Beef Buying Guide
The freezer is the practical limit on how much beef you can buy direct. Here is how to size one, and how long the beef in it will keep.
The rule of thumb is one cubic foot of freezer for every 35 to 40 pounds of packaged beef. Neatly stacked vacuum sealed packages pack tighter than irregular paper wrapped roasts, and a freezer needs a little air around the food to work well, so round up rather than down.
A quarter is roughly 90 to 145 pounds of beef, which needs about 3 to 4 cubic feet. A small chest freezer of around 5 cubic feet holds it comfortably with room left over; the freezer side of a large refrigerator will hold most of it, and not much else.
A half is roughly 180 to 290 pounds of beef, which needs about 5 to 8 cubic feet. A chest freezer of around 7 to 9 cubic feet is the usual choice for a half.
A whole beef is roughly 360 to 590 pounds of packaged beef, which needs about 10 to 16 cubic feet. Plan on a large chest freezer of 15 cubic feet or more, or two smaller freezers, and clear it before pickup day.
USDA's guidance is that food kept frozen at 0 degrees Fahrenheit stays safe indefinitely, because freezing stops the growth of bacteria. What changes over time is quality. USDA's cold storage guidance puts the best quality for frozen steaks and roasts at about 4 to 12 months, and for ground beef at about 3 to 4 months.
Packaging makes the biggest difference. Vacuum sealed beef is protected from air and freezer burn and holds its quality toward the long end of those ranges. Keep the freezer at 0 degrees or colder, avoid opening it more than you need to, and eat the oldest packages first.
General guidance for buyers, not advice about any one producer. Weights, yields and freezer space are approximate and vary by animal and cut sheet, and every price is set by the producer. American Beef Direct sells no beef.
Every state page lists the producers on record there, the nearest ones next door, and the ranches that ship.