Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Travel Advisory Here's the Beef
Posted by Nicki Wood on Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 3:48 PM
Flipping through a stack of coupons -- which I never, ever do, so this was entirely fortuitous -- I came across this one.
Across the state line in the cute Franklin, Kentucky, is the kind of outfit that always draws me -- because I find meat-packing more interesting than is normal. Country Meats and Custom Home Foods specializes in USDA inspected beef, packaged in large amounts. It's the kind of place that, if I were driving past, I'd stop and get the details and the tour.
Some of the type is unreadable at this size, but the prices are great, if you 1) eat a lot of meat, 2) are in a position to spend $2000 on meat and 3) own a freezer. And if you don't, they can sell you one for $99.
Buying bulk beef usually means buying a program of different cuts, from ground beef to stew beef to steaks. (My family did it during the last big economic/oil crisis, which was also a beef crisis.) The "by the week" pricing is a pretty good idea -- once you get accustomed to it, or if you already budget this way. So 300 pounds of beef at $15 per week for 26 weeks would be only $390 -- presumably if you sruck with lower priced selections like ground beef and stew beef.
It seems like a good deal if you meet the criteria. And there's a $100 coupon good toward three of the plans. Anyone live in that direction, or know the operation, or have any experience?
Comments (3)
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anything that starts with a 100 dollar off coupon always leaves me a little speechless.
I have to say, however, not that you asked, but this is such a blast from my childhood. My parents were an engineer and an accountant, and my god, they budgeted and analysed everything. We inherited a chest freezer and became the only people who had 'find best price for beef sides' on the things to do after relocation, right after find doctor and enroll in school.
The delivery day was practically a hard hat affair. Mom and Dad weighed in every piece, marked its packaging for weight and cut, and LOGGED IT IN on an inventory they maintained. I must be the only kid who came home from school and asked what was for dinner and upon hearing 'steak' replied 'AGAIN???'. My goodness, what those two did for us, ungrateful wretches.
whatever you do, don't forget to get them to include the bones for the dog. And as anal as it was, keeping that inventory (with the weights) was mighty handy for meal planning. Of course, now with laptops you can do it without my Dad's old Army clipboard. Hardhats, however, are still optional.
Mom's analysis was the side cost should be about 1/4 of a typical steak price. Back then, 48 cents per pound was the magic number. Can you imagine?
and yes, analytical to the hilt, the extra cost of electricity for the freezer got factoried in the overall assessment of real cost per pound.
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That kind of analytical milieu served you well. In my family, we went kind of more the "crazy artist" route -- colorful but not really a job skill. I also remember beef every night for a year and a half. And I also remember being ho-hum about steak. In fact, after the last pack of ground beef was gone, we didn't eat beef for years.
This is a fly by night. Of course the meats is USDA Inspected, that really means nothing. ALL MEAT THAT IS SOLD IS USDA INSPECTED. This is commodity meats that are poor quality from cull animals.
STAY AWAY! STAY FAR AWAY! These are not real butchers that run real slaughterhouses. These are scams. Oh, you'll get meats...but the quality is poor and you WILL overpay.
If you want to purchase a side or quarter of beef, stick to a local butcher shop or visit a farm. Trust me...there are no A's, B's, C's, or D's or any alphabet letter in a side or quarter of beef.
" NO FREEZER! NO PROBLEM " What's your first clue that you are about to be SCAMMED!
