Q: How are you able to sell healthy, sustainable beef for 31% less then natural grocery stores?

A: Good question. When you buy directly from your farmer or rancher both you and the farmer win. The middle man is cut out and everyone shares the savings. Except the middle man. They are sad.

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Q: Do you ship?

A: No we do not. We currently offer pick up in Santa Rosa or onsite ranch pick up during ranch tours.

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Q: When are your pick up days?

A:When you place your order we will coordinate with you for a pick up date.We will be harvesting the animals at their peak fatness and tastiness in early June.

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Q: Do you sell by the cut of meat?

A: We sell beef the way your grandparents used to buy it. By the eighth, quarter, half and whole animal. When you purchase beef, by the cut, at the grocery store as we all grew up doing, you pay a huge premium for that convenience. Often over 33% when you buy from the super market or local butcher. It is difficult to manage the 350+ cuts that come out of a cow individually, and you the customer pay BIG to have someone (the store) manage it. At this time we do not retail single cuts of meat, but if you would like to pay 33% more we would be more then glad to direct you to a few places you can pay retail prices.Click here to see what cuts of meat you will get in a Grounded Grassfed cow share.

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Q: How much freezer space do I need?

A: It depends on the size of your share. An 1/8th share takes about 2.5 cubic feet of space or about 80% of an average kitchen freezer. A 1/4 share fits well into an 5-cubic foot chest freezer. A 1/2 share fits well into a 9-cubic foot chest freezer. A whole animal share fits well into an 18ft - cubic foot chest freezer. The chest freezer life is the best. If you can make it happen, we highly recommend it!

 

Q: I don't have a chest freezer, What should I do?

A: There are a couple of ways to handle this. Buy a smaller share and split it with friends to keep in your normal freezer is one way. They way we recommend though is to take the huge savings you will be making by purchasing directly from your rancher and get a chest freezer. You will be glad you did. We love our chest freezer and it is a daily habit to go in the garage in the morning, look around in the freezer and pull something out to thaw for dinner. Next to the share sizes is the ideal chest freezer size. One of our owners recently bought a 7 cubic foot GE chest freezer from the place that rhymes shome sepot. It has been working great. Here is consumer reports buying guide for freezers:

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http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/freezers/buying-guide.html

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Q: I want to buy your tasty beef. How does all this work?

A: Yes, we understand. In the era of push button convenience, this process takes a few extra steps in the beginning before it becomes super simple. Click here to learn about how this all works.

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Q: I want to split the share with a friend/s, how do I do that?

A: Makes sense to us. The bigger the share the bigger the savings. For us, splitting up a cow share is time, labor and administratively intensive so we discount the larger shares due to this reality. If you want to get in on the savings find a friend to split the share with. When you go to split the share yourselves we can give you a few suggestions of how to do it including a rough cut list of what can go in each of your shares.

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Q: How do I cook beef cuts x,y and especially z?

A: We are all creatures of habit. It feels good to go with what we know. However the first time you buy a cow share there might be some cuts of meat that your unfamiliar with. It pays to become friends with them and expand your repertoire. Below is an infographic download on how to prepare the different cuts of meat you will find in a Grounded Grassfed beef share. Click here for recommended cooking methods.

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Q: How are your animals harvested?

A: We take the end of life of our animals seriously and with great reverence. We have spent a long time ensuring they have a very low-stress life and we carry that value through to harvest. We take the animals to a local USDA processor within two hours of the ranch.Once the animals are ready for harvest we do our best to be there with them until the very end. We stay with them and look them in the eyes before they are stunned completely unconscious with a bolt to the head. It's uncomfortable to talk about, but it is part of the process and we honor this and the animals by being there for this essential part of the journey.

 

Q: What is the difference between fresh meat and frozen?

A: We are not going to presume to tell you what you prefer, and we think you should buy exactly what enjoy. However we can say that our families, and other ranchers and farmers we are in community with, all have frozen beef in their freezer and it is the way we eat our beef. We have done numerous taste tests and have never been able to taste a discernible difference. The main concern with freezing is that the process has an effect on the cellular integrity of the meat. While this can have an effect, proper freezing and thawing makes it a non issue in our opinion and experience. See this study by the University of Nebraska on the subject, which concludes:

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When thaw rates are properly managed (the meat is thawed slowly or quickly and outer surface of the meat does not exceed 45°F), tenderness and sensory attributes will be comparable to fresh product.

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Additionally this great blog called doing science to stuff drew a similar conclusion after doing science to meat.