Whole Beef, Reservation Deposit
Freezer Beef & Beef Shares Item Code: SHARE-26-WHOLE-DEP
Buying a whole beef is the lowest cost per pound we offer, and it is cut to your own instructions rather than to a fixed pack list.
How the price works
A whole beef is priced on hanging weight at $7.50 per pound. That rate already includes slaughter, standard butchering, vacuum sealing, labelling, boxing and freezing.
What you pay here is the $750 reservation deposit. Once your animal is processed and weighed we invoice the balance on the actual hanging weight, less this deposit. Our steers typically hang at 650 to 800 lbs, so a whole beef usually comes to $4,875 to $6,000 in total.
A 21-day dry-aged option is available for an additional $250. Custom butchering beyond the standard cut is priced separately.
| Option | Price | Minimum |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-formed 1/3 lb hamburger patties | $1.20/lb | 10 lb minimum |
| Link sausages | $2.00/lb | 25 lb minimum |
What you get back
A whole steer typically yields 400 to 450 pounds or more of packaged meat. Bone-in or boneless, and how closely each cut is trimmed, both move that number.
| Category | Share of packaged weight |
|---|---|
| Ground beef, patties and sausages | 50 to 55% |
| Steaks (ribeye, strip, filet, flat iron, skirt, fajita and more) | 16 to 18% |
| Roasts (London broil, sirloin tip, eye round, short ribs, brisket, stew beef) | 23 to 28% |
| Offal (liver, kidney, heart, bone) | about 3% |
Offal (liver, heart, kidney), broth bones and suet are yours at your option. Some customers want all of it, some take it for their dogs, and some would rather not have any. Kidney, oxtail and hanger steak are included with a whole beef if you want them. Just tell us.
Collecting your beef
Pickup only at Watauga Butchery, Vilas, NC. We call you to arrange a date and time once your beef is ready. We have no space to hold beef after that, so the appointment matters.
The totals above are estimates derived from the hanging-weight rate, not a quote. Your invoice is calculated on your own animal's weight and your own cutting instructions. North Carolina sales tax of 2% is added at checkout.