GRASS FED BEEF SHARES
Beef shares are a great way to fill your freezer at an economical price. At North 44 Farm in Bend, Oregon we offer beef shares starting at 1/8th and up to whole shares of our 100% grass fed and finished, dry aged beef.
Why Grass Fed and Finished?
We believe that the best thing you can do for sheep and cattle is rotationally graze them on grass. This means we spend most of our time during the grass growing season moving animals between pastures to raise healthy animals, build soil, and develop robust grasses that improve year over year. The other reason we believe in grass fed and finished is about taste -- we believe that grass fed meat simply tastes better. We let our animals get up to weight slowly and once they're processed, the meat is dry aged. Our beef is 2+ years old when processed which means it's had time to mature slowly and get fat on grass, what you'll see in our beef is marbling and a more yellow fat from the beta-carotene stored in the fat from a grass-rich diet. We'll get into the dry aging component below.
What does dry aging mean?
We talk about our meat being dry aged a lot and that's because we know it makes a big difference when it comes to taste. The process of dry aging means that the beef carcass hangs in a temperature controlled cool room for 14 - 21 days. During that time, evaporation in the meat occurs and certain flavor compounds and molecules in the meat undergo a chemical change that increases some flavors and reduces others, giving you a piece of meat that is tender, flavorful, and very different from your typical supermarket beef that typically doesn’t get dry aged.
Let's talk shares
Beef shares are typically priced by hang weight. Hang weight refers to the weight of the animal after it’s been dressed (all internal organs, hooves, hide, etc. removed) but before it has been aged and cut into retail cuts. This price is usually lower per pound to reflect the bones and trim that will be discarded in the butchery process. Package weight pricing is based on the weight of the final retail cut (like a steak or roast) and because it is not factoring in any losses like hanging weights, it is generally a higher price point. We use package weight pricing because we like the transparency for our customers, with package weight you are only paying for the beef you get. Both pricing options are standard practice, but as a consumer comparing pricing it’s important to know the difference between hang weights and package weights to make sure you are comparing like-for-like pricing.
What cuts will I get in my beef share?
Any time you are buying a beef share, you are buying into cuts from the whole animal. You can expect 15% premium cuts, 35% secondary muscle roasts and steaks, and 50% ground and/or patties. As an example, below is what a 1/4 share could look like:
15 pounds of primary cuts such as: ribeye, t-bones, porterhouse, ny strip, filet mignon, top sirloin, flat irons, etc
35 pounds of secondary muscle roasts and steaks such as: chuck roasts, round roasts, fajita strips, osso bucco, short ribs, stew meat, etc
50 pounds ground: ground beef, chorizo, breakfast sausage, burger patties
Add ons by request - bones, beef fat, organ meats
Share pricing
Our share pricing passes on a significant savings per pound by comparison to our by the cut pricing as our way of saying thanks for choosing our grass fed and finished dry aged beef to feed you and your loved ones.
1/8 share | 50 pounds | $600 - SHOP
1/4 share | 100 pounds | $1,200 - SHOP
1/2 share | 200 pounds | $ 2,400 - SHOP
Whole share | 400 pounds | $4,800 - SHOP