Blog - Clover Meadows Beef

04/23/2020 By Matt & Jessica @ Clover Meadows Beef

Buy a Cow vs. Meat Subscription Beef Box (video)

Buy a Cow vs. Meat Subscription Meat Delivery Service - Clover Meadows Beef Grass Fed Beef

Have you ever purchased a meat subscription box?

We’ve had several new customers come to us after trying meat subscription boxes, and they asked that we compare buying a cow versus a meat subscription service that’s delivered to your door.

Why compare the two, we asked? They’re completely different options. However, since they asked, we thought we’d give it a try.

Our conclusion (spoiler alert!) is that the two are really apples to oranges. We think buying a cow wins the comparison, but we’re very biased. That shouldn’t surprise you!

In this post, we specifically compared three areas: cost, convenience and knowing your farmer/quality.

Here’s how we think the two stack up when compared to each other.

What Everybody Ought to Know About Beef Cuts

Have you ever been confused by cuts of beef?

If so, you’re not alone. It’s one of the most common comments we hear from our customers.

And here’s a secret…shhh..don’t tell, but even I (Jessica) was confused for the longest time. You see, before I married Matt, I knew nothing about farming and beef.

I would stand at the grocery store and look at the different beef cuts. I knew they were different by their labels, size and price, but I didn’t understand why. And I definitely didn’t know which one would taste the best. Then, I married a cattleman and I knew I had to learn about the different cuts of beef.

The good news is that there’s an easy tip to understanding different cuts of beef, and this post will guide you through it.

Why are beef cuts bewildering?

Why? There are lots of reasons, but one of them is because grocery stores and butchers can cut beef in a variety of ways and name it however is best for their store or region. In fact, one study showed that many grocery stores carry more than 60 different beef products.

Here’s the secret to understanding beef cuts:

27 Amazing Facts About Cows That Will Impress Your Friends (video)

Facts-About-Cows-Clover-Meadows-Beef-Grass-Fed-Beef-St.-Louis-Missouri

Did you know, when a city-kid and farm-kid get married, the city-kid learns a lot of facts about cows!

Whether or not you live on a farm surrounded by cows, there are some facts we think anyone would find fascinating. They really are incredible animals.

Here are 27 facts about cows you may find interesting. You can decide which (if any) you want to remember for your next cocktail party or game of trivia!

The Secret of Cooking Brisket in the Oven

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Brisket is one of our all-time favorite cuts. It’s an extremely versatile piece of beef that can be cooked in a variety of ways — from cooking brisket in the oven to smoking brisket.

We’ve run into many people that are intimidated by brisket because 1) they’ve heard it’s a tougher cut of beef or 2) they thought they had to have a smoker to make mouth-watering brisket.

It is correct that brisket is a tougher cut of beef since it comes from a muscle in the chest of the cow that’s heavily used. However, there is an easy solution for cooking it to make it tender — think low and slow (more on that later).

It’s not true that you have to own a smoker to make brisket. Don’t get us wrong, the thought of smoked brisket makes our mouths water. We’ll gladly be first in line to eat it! But, if you’re like us and don’t have a smoker (yet), it’s very doable to make mouth-watering, fall-apart tender brisket in the oven. If this is a new concept for you, keep reading and get ready to be impressed!

How to Cook Brisket

Brisket is a cut of beef from the chest of the steer, between the shoulder and forelegs. This muscle gets a workout every day, which means it has a lot of collagen and connective tissue.

By cooking brisket on a low heat for a long time, the connective tissues dissolve and the beef becomes tender. That’s why cooking it “low and slow” over many, many hours is essential.

Buying a cow. How much beef is it? (video)

Are you thinking of buying a cow? Have you decided how much – a sixteenth, quarter, half, or whole cow?

We’ve been selling beef directly off of our farm for decades. Without a doubt one of the first questions people ask before buying a cow is “how much beef will I actually get?” That question is usually followed by, “If I buy a cow, what part am I getting? The front half or back half?”

In other posts, we’ve provided a step-by-step guide on how to buy a cow from a farmer, and what questions to ask before you purchase.

Today, we’re going to use video and photos to SHOW you how much beef you get when you buy a cow.

To put it in perspective, we’ve made our home refrigerator the star of the video and photos.

We’ve taken these pictures twice, years apart. The first time we only took photos and we had a standard 18.1 cu ft refrigerator with a freezer on top. The second time we did this, we made a video and we had a newer refrigerator – a 22.1 cu ft refrigerator with french doors and freezer on the bottom. Hopefully, seeing the beef in two different refrigerators will help put it into perspective even more.

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