Perhaps you remember me coming here a few weeks ago with questions about finishing grass fed beef cows. My horseshoer also rodeos (ropes and rides pickup for rough stock, although he used to ride rough stock himself) and has Longhorn beef cattle.
I can't believe it, but after twenty years of knowing the guy, the subject of grass fed beef only came up about two months ago while he was here trimming and shoeing my horses. He raises and sells them by the side only, half or whole, your choice. He promised to bring me some steaks to try, and on his last shoeing appointment, he did.
In fact, he brought rib eyes, T-bones, a sirloin tip roast, and some hamburger.:1pig:
This is beef that he had slaughtered in the spring (April 2010 stamp on the packages) after about a thirty day finish on corn. We started with the rib eyes. One of the things I found very interesting about the beef is of course it was very lean; but the juices that run a little after thawing aren't the blue red of Angus/Hereford type beef; it's orangey. There was far less marbling overall than my grade prime steaks from the butcher. But I thawed it carefully, brought it to room temperature, patted it gently to remove any excess moisture, and threw it in a skillet with some garlic and hickory smoked salt. And
oh my YES! it was delicious. It was chewier than my prime beef, but the flavor was richer and, well, beefier.
Next came the hamburger. I'd heard people say that this should be the yardstick for grass fed beef; make yourself a hamburger and see what you think. I made them just like I usually do, and slid them into homemade buns with slabs of raw onion from our garden. Again, very rich and complex beefy flavor, juicy without being greasy. I was pretty much sold.
But then I did the sirloin tip roast. I probably should've roasted it like a standing rib, but it was small and I was afraid it'd be too well done inside. (Which is what my farrier likes, bless his heart; I told him he ruins meat by eating it well done.
) A crock pot recipe I often use is one called Butter Beef, where you put a stick of butter in the bottom of a crock pot, throw the roast on top, sprinkle with an envelope of onion soup mix, and then dump on a pound of sliced mushrooms and slam on the lid.
The smell was devastating. I had to be with that danged roast all day while it perfumed the house. I'd get kinda used to it and then go outside for awhile. That meant coming back in and getting hit with it all over again. My grandsons were here for dinner, and we fell on that roast like a pack of dogs. Precious little was leftover, but it became hash the next morning.
I haven't gotten to the T-bone steaks, but those are going to get thrown on the grill.
I'm sold on this stuff. And I did some research, and found that not a huge amount of the CLAs are lost with the 30 day finish on corn. Some websites show graphs that point it out as being even better for you, both nutritionally and caloric-ally, than white meat chicken. And interestingly, after going back to my storebought grade prime beef, well, the prime beef just really seemed greasy.
I am soooo stoked!
Thanks so much for your input with your experiences. I can't help but wonder how many producers really get how appreciative us consumers really are. It was awesome, awesome stuff.
And to be sure, a Longhorn is going to be a leaner critter than the English breeds. 
~*~Erin~*~
