How Big Freezer for Side of Beef

Keeping freezer beef is a dandy way to salve money, eat healthier, and enjoy more family unit dinners together. To keep a whole side of beefiness in your freezer there are a few things you lot need to know.

Ownership beef from a local farm has many benefits but purchasing a year's worth of beef at one fourth dimension tin be overwhelming.

Benefits of buying locally, farm raised beef

• You will know the farmer or rancher producing your beef.
• Your beef arrives via the almost direct source. Born and raised correct on a local farm. 100% traceable.
• Locally processed, using every bit much of the fauna as possible.
• Multifariousness of cuts offered that are much cheaper than ownership at the grocery shop.
• Y'all tin be sure of the freshness and quality of your beef.

Avert being overwhelmed when purchasing sides of beefiness from a local farm. There is only a few, basic things to know.

To start you lot will need a reliable freezer with a good amount of storage room. Naturally, your meat will arrive frozen and will need to remain frozen until you cook it. The proficient news, is that ownership a reliable freezer with adequate space is relatively inexpensive and uncomplicated. I purchased a used chest freezer that was very cheap and works nifty.

The size of the freezer space needed varies on the amount of the beefiness you lot intend to buy. Farms will generally sell beefiness offered as 1/4 cow, one/2 cow, or a whole moo-cow.

for example

• 1/4 Beef volition exist approximately 125 pounds of beef. You volition need approximately 6 cubic feet of freezer space.
• i/2 Beef will exist approximately 250 pounds of beef. Y'all will need approximately 8 cubic feet of freezer space.
• Whole Beefiness will be approximately 500 pounds of beef. You will need approximately 16 cubic anxiety of freezer space.

It is important that you store your meat in a non- defrosting freezer.

This is important considering an motorcar- defrosting freezer volition automatically run warmer temperature cycles to thaw the ice in the freezer. Information technology does this via the use of a heating chemical element causing the meat stored almost the walls of the freezer to slightly thaw and refreeze, repeatedly. This is fine for foods that you only store for a few months, just frozen beef can concluding upwardly to one twelvemonth. The thawing and refreezing will drastically reduce it'due south quality.

keeping freezer beefiness A great daily tip

Keep a thermometer in your freezer and merely make a addiction to quickly peek in the freezer every forenoon and check the thermometer. It is important that your freezer ever stays at or beneath zero degrees F. This will consistently keep your meat frozen and preserve quality and taste.

Freezer arrangement is key to making things easier on yourself when yous go dorsum your side of beefiness.

When I become my beefiness from the butcher I like to organize information technology into my freezer by the cuts. It is helpful to organize your freezer by cuts of beef so you tin can know exactly what you lot have and what yous are using or need to start using. Stay on the look out for some recipes to comprise those cuts y'all are using less of. If you tin get in the habit of cooking 2-3 nights a week, yous will likely take no risk of wasting whatever of your beef.

keeping freezer beef Tips for incorporating all the diverse cuts of beef in nightly meals

• Throw a couple steaks and some burger meat in your refrigerator at the beginning of the week then you can have some thawed out and set up.
• Steaks can be very simple to prepare and will be good in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
• Burger meat leaves you with a lot of terminal minute meal options and keeps 1-ii days in the refrigerator.
• When you know you volition have just a bit of extra fourth dimension, thaw out one of those cuts y'all are nervous about. I am sure you lot will observe some kind of fashion to prepare it into something succulent in those hours it takes to thaw in the fridge.
• E'er go along a list of beefiness recipes you would like to try and plan a couple nights a month to try some of them.

Keeping freezer beef recommendation for a quarter of beefiness

For the quarter of the beef portion I would recommend using a stand lonely upright freezer. You will likely accept enough room for all the beef in the side by side freezer/ fridge but you take to exist careful most the self defrosting feature. Many of those freezers will be cocky defrosting. The reason I would recommend a stand up freezer is considering it volition be easier to organize past cuts.

keeping freezer beef recommendation for a half of beef

A stand up alone upright freezer will have adequate space for a half portion of beef but I don't experience it will let room for much else. With this corporeality of beef I would recommend a larger chest freezer because information technology will give you ample storage space and will be easy to organize. Sure, you can cram the beef in almost any freezer. With cramming, it is easy to forget nigh certain cuts. Organizing by cuts is very important to make sure you swallow all your beef.

Keeping freezer beef recommendation for a whole beefiness

For a whole beef I recommend a full size breast freezer. The freezer nosotros use for our whole beef is just under 17 cubic feet. We pretty much have the entire freezer dedicated to our beef. I organize information technology by cuts so it is easy to attain in and get out exactly what I am wanting to cook.

As a general rule your farm fresh beef will not lose whatsoever quality for upwards to twelve months in your freezer

Storage of frozen meats over a long period of time is not dangerous but flavors and textures can deteriorate. Your steaks volition be proficient in the freezer for up to 12 months as long as they stay completely frozen.

The USDA recommends to use up whatever frozen ground beef with in four months while steaks and roast last up to one year in the freezer. Nosotros have always kept our farm fresh ground beefiness, roast, and steaks in the freezer for up to a year.

Doing farther research and following food safe regulations is important. Your decisions should be based on your research when keeping freezer beef.

When you source your meat locally, you can trust it has been handled with care and for freshness.

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Source: https://newhartfordfarmco.com/keeping-freezer-beef/

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