Welcome to the Ranch!

Hopefully, I can clear up a little confusion about the split quarter option of grass fed beef from Cross Creek Cattle Company. This order is often misunderstood until I explain what it is. Therefore, today I am going to take this opportunity to explain what a split quarter order is.

First of all, we offer three different sizes of orders of our grass fed beef. Whole and half orders are pretty self-explanatory. You get either the side or the entire carcass cut up to your specifications.

A split quarter is the smallest order that we offer. It is a half of a half. A customer does not get to choose between the forequarter or the hindquarter. That would not be fair. The hindquarter has the better cuts of the two. This is why we call it a split quarter because the customer gets part of both sections.

After the side hangs for a minimum of two weeks to age, the processing plant begins the process of cutting and wrapping. Because of the nature of the split quarter, they cannot cut the steaks with two different thickness. This is just one example as to why the split quarter order has to come with standard cuts. There is no customization available.

Standard cuts are round steak, t-bones, sirloins, roasts, ribs, brisket, ground beef, ribeyes, etc. You get a great variety of cuts with a quarter. A quarter order is a great place to begin if it is your first grass fed beef experience. You get a sampling of the different cuts available. From there, many of our customers upgrade the next time to a half or whole and feel much more comfortable customizing the cuts.

Due to the fact that each animal is unique, each order is slightly different in the hanging carcass weight. We are therefore unable to give concrete estimates. Instead we can give you a pretty good idea. Freezer space usually speaks to people. Customers want to know if they have room for the beef. A split quarter order requires anywhere from 4.5 cu ft to 6 cu ft of freezer space. The former space is the more typical size, but we have had some of the latter size.

I hope that this article has answered some questions about split quarter orders of grass fed beef. If you still have questions, please contact me at lndehaven@aol.com.