grass fed beef tasetd AWFUL and TOUGH>>> any ideas why?

Ed Norman · #21 08/27/11, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildacrefarms

My mother said I should ask him if he noticed anything "funny" about that meat we shared and invite him to say that it was tough but i just imagine us getting into an argument and don't want to go there with him. he is the only "real world" priced vet around and i don't want to jeperdise that for a few pounds of tough meat.

Do the neighborly thing and invite him over for supper. Maybe grill some steaks and sweet corn and green beans. See how he likes your meal.

ksfarmer · #22 08/27/11, 06:20 PM

Wildacrefarms; you refer to the beef you got as a 800 lb cow. Weight is not an indicator of age. Was this a steer, heiffer, or possibly really a 800 lb cow?? What age? An 800 lb cow could be just that ; an old canner cow that never should have made steaks, grass fed or not.

goldspur · #23 08/28/11, 02:38 PM

how long did the butcher age the meat, that in itself makes a big difference, and the temperature the animal was stored at.

Brady · #24 09/01/11, 01:38 AM

I can't imagine that the vet would have a problem with you offering an honest opinion about the meat you bought from him. I bought a 1/2 a steer from a friend a few years ago and every now and then you you hit a very off flavored nasty tasting bite. Some of it was good but you never knew when you were going to hit some yuck. At first I was nervouse to share my displeasure with our friends but eventualy they asked how we liked it and I told them the truth. They were (or acted) suprised and that was that. I wasn't going to demand my money back or anything like that but I figured if they are producing a product, it would behoove them to know if something is not turning out right.

roanhorse · #25 09/01/11, 10:17 AM

We have butchered several longhorns, several jerseys, and one holstein that were grassfed. Ages 13months to 3 years. The first was a longhorn that was 3 years old and we butchered him off grass because he was aggressive toward our cows. Normally we would grain feed first. He was wonderful, very tender and the meat tasted great. Since then we have only butchered grassfed beef. The only tough one we have had is a holstein that was 2 years old. I think that if they are grazing good pasture and in a weightgaining/growing condition that the meat is much better. The holstein we butchered was coming out of winter, and even though he was in good condition he was coming off of a hay only diet.

Sorry to hear the meat isn't good. I have cooked roasts all night at 220 in the oven, covered, and they turned out really good.

My husband roped a wild cow for the neighbor (he couldn't catch her), after chasing her across the neighbors field a couple of times with his horse (couldn't get an opportunity to rope her) The neighbor took her immediately to the locker and had her made into hamburger. He gave us 20lbs of meat as a 'thank you'. It was really good! Sometimes I wonder if a lot of it is just genetic.

Steve L. · #26 09/01/11, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildacrefarms

...or that the cow was handles SO roughly that it ruined the meat. both when it was rounded up and at the butcher plant...

I can't put any stock in that theory. There have been several times in my life when I've had to track down wounded deer. Your 'cow' wasn't shot several times and then chased around the woods for hours before it was finally dispatched, yet the meat from these deer has always been fine.

ErinP · #27 09/02/11, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Our grass-fed beef are penned up and fed 1 quart grain 2X/day (and hay) for 2 weeks before taking them to butcher. That way, they aren't walking up and down the hills.

Which means it's not truly grass-fed. (We have several people on this board who falsely advertise what they're selling!)
Grass fed has no grain, period.

However, anyone reading this thread for suggestions about creating a good beef product, this is what I'd suggest. Finish it for the last couple of weeks on grain.
It'll still be home-raised, hormone free, etc, etc but you get just that little bit of tenderness for a nicely finished animal.

Lionrose · #28 09/02/11, 11:10 AM

We just had a ½ Holstein, ½ brown Swiss steer processed. He was 13 months old, live weight of 925lbs. He was a big pet and had never been in a trailer. He was stressed from the haul and ride to the processors an hour away. Was foaming at the mouth when we got there and very scared, nearly didn’t get him unloaded. So he was very stressed, I’d say. We picked up the meat two weeks later, so I don’t think it hung more than 10 or so days.

He was a bottle calf when we got him 5 days old. Gave him milk replacer, I would whip up two eggs in it, once a day. As he was weaned, he was on grass, we gave him sweet feed twice a day since weaning. He also had good hay, ate with the horses, so it was horse quality hay, Bermuda and mixed grass. He was never sick not once. The meat is so tender you don’t even need a knife to cut it. Literally melts in your mouth, with a wonderful flavor.

So I’m not sure what makes meat tough but ours sure is the best we have ever had. We just got two more bottle babies from the same source.

