Did anyone see 'Sunday' on TV One last weekend, 29th April? The programme discussed how to "beat the butcher and the supermarkets when buying meat".
Essentially, the programme discussed how to 'cow pool'.... liaising with a farm to purchase a cow, assist in raising it for the 28 days prior to slaughter, and then having it legally homekilled. The programme calculated that the meat from the cow would equate to around $8/kg for a yield of 170kg+ of meat - $1300 in total. You would receive everything from the eye fillet to sausage, mince etc.
For most of us Aucklanders, the necessary requirement of assisting with the raising of your cow for 28 days is a little tricky. The programme triggered a distant memory for me... I'd heard a few years ago that The Aussie Butcher was rumoured to sell 'by the cow'.
I popped into my local Aussie Butcher (Birkenhead) yesterday and made some enquiries. The great news is that they are able to supply a whole cow, processed, packaged and ready for your deep freeze, for $8.99/kg - approximately $1600 per cow. This negates the need to assist in raising the cattle, and I was told they required only a day or two's notice. Thinking about the price per kilo, sausages (fresh) alone are $12.99/kg, prime mince is at least $9.99/kg and eye fillet is often $43.99/kg, so this is a great price considering all the cuts you would get.
Food for thought. I will certainly be taking action on this and ordering 'a cow'. Daily BBQs here I come.... can you smell what Finer Finish is cooking?!
Incidentally, if you need a new deck or entertaining area for your BBQ (considering how many you will be having if you get 150kg+ of meat) give Finer Finish a call for a free quote!
Please note this post is intended to offer advice to fellow meat-loving Localites as to a convenient, cheap alternative to the methods offered on the Sunday programme, and is not intended to spark any form of debate as to the rights or wrong of such practices.
Interesting – thanks for the info! Definitely one to keep in mind for when I (eventually!) have a deep freeze....
We watched the same thing on TV and thought what a great idea. Also thought what a spectacularly crap job the Food and Grocery Council woman did. Her arguments were basically stupid. But anyways, @gabba and I subsequently wondered where the hell we would store 150kg of meat, which is an awful lot of meat when it's all stacked up together
Mooooo.
We've considered this in the past but going in with some friends to make it cheaper. Certainly seems like a good idea
Interesting Thanks