Found out last night we are getting half a cow. Had to scramble to find a chest freezer

[Kaleva]

Earlier this year, my wife had asked a relative of hers about the possibility of getting half a cow in the fall. We never heard back and forgot about the request and as we would have had to buy a freezer to hold the meat, I didn't get one. Last night she got a call from her relative that we'll get one next month for $1.00 a pound plus $100 for processing and packaging.

Knowing from reading here that there was a nation wide shortage of freezers, I looked on line at Home Depot, Lowes, Menards and Best Buy. All out of stock. There are tow locally owned two appliance stores about 45 miles away but as it was late and they were closed, I waited till this morning to call them. One was out of freezers and the other had two. A 5 cu ft model an a 7 cu ft model. I reserved the later and will pick it up this weekend.

[Thekaspervote]

1. Score!! My daughter and family have been looking and looking with no luck!!

[Whiskeytide]

19. Try your local power company. I was looking ...

... 3 months ago and everyone was out. I remembered that Alabama Power also sold appliances and called. They had 23 units. For some reason people had not thought of them.

[dware]

2. Wow!!!!

a dollar a pound?
That's a damn good deal.

I'm guessing that these animals are organic and are steroid and chemical free?

[JHB]

3. Well, Bart Simpson is half pleased.

[Brother Buzz]

6. I see what you did there

[PCIntern]

13. Funny!

[sl8]

15. "Don't halve a cow, man!" He seems against the idea. n/t

[TreasonousBastard]

4. You better hope no one walks in with cash for that one...

unless you left a huge deposit.

[Kaleva]

16. Paid for it already.

[TreasonousBastard]

17. Smart move. You said "reserved", so I didn't realize you paid for it.

[Kaleva]

23. Sorry. I wasn't clear by what I meant by "reserved"

I didn't want to take a chance so I pad for it in full but i won't be able to pick it up till this weekend.

[TreasonousBastard]

24. Not a problem.

[MacKasey]

5. Congratulations!

[onethatcares]

7. we're still looking for one

in sunny west central coastal Floriduh. No luck to date. I started that thread about unavailability.

I found another item that can't be had, a twin beater hand mixer. Not a counter top model but that kind that takes up a lot of
space in a drawer or cabinet. B B & B, walmart, target are out of them. What the heck happened?

[Whiskeytide]

21. You may be close enough ...

... to Mobile AL, or perhaps you could go North to Dothan? Call Alabama Power. They had plenty of stock when all the box stores were sold out in April.

[cwydro]

8. I was looking at them yesterday.

They had them online and in stock at both Lowe’s and Home Depot.

Wonder why the shortage in your area.

[crickets]

25. I found out the hard way that those listings aren't necessarily accurate.

I ordered mine in late July and should have gotten it last week. It's now supposed to arrive mid-September.

[cwydro]

26. Yeah, I've gone through that too.

But yesterday I was in both stores, and they were in stock.

[crickets]

28. Well I'm glad somebody can find them! I ordered online because I'm still staying home.

Having to wait is just part of it, I guess.

[kimbutgar]

9. One of the best purchases I made years ago was a small freezer I keep in my garage

But $1 a pound for beef will pay for that freezer immediately.

[MontanaMama]

10. You can't buy a freezer in my part of the country.

Local appliance stores are out of stock and the big box stores are too. I hope you find one! If you don’t, or can’t get one ordered, sometimes meat cutting places will rent your space. I had to do that a few years ago for a short period of time until I could get a new freezer. I stored meat in Rubbermaid totes… It worked well and wasn’t very expensive.

[NightWatcher]

11. Go to Lowes. We had one backordered and just saw a 15 cu.ft. model sitting there and grabbed it

That was two weeks ago.

[Midnightwalk]

12. Don't look a gift steer in the mouth

But if you can contact the meat packer to give cutting instructions. They’ve always been willing to cut each half differently in my limited experience

They’ll walk you through it if you haven’t done it before. Thickness of steaks, etc. There are some things you have to decide between. Ask questions.

If there’s something you don’t want let them know. We didn’t want those real thick chuck steaks. I forget what we did instead. Maybe just thinner.

Sorry if all that’s old news or obvious.

[Drahthaardogs]

37. Yes. And tell them you want the oxtail

Oh my God oxtail stock is amazing. Best French onion soup ever

[safeinOhio]

14. I buy whole

lambs and goats from local farmers. Haven’t bought pork or beef in years.

[7wo7rees]

18. When the "stockpile season" hit earlier this year, we needed one.

Mrs. got the bright idea to call the restaurant supply store ("Champs", FYI). Didn't find it close by, but the far away store shipped it next day.
Hand mixers? Newly-minted home bakers took yours. Try Amazon.

[jmowreader]

20. You better get both

Having dealt with halves of beef in my life, please believe me when I tell you a 7 cf freezer will not hold a half of beef. We had a 17 cf freezer and had to eat it down to empty before picking up the new meat.

[Kaleva]

22. I wanted a 10 c.u. ft model but they were unavailable so i settled for the one 7 cu ft model

Any meat we can't fit, my father-in-law will buy and put in his freezer.

[cwydro]

27. I doubt I'd eat eT that much meat in my lifetime.

Yikes.

[Kaleva]

33. 250-300 lbs will last my wife and I for well over a year. Maybe close to 2.

At a $1 a lb., it's a worthwhile purchase.

[Drahthaardogs]

38. Your local butcher shop should have a locker you can rent

As a kid, we used to bring an entire beef (our own) for butcher. We kept most of it there

[cbdo2007]

29. Did you get the top half or the bottom half?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

30. Can you milk it and get Half & Half?

Udderly stupid, I know.

[okaawhatever]

34. Hilarious. NT

[Towlie]

31. The folks under the dome are getting the other half.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=I7vNfN0f1d4

[tavernier]

32. Amazon has lots.

If you’re a prime member it’s free shipping in 3 to 5 days.

[GulfCoast66]

35. Who gets the tongue?

And heart and liver?

Some of my favorite parts.

[dmr]

36. we had a problem buying freezer a few months ago.

The stores were all closed due to covid, so I was shopping online or by phone. Like you I had a choice of a 5 cu ft or a 7 cu ft. Both were floor models. I bought the 7 cu ft, sight unseen. They delivered it the next day, leaving it on our front lawn. It was relatively light. My son took down the basement with no trouble.

Each store I spoke with said it would be many weeks, perhaps months until they'd be able to restock any of their appliances.

My best friend's stove and refrigerator broke down in the same week! It took over a month to find replacements! Imagine living without a stove or refrigerator!! Good grief. They basically had to settle on what they could find, not what they really wanted. Both are very nice, but cost more than they wanted to spend. Luckily, her mother in law helped them out.