A Better Way to Buy Beef Gifts and Stock the Freezer
Most people place two orders in December: one for other people and one, a fortnight later and slightly panicked, for themselves.
There is nothing clever about this one. If you are already working out what to send other people, you are most of the way to working out what you want in your own freezer.
“Um, but, uh, uh, yeah, there's, uh, there's, there's a cut of meat that, that meets just about any need. Uh, there's, uh, something in the store that fits, you know, for just about anybody you could try to buy from.”
Gray Shipley
Do the thinking once
The hard part of a beef order is not the ordering. It is deciding what you cook, how often, and for how many. Having done that for your gift list, you have done it for yourself.
Then size it to the freezer you actually own
Be honest about the space. Ten pounds of frozen beef takes up more room than it sounds like, and beef that will not fit is not a bargain. We have written about how long it keeps and how to pack it so it keeps well.
“Um, we recommend you let them know, uh, so that they have a freezer before it gets there.”
Gray Shipley
The same courtesy applies to you. Clear the space before the box arrives, not while it is sitting on the porch.
Order earlier than feels necessary
“Well, if you order early, uh, go on and get a meat box and we can, uh, we can get it there in time. But if you're the last minute person, uh, Christmas Eve. You can, you can log on at, you know, 10 till midnight and, uh, and still get that gift card out. But, uh, you can't go wrong with a gift card.”
Gray Shipley
Early is easier and it is also when the choice is widest. December orders get filled from what is left.
What to keep in your own freezer
- Something fast. Steaks or ground beef, for the nights nobody planned anything.
- Something slow. A roast or a chuck, for a Sunday when having the oven on is the point.
- Something for a crowd. December has unexpected guests in it. Having enough in the freezer is cheaper than solving it on the day.
Label it, or you will not remember
Write the cut and the date on every pack as it goes in, and put the oldest at the front. This sounds fussy for about a week and then saves you from the bag of unidentifiable frozen beef that every freezer eventually grows.
Nine to ten pounds, chosen by our butcher. This is the one to send to a household that cooks most nights.
View Product
A recurring pack of everyday cuts. The gift is remembered every time it arrives, not just once.
View ProductEveryday cuts that end up in a Tuesday dinner instead of sitting in the freezer waiting for a special enough night.
View ProductIf the gift half is what you are stuck on, start with the beef gift guide.
- Cold Food Storage Chart, FoodSafety.gov
- Freezing and Food Safety, USDA FSIS
Food-safety temperatures and storage times on this page are cited to the agencies above rather than to us.
Written at Shipley Farms in Vilas, North Carolina: a family cattle farm raising and dry-aging beef in the Appalachian Mountains, now in its fifth generation. No shortcuts since 1872.
Every quote on this page is Gray Shipley talking, the man who runs this farm. We sat down with him, turned on a recorder, and left his words alone.
Nobody knows this beef better than we do. On food safety we leave it to USDA FSIS and FoodSafety.gov, and we have linked their pages above. Reviewed 3 October 2026.
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