination of beef, pork, or poultry. This is convenient if you’re looking for a variety of cuts but don’t want to order a quarter, half, or whole cow. Most places have a menu that features the various options available for boxed meats but you might have to order it ahead of time so they can put it together. Some butchers also allow you to select your cuts and may offer a discount for the bulk order.

Packs of meat may include ground beef, steak cuts, roasts, or even other meats like bacon, sausage, and ready-made beef patties. Often, the premade boxes are themes for a certain cooking style, like slow cooking, grilling, or breakfast items. The amount you receive in each pack varies, but butchers are usually happy to work with you to customize your own beef bundle.

The majority of meat on a cow is processed as ground beef. It’s most noticeable when you order a half or whole cow since nearly 50 percent of what you receive will be in the form of ground meat. This is because not every part of the cow can be steaks and roasts due to the location a cut comes from, especially if it’s tougher meat or contains a large amount of connective tissue. Grinding tougher, sinewy meat makes for a more palatable way to eat it. Additionally, grinding helps ensure there are no wasted parts like trimmings that are created when individual cuts are made.

Look around your supermarket’s meat section and you’ll find mostly ground beef. But this shouldn’t be viewed as a negative — even if your favorite cut of beef is ribeye — because there are plenty of ways to flavor ground beef and many recipes to indulge in, like beef enchiladas or bolognese. Unless you have explicitly ordered just ground beef, a bulk beef order from a farm or butcher typically features a range of steak cuts and roasts.

Buying beef in bulk means you’re going to need extra space to store it, which is dependent upon how much beef you order. If you only order 10 to 20 pounds of beef, you may be able to fit this in your fridge and freezer without having to do too much rearranging. But if you’ve decided to go all in and purchase a half or whole cow, you’ll need a chest or standing freezer. Depending on the size of the cow and the final hanging weight, the amount of beef you receive could range anywhere from 200 to 400 pounds of take-home meat.

The finished cuts taken from a cow account for about half of its hanging weight. So, if the cow weighs 600 pounds, the resulting meat is about 300 pounds. A chest freezer that measures 10 cubic feet holds roughly a half cow or up to 200 pounds of meat. Alternatively, you can fit 20 to 25 pounds of meat for every cubic foot. Keep this in mind as you may need ample space in your vehicle to pick up your bulk order. Be prepared for your vehicle to transport a dozen or so of 40-pound boxes of frozen meat.

Unlike a supermarket, most butchers and farms don’t offer fresh meat; it’s typically all frozen. You might find a popular butcher with high customer traffic that offers fresh along with frozen, but it depends on the individual location. Some butcher locations that offer fresh beef may even barbecue or smoke some of the meat they have on hand that you may be able to sample. But when you’re dealing with a large quantity of beef, preservation and storage are important, and freezing the meat is the best way to do this.

Once the cow has been processed and the meat is divvied up into individual cuts or ground meat, it’s vacuum sealed and frozen to maintain its ultimate freshness. Each farm or butcher may package its beef in slightly different amounts but typically offer cuts in portion sizes you usually see at the supermarket. Some places let you customize your order and choose how you would prefer to have it sealed and frozen, but more often than not, there is a standard cutting and packaging process that dictates which cuts you’ll receive and how they’re packaged.

If you purchase beef in bulk from a supermarket, there’s a good chance you’re going to have to repackage it when you get home. If you’ve ever grabbed ground beef on sale at your local grocer’s, then you know it usually comes in 3- to 4-pound plastic-wrapped, expanded polystyrene (sometimes referred to as styrofoam) trays. Or maybe you’re a fan of the long chubs of ground beef. Either way, the meat won’t stay fresh that way for long. Though you can store fresh meat in its original wrapping, you may not want to thaw all 4 pounds at once if the entire package is frozen. It’s also possible the meat was previously frozen and would benefit from smaller, more airtight storage.

If your butcher sells fresh meat, you may receive a discount if you purchase something like 10 plus pounds or more and do the repackaging, sealing, and freezing at home. Some butchers will vacuum-seal it for you in small quantities for an extra fee, or they may just hand over a super-large plastic bag full of meat, which then needs to be properly packaged before storage.

There are eight to 10 main areas on a cow where all beef cuts are sourced from. These areas are considered primal cuts since they come from the first cut of the cow. Each primal section is then divided into various steaks and roasts or ground into mince. Approximately 16 to 18 different types of cuts come from these primal cuts. When you order up to a whole cow, you’ll receive a wide variety of cuts from the entire animal — cuts may vary, as well as the names, from location to location.

Chuck and round — the shoulder and thigh area, respectively — account for almost half of the meat sourced from one cow. From this, you get a lot of ground beef, but also steaks and roasts, including stew meat and chuck roast. More popular cuts like ribeye, strip, or T-bone are sourced from the loin and rib area, which makes up about 30 percent of the cow. Other cuts, like brisket and flank, are only a tiny percentage of the cow, which is why you don’t get as many of these cuts. Some farms and butchers offer offal like kidney and liver, as well as other less popular cuts like tongue, heart, and ox tail. You may need to ask for these more uncommon cuts, including extra fat like suet.

For the most part, when you order beef in bulk, you get to choose which cuts you want. Of course, it largely depends on where you’re shopping and how much beef you’re looking for. When shopping in the supermarket, your choices are fairly limited to what’s in the refrigerator case. A butcher store may offer more variety but are also limited in the cuts that are on display. Preordering from your butcher allows for more flexibility in the cuts you receive.

There are standard cuts that come from a cow, and all butchers abide by these cuts, though there is often some variation depending on the butcher’s preference. When you order amounts over 100 pounds, you may be able to pick and choose some of the cuts you receive. While you might want 200 pounds of ribeye, you’re not going to get it. One cow only produces so many ribeyes. But if you decide you don’t want any chuck roasts or steaks, you can usually opt to have those cuts ground instead.

Maybe you’ve been hesitant to try beef heart, or you could never justify the price of a tomahawk. Perhaps you’ve wondered what to do with a big slab of brisket or looked at knucklebones with extreme confusion. When you order beef in bulk, it gives you the opportunity to try a bunch of new cuts while you still have some of your favorite cuts on standby. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different cooking methods, whether you’re smoking brisket, grilling ribeye, simmering beef stew, or pan-searing sirloin. With all of the cuts you can get when you order beef in bulk, consider it an exciting time to taste new recipes, learn about new seasonings, expand your palate, and improve your cooking skills.