When an animal goes in for processing, the initial processing takes away the head, hide and some internal organs. The weight of the carcass after this initial processing is called “hanging weight”.

We use a USDA processor because we sell by the pound at the market. Only a few of these processors exist in Connecticut. After drop off, we find out within a week what the hanging weight is.

The cuts of the carcass (the meat you put in the freezer) come to about 60% of the hanging weight. Our cattle typically range from 600lb to 750lb hanging weight. That means the pounds of beef from a whole animal will range from 350lbs to 480lbs.

You purchase beef based on a price per pound of hanging weight. First, we collect a deposit before the cow goes in for processing. We calculate your final payment based on

Hanging Wt x Share Size % (ex: 0.25 for a quarter share) X Price Per Pound – Initial Deposit

After payment, we deliver your share of the beef to your door, vacuum sealed and flash frozen as soon as it is available for pickup from the processor.

We also include meaty soup bones (great for broth) and organ meats for free. Nothing goes to waste here. Organ meats are extremely nutritional and flavor packed. I like to use heart in place of stew meat!

If you’d like to know approximately how much beef would suit your individual needs, please refer to the handy dandy charts below.