Why buy Missouri beef from Ozark Prime Beef? Many local residents are all for keeping food dollars in the community. However, that doesn’t mean paying more for quality local meat and getting the same supermarket quality. For this reason, we’re creating a network of qualified local producers offering a selection of prime beef. Much of the best beef available is raised by local farmers following sustainable methods practiced by generations. These smaller producers typically have few outlets for bringing their products to the marketplace on a small scale. Ozark Prime Beef is determined to change that by making it possible to buy Missouri beef online quickly and easily.
Buy Missouri Beef from Trusted Sources
Ozark Prime Beef’s network of producers raises their own cattle locally. They do not buy cattle from elsewhere and bring to their farm for finishing. Our producers are ethical farmers with integrity and passion who work hard to ensure their own families consume quality meat. We want you to benefit from their dedication and enjoy that same quality for your own family.
In today’s world of cell phones, Internet and other non-personal ways of communicating, it can be difficult for urban families to find a trusted source of something as important as the food they eat. Many consumers are moving away from commodity meats at the grocery store and looking to buy locally raised, well-treated, pastured animals. This can be a daunting task if you have no local ties to the farming community in your area. Ozark Prime Beef has deep roots in the community and has long identified the quality producers of beef in the area. We also know that many of our peers have difficulty reaching folks who would gratefully buy their high-quality meats. It is our goal to showcase these producers and make certain anyone with an Internet connection has access to our dedicated network.
Buy Missouri Beef at the Best Prices
If you’ve bought beef by the quarter, half or whole in the past, you know that price per pound depends on several factors. “Live weight” is how much the animal weighs before processing. After head, skin, hooves and other unusable parts are removed, we’re left with the “hanging weight” – which is normally about 60% of the live weight. After the beef has aged and is butchered, we’re left with the “boxed weight” – again, about 60% of the hanging weight, more or less depending on the butcher. Most butchers hang the beef from 7 to 14 days. Ozark Prime Beef is aged for 28 days to give it a better flavor and increased tenderness. While this does reduce the weight, the resulting tender, flavorful beef is well worth the effort and the cost.
So, as just an example, let’s do the math…if a cattle farmer’s price is $3.50 per pound hanging weight, then expect to pay $5.83 per pound once the meat is packaged, plus the price of processing which goes directly to the butcher.
Buy Missouri Beef on a Timeline
Cattle farmers in our network open a “chapter” for beef prior to their animals having gained enough weight to send to the butcher. Each “chapter” available in our shop has a projected timeline. Though you buy Missouri beef stated as “grass-fed”, as long as it has been fed predominately on grass, finishing with grain for a short period will give it some beautiful marbling. It is during this time that quarters, halves or whole sides of beef are made available to pre-order. After finishing, all details of the processing are handled for you by Ozark Prime Beef. The beef is hung, aged, then processed to your specifications. This process takes time, so be sure to plan ahead so you have meat in the freezer before you actually need it.
Some of the savings realized is the result of bypassing the USDA inspector. What this means is that you are buying the animal prior to going to the butcher, so there is no grading for “choice” or “prime” distinction. This is something that can only be done after the beef is aged, so if this part of the process is important to you – choose beef that is cut, packaged and ready for the freezer.
Processing Your Beef
There are some choices to be made when you buy Missouri beef and most of them depend on individual preferences, family size, and cooking habits. Paper wrapping is the old-fashioned butcher paper commonly used, whereas vacuum packaging is more modern and cuts down on juices running and freezer burning. There are many choices for what types of cuts you want. If you like more steaks than roasts, hamburger over stew meat, you can indicate one or the other. You can also indicate the size your packages should be, the thickness of your steaks, and how many pounds for roasts.
An example of how 490 pounds of boneless, trimmed beef (whole) could break out:
- 185 lbs. lean trim, or ground beef
- 85 lbs. round roasts and steaks
- 90 lbs. chuck roasts and steaks
- 80 lbs. rib and loin steaks
- 50 lbs. other cuts (brisket, flank, short ribs, skirt steak)
A quarter of beef will easily fit into a 5 -7 cubic foot chest freezer. A half beef needs about 8 cubic feet. You should plan for at least 16-17 cu.ft. freezer space for a whole beef.