How to split a Half Cow between two households
If you’re joining forces with friends or family to maximize savings, splitting your half cow evenly can seem a little intimidating.
This is an average size of a half cow that has been boxed up
While It’s not possible to butcher the half so that there is an perfectly equal split, its a lot easier than you think to make sure that everyone goes home happy!
(NOTE: With the amount of halves we do each week, we’re sadly not able to pre-split it for ya. But we do automatically split whole cows into the two halves.)
How to split:
When you’re looking at your inventory page, you’ve basically got 4 categories of cuts: Ground, Steaks, Roasts, Mixed Cuts (aka everything else). This is also the order that you should start dividing them up in!
Ground always divides evenly, so it’s a great place to start. It also frees up a lot of space in the boxes!
Steaks are the most important to divide as evenly as possible. Rather than gathering them all together, just find two of the same cuts at a time and keep dropping them into both piles! Stop whenever you cant find a pair and move onto the roasts!
Roasts can be done in the same way. Take two matching cuts at a time and add them into the piles.
Before you move on to the final part here’s a few random notes:
There is always 1 flank per half. It’s very similar to skirt steak. You can split those as if they are the same cut.
If you see any of the following names, there’s almost always 1 per half: eye of round, pikes peak. Both are similar to top round.
Cross cut shanks are sometimes labeled “Osso Buco”. Skirt is sometimes labeled “Beef for fajita”
Organs/caveman blend are usually in a separate box by themselves
Now that you have everything down to a box or so of odd numbered cuts, it’s always a bit of fun to split it up by someone’s cooking preferences! Some home cooks are more experimental and want to play with a new cut. Some households run mostly on ground beef. And the folks who like the organs and bones generally know it ahead of time!
While it all might be a bit straightforward, we hope this gives you a little peace of mind! Sharing a half cow is a great tradition for a lot of folks, and its a perfect way to save some money while supporting your local rancher.
When you’re ready to save, you can place your deposit for a half cow here!
