The process
What happens between reserving and cooking
Buying a side of beef is a little different from a grocery run. Here's the whole thing, start to finish.
Cutting and wrapping happen at our butcher's stall in St. Lawrence Market.
- 1
Today
Reserve with a deposit
Pick your portion and harvest date, build your cut sheet, and pay a deposit to hold your place. Your card is saved for the final balance.
- 2
Harvest day
Harvest at an inspected abattoir
The animal is harvested at a provincially inspected abattoir. We email you as soon as it's on the rail.
- 3
14–21 days
Hanging & dry-aging
Your side hangs in a temperature-controlled cooler. Dry-aging concentrates flavour and tenderises the muscle.
- 4
Cutting week
The butcher cuts your sheet
Your cut sheet is printed and worked through primal by primal, then every package is vacuum-sealed and labelled with cut and pack date.
- 5
Within 48 hours of weighing
Final balance on actual hanging weight
We email the exact hanging weight and final invoice. Your saved card is charged after a grace period, so you can query anything first.
- 6
Delivery week
Book your delivery window
Choose from our available windows. Everything arrives frozen solid in insulated boxes — someone needs to be home to receive it.
Share a Side
How sharing works
A side is half the animal. Sharing splits one side into equal boxes so you can buy less beef without losing the price.
Step 1
Claim a share
Pick an open pool (4 quarter-shares or 8 eighth-shares) and pay a deposit. Choose steak thickness, more ground or roasts, and pack size.
Step 2
Invite friends
Share the pool link — or start your own private pool for neighbours. Pools must fill by their deadline, usually 14 days.
Step 3
Pool fills
When every share is claimed it's marked Full — going to the butcher, and everyone gets an email.
Step 4
Cut, packed, home
After cutting we invoice on actual hanging weight, less your deposit. Pick up free at the market or get it delivered for $30.
Not full by the deadline? We refund automatically — or, if you chose, move you to the next pool or let you buy the remaining shares. See open pools
The part everyone asks about
Hanging weight vs. take-home weight
You pay by hanging weight — what the side weighs before bone and trim come off. What lands in your freezer is 60–70% of that.
A 400 lb hanging side becomes roughly:
At $5.50/lb hanging, a 400 lb side is $2,200 plus the $100 breakdown fee — roughly $8.25–$9.60 per pound of packaged beef, steaks and roasts included.