A few months ago bought some grass feed beef from a gal that was going through a divorce, got a great deal on it, $2 a package, two cuts to a package. It wasn’t near as tender, on the tough side not as bad as the OP says theirs is, but it wasn’t very good either. So again I don’t know what makes meat tough, there are a lot of theories. But we’ll do it like we did last time an hope for the same results.

Sorry your meat is so tough, hope you find a way to use it, hope the slow long cooking works for you.

D

**Terri** · #29 09/02/11, 11:43 AM

I sometimes hear that certain butchers will switch animals. Mind, you might get back the right pounds of meat but it might be from a different animal. Joel Salatin writes books about grass-fed beef, and he switched butchers for that reason.

In Iowa we used to buy grass fed beef from the grocery store for a little bit more per pound. It was a bit leaner and it had less marbling, but the animals were younger so they were not tougher. To be honest with you it was simply beef. I bought it because I considered the low-fat bit to be healthier.

With your inedible beef, why don't you try a pot roast? If you keep the water barely simmering for an hour you can then boil it tender. MIND, "barely simmering" means just a little bit of boiling, there should be just a tiny bit of bubbling. If you take it straight to a boil the protiens will coagulate and the meat will be even tougher: the key to making the protiens in the meat relax is to barely simmer it for at least an hour. I can cut my pot roasts with a fork, so perhaps it would make your beef edible?

I wonder. Would it be possible to tell your vet that the steaks looked like they were from a much larger animal? I am bit of a social klutz, so I really do not know how to plant an idea in somebodies head.

Shygal · #30 09/02/11, 12:01 PM

Maybe the vet would like to know, especially if he said he doesn't have repeat customers. Maybe it is the way the slaughterhouse does things and he would switch. He has to be losing money with steers he is unable to sell?

shagerman · #31 09/02/11, 04:54 PM

i have heard a few people say that grass fed isn't good. so what i do is pasture. hay and a good grain mix a couple times a week. 1 lb or so. i have taken them in at 1530 lbs before. hole-steins and they were wonderful.

SpaceCadet12364 · #32 09/02/11, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mamagoose

Stress is an amazing factor just prior to butchering.

Our grass-fed beef are penned up and fed 1 quart grain 2X/day (and hay) for 2 weeks before taking them to butcher. That way, they aren't walking up and down the hills.

Ours have little fat and we usually cook it slow and even the toughest cuts melt in your mouth and are delicious. We prefer the rich taste of Highland beef - no additives necessary.

But when you take those Highland beefs, grass fed, and pen them up and heavy grain them, they really are not true grass fed beefs anymore. By the graining of them, you are ruining some of the benefits that you get with grass finishing your beef.

SpaceCadet12364 · #33 09/02/11, 05:45 PM

Hang time at the processors can make a difference too, as well as cooking methods used. Since grass fed is normally leaner, you might look at it as you would cooking other lean meats such as venison.

TedH71 · #34 09/04/11, 01:31 AM

Used to be in England, they had dogs that were trained to grab a bull's nose and slam the bull into the ground. This was required by law and butchers would lose business if they didn't adhere to it. The thinking was that the animal's hormones made the beef more tender.

Cindy in KY · #35 09/04/11, 07:47 AM

I never cook our beef with water. My friend told me do not use water. I cook the roasts in the crock pot. They make their own juices. She said water will make the meat a lot tougher. I have noticed a huge difference this way too, so tender, even the lesser cuts.

haypoint · #36 09/04/11, 09:56 AM

Feed grain if you want tender steaks. Feed grass if you want lean hamburger

SpaceCadet12364 · #37 09/04/11, 12:39 PM

We got lovely tender steaks out of our grass fed Highlands so far.....even the 7 yo cow we had done.

JulieLou42 · #38 09/04/11, 10:21 PM

Our first bull, 1/2 Saler, 3/8 Guernsey 1/8 Angus, was 15+ mos. at processing, and had hung in the cooler for 14 days before butchering. Grass and milk were his only feed, the latter from his mother. He was about 1000lbs.

He was as tender as could be, all of him.

The second was half Jersey, remainder as above, but was only 9 mos. old, again all grass and milk, very fine and tender meat.

The third was 7/8 Guernsey, and he was 10 mos. old, same food, and absolutely the best yet.

None of these calves ever took to being fed grain, for some strange reason, tho' their mother liked it plenty!

They were all killed right on the property, gutted, skinned, while hung from the cooler truck's hanger, and carried off to the processing building 25 miles from home, where it hung 14 days before butchering.

We have no reason to believe we got anything but our own beef calves returned to us in an edible form.