How much meat should I order?

The rule of thumb on how much meat to purchase is ½ pound of boneless meat for each adult for a meal that has meat in it.  Another way to figure how much people eat is to recall how much of a large hamburger you consume at a restaurant. Usually these are 1/4 to 1/3 lb. If the meat is bone-in then you should double that.  Children will eat about half those figures.   

Note that is only a rule of thumb and there is no such thing as a person who fits into a rule of thumb or is ‘average’.  

You will need to be able to do some basic math if you want to do something more exact than just making a guess.  If you want to just make a guess (that is what I do) skip down to the *** marks toward the end of this posting.  No worries.

Basic math needs some numbers, even if they are only wild guesses. If you don’t start with wild guesses, you will need to start by keeping a log of what you eat. That means getting all Scientific about it and writing down data on a daily basis AND doing it every day.  Wild guesses are easier and are probably not that far off anyway. Don’t worry too much about it.  Just make your best guess and be ready to change that guess in the future.

Here are the questions.  There are probably more questions than this but this will be a start:

How many times per week do you eat meat?

How many people do you feed?

Adults?

Children?

Meat eaters? 

Mostly vegans?

What kind of meat is it and how often?

Steaks? 

Ground beef? 

Tacos? 

Patties? 

Roasts?

Pizza?

Roast beef that will go on top of a salad?

Chicken?

Pork?

Anything else?

Do you eat eggs?  North Pasture Farms doesn’t do eggs but they ARE a very good source of protein.

Copy and paste the questions to a separate document and make some wild guesses after each question mark.

Then simply do the simple math: 

So many people times so much steak times so many times per week equals X amount of steak per week.

So many people eating so many eggs per morning means Y numbers of eggs per week.

So many people eat vegan but do put roast beef on top of their salad if cajoled means Z amount of roast beef.

Then add all those up and you will get how much meat you need in a week.

Now multiply that figure by 8 since North Pasture Farms delivers every 8 weeks and you will get how much meat you should order from North Pasture Farms! 

*** The other way is to just make a stab at it and see how it goes between order times. Keep in mind that it is 8 weeks between North Pasture Farms deliveries.  Just order what you think you need, add a bit and then when you get the next order notification email, check your freezer and make another stab at the right order.

If you do this highly inexact process enough times, you will get pretty good at the food estimations game.  Especially if you look at the calendar before you make your order and see what holidays are coming up that you will need a big roast or ham for.   Also keep track of vacations and times out of town because that means you won’t be needing freezer meat for those times.

I think the estimation way is the more interesting, though probably less accurate way.

Another good thing to do is to get your staple items every time, like ground beef.  But also get something new and different, like oddball bacon, or snack sticks, or beef brats if you never had them, etc.  That will keep you on your toes and learning how to cook things. 

If you have no idea how to cook something, Steve and/or Caroline probably do.   It will also give them an excuse to write a recipe blog post.