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Try a broader search like beef, meat box, half cow, lamb, or steak.
Farmer to Fridge is not a supermarket, or a “meat box” – this mean that most of the options you’ll see on our platform may not be familiar.
When selling direct to the consumer, farmers will usually split a side of beef equally between four people. This is known as an “eighth” of a cow!
So let’s dive in and explore buying Farmer to Fridge!
In Short, the 1/8th beef pack is a side of beef split evenly between four people. You get a share of each section of the cow.
This incldues everything from the premium eye fillet all the way down to beef mince.
Please treat this as a guide only!
Some cut options will “over ride” what is seen here. One example of this is the “Rib Eye” steak option. This will ‘remove’ beef ribs and scotch fillet from your box – the ‘ribs’ end up going into the ‘rib eye bone’ and the scotch fillet steak is actually the same cut of beef!
Butchers who offer T-Bone “Bone Out” will also change your box, you’ll lose T-bone but you’ll get more Fillet and Porterhouse!
Animals with larger dressed weights will yield more meat, but the ‘gains’ are not evenly spread between each cut of beef.
These weights and cuts were measured from a side of beef with a dressed weight of 220kg.
* Often added to mince or diced beef.
* Swapped for T-bone In/ Bone Out.
* Picture with Rib Eye Bone
* Can be left whole, sliced, or schnitzel
* Trimmings are made into mince and or sausages
* Trimmings are made into mince and or sausages
Every farm is a bit different, so your box might not exactly match what we have listed here. There are many factors which influence the exact ratio, size and quantity of each cut.
It doesn’t meat that the butcher stole some meat!
Pictured above is roughly what you’ll get in a 1/8th box. The “Cut sheet” choices chosen by the farm or butcher can have a significant impact on the final product. We encourage farmers and butchers to be as detailed as possible to avoid disappointment as well as providing general information such as this article.
Unlike a “store” the farmers and butchers who work with them don’t have meat just ‘sitting around” on a shelf. In most cases orders are only filled once a full cow has been sold. If you’re ordering a 1/8th then another 7 people need to order before a farmer has sold a full cow.
Bulk products like the 1/8th box are sold on a “dressed weight” basis which means the weight the animal is before the meat is ‘cut and packed’ for your fridge. Dressed weight is the weight of the full ‘side’ of beef when hanging at the butcher… that’s the whole side of beef including bones and fat. About 30% of the dressed weight is discarded due to wastage (i.e. not meat, or not edible) before you reach a ‘boxed weight” of about 20kg of beef.
Every cow is different, they can be a different size, breed and shape.. they don’t all look the same in the paddock, and the same is true once they’re cut up for beef.
The only way for a farmer or butcher to know exactly how much of each cut you will get is to cut and prepare the animal before buyers have comitted to a side. Quite simply this isn’t viable for most smaller farms and butchers.
The trade off here is that you pay a lower amount of money on the “dressed weight” price, rather than the individual $/kg price for each cut.
If you prefer to buy ONLY a specific cut, then the Eighth, Quarter and Side of beef options aren’t for you!
In a 1/8th box you’ll get a share of every ‘part’ of the cow. Despite being the same product, each farm may cut and pack things differently. Here’s some examples form around Australia.
