Post by Joelle on Nov 3, 2010 5:38:42 GMT -5
I know I've not been around much, but I'm all excited about our first butchering experience and need to share with people who will understand.
We sent our two steers to the butcher about 3 weeks ago. We're using a local man who we've been buying beef from for years: he's a USDA certified butcher who sells grass-fed locally grown beef and pork. He's always been nice to buy from, but I must say he really beat our expectations. Off-loading of the steers was done with respect for the animals by several very experienced slaughterhouse staff - they know their critters and try to keep them as comfortable as possible. We brought the steers down the night before, and they were weighed (985lbs live weight between the two of them) and placed in a very clean pen with fresh water. As hard as it was to say goodbye to our boys (well, one of them anyway - the other I was glad to get rid of!), it was a huge relief to see them treated so well.
Fast forward a few weeks, and we picked up our beef yesterday. Wow!!! They did everything we asked them to, all beautifully vacuum packed in 1-lb increments - except for the steaks and roasts, of course. The butcher even called me right before working on the beef to go over my cut list and make a few suggestions so we could get the most out of our beef. All told, we have 540lbs of gorgeous beef, not including the bones and scrap meat for the dogs which they included at no extra cost. And we paid $70 less than we expected to!! I now have a 25 cf chest freezer full, and the taste is out of this world!
If anyone lives in southern West Virginia or southwest Virginia, I highly recommend Smith Valley Meat for any slaughtering you need done. Great staff, clean well-run facilities, and very trustworthy.
We sent our two steers to the butcher about 3 weeks ago. We're using a local man who we've been buying beef from for years: he's a USDA certified butcher who sells grass-fed locally grown beef and pork. He's always been nice to buy from, but I must say he really beat our expectations. Off-loading of the steers was done with respect for the animals by several very experienced slaughterhouse staff - they know their critters and try to keep them as comfortable as possible. We brought the steers down the night before, and they were weighed (985lbs live weight between the two of them) and placed in a very clean pen with fresh water. As hard as it was to say goodbye to our boys (well, one of them anyway - the other I was glad to get rid of!), it was a huge relief to see them treated so well.
Fast forward a few weeks, and we picked up our beef yesterday. Wow!!! They did everything we asked them to, all beautifully vacuum packed in 1-lb increments - except for the steaks and roasts, of course. The butcher even called me right before working on the beef to go over my cut list and make a few suggestions so we could get the most out of our beef. All told, we have 540lbs of gorgeous beef, not including the bones and scrap meat for the dogs which they included at no extra cost. And we paid $70 less than we expected to!! I now have a 25 cf chest freezer full, and the taste is out of this world!
If anyone lives in southern West Virginia or southwest Virginia, I highly recommend Smith Valley Meat for any slaughtering you need done. Great staff, clean well-run facilities, and very trustworthy.