What would you say?

[RedDirt Cowgirl]

A friend bought a quarter beef from his new in-laws-to-be that is the funkiest stuff I've ever seen brought to table. I was raised on grass-fed, which he sez this is, but it has a musky smell with white fat. (Had to ask for whisky before I could eat my steak.) The hamburger (over ground, watery pink, must be 20% fat) is the worst, it's packed in that tube plastic stuff. He's so proud of his "organic grass fed" he gave me a hamburger pack to take home; all the ginger in the world wouldn't have civilized it.

So the source is an big rich "old-family" ranch with hirelings to work it, but I don't know anything else. Think they butchered in August, but it hasn't gone through any packing house I'm familiar with. One friend thought it might have been a bad kill, but I've eaten my share of deer that had to be run down after a bad shot and this beef was still the worst. Bad hang? Rancid? Bad animal?

[copperhead46]

hmmm, that sure doesn't sound grass fed to me. the only time I ever had fatty hamburger was when I used a different processor and found out later, from them< that they thought the meat was too lean, so they added some fat to it!!! Needles to say I didn't use them again.

[RedDirt Cowgirl]

That would have chapped my cheeks! I can't see why so many processors think we don't know what we're about when it comes to grass fed, they're just behind the times too. Harris Ranch is making big bucks selling to specialty markets for it.

[PrettyPaisley]

White fat is not grass fed. Grass fed will be more yellow.

[Gabriel]

Originally Posted by PrettyPaisley

White fat is not grass fed. Grass fed will be more yellow.

Blanket statements: I've raised many grass fed animals and some of them had yellow fat, some did not.

Ask them how they finished the animal. Don't see how it could be 80/20 if it was typical pasture. Green leaf corn?

[BlackWillowFarm]

Jersey beef has yellow fat. Have put three of them in the freezer. The one time we butchered a Jersey in the winter it was fed on hay instead of pasture and the fat was not as yellow as the pastured steers. This year we put a Brown Swiss/ Jersey cross in the freezer and his fat was closer to white. Not snow white like the stuff you get in the grocery store, but noticeably whiter than the pure Jersey. All of them were grass fed. The only grain they got was a little taste towards the end to be sure they would come up to the barn on butchering day.

Hard to say what caused the bad flavor in the beef. I wonder what it was eating?

[oregon woodsmok]

It's possible to raise excellent grass fed beef, but not all grass fed beef is good. It is quite possible to get lousy grass fed beef if it is not raised correctly or butchered correctly.

Poor butchering can ruin meat, and some butchers seem to think that meat is meat and as long as you get one the same size it doesn't matter which animal.

Also, some young animals or males that were not castrated can have poor flavor. If the meat is musky, my best guess would be that it is bull meat. If the flavor is weak, then probably the animal was too young to be butchered.

Watery fatty burger is most likely a butchering error. "Green" flavor is also a butchering error: meat not hung long enough.

[RedDirt Cowgirl]

We've had steers we were disappointed in, "tough" or not (marbeling) was about as far as that went. Taste was always good. They were usually finished on alfalfa or oats in a corral, corn just never came into the picture. A friend said an unhealthy animal can cause a taint too. There's zero dairy stock around here, but I don't know what they're got in their herd.

The way the hamburger was put together speaks of poor processing.

I'm going to the wedding, keeping my opinions to myself, but will sure ask how they're running things. My poor friend is in denial ("Here, I just don't eat much beef"), and it's best he stays that way on this one.

By the by, our best processor uses the vacuum packs, it does make a difference in freezer storage I think.

[cnsper]

It may make a difference for storage length, but I want the wrap part of cut and wrap too. I can't stand it when it comes back in a vacuum pack. Now I remember to ask before using them.

[Chickensittin]

I'm not sure how factual this is, but we had a local processor whose meat tasted "off" to me. A friend told me that processors can get bacterial growth in their aging area which will impact the flavor of the meat. We have since switched to another processor and our beef, as well as any other meat we purchase there, is much better tasting. You might find out where they had it cut and wrapped and avoid this packing house.

[RedDirt Cowgirl]

Wow, never heard of that one. I surely am going to note who their processor is, we don't have many choices around here.

CNSPR, I hate plastic to touch my food too - do you mean it gets a regular wrap and then sealed up?

[Jessilee7]

our processor we use here wasnt that familiar with grass fed but were at least experienced enough to know how to treat it. They also wrap all meat in butcher paper and then vacuum seal except hamburger which we really like about them.

[arnie]

Grass fed steer tender and fat from grass or a pastured bull or cow ect that had to walk a mile to get water or over 20 acres to fill its belly a dairy type beefed can be even worse if not fed well be it grain or grass a bull even if fat will be tough if over a year old this is why I raise my own beef I know what's in it and how it was treated .a show winning steer bloated up with steroids and hormones or a boney hosteen ground up and then just any bodies excess fat tossed in to make hambuger who knows what happened my cousins once had a crazy cow that went wild always on the run a scared had to be shot like a deer to catch was beefed but the meat was like that and ineditable

[Bret]

I always have whisky with my steak.

Not really.

I think that there are lots of things that can go wrong with meat that has been produced right. Beef or deer, grass or grain. One thing that we all agree on is that when it tastes and smells bad, that's all that matters at the time. I have experienced what I think were off flavors and smells in some packages of ground meet from the same animal that was not noticable in other packages. I don't have a theory yet.

[tinknal]

Actually 80/20 burger is the normal mix.

[ufo_chris]

Originally Posted by arnie

Grass fed steer tender and fat from grass or a pastured bull or cow ect that had to walk a mile to get water or over 20 acres to fill its belly a dairy type beefed can be even worse if not fed well be it grain or grass

a bull even if fat will be tough if over a year old

this is why I raise my own beef I know what's in it and how it was treated .a show winning steer bloated up with steroids and hormones or a boney hosteen ground up and then just any bodies excess fat tossed in to make hambuger who knows what happened my cousins once had a crazy cow that went wild always on the run a scared had to be shot like a deer to catch was beefed but the meat was like that and ineditable

I am sorry but I have researched the bull if over a year old thing quite extensively and came to the overwhelming conclusion that this is not so.
Bulls even a few years old will taste fine, if they are not stressed (or sick or something ),as you stated at the end about the cow.

[RedDirt Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by tinknal

Actually 80/20 burger is the normal mix.

Most folks in these parts are looking for a 10% max on fat in the hamburger. It does take more trimming, but I think it's worth it to be able to have a burger searved rare that isn't full of solid fat bits. And having to remove the rendered fat from other cooking too. Tacos with grease running off your elbows is a thing of the past, and I'm glad for it.

My dad used to say that the best salami makers (San Francisco in the olden days) specified bull meat from the market because it was a "drier" meat to start with. And bulls used to be kept until they were pretty used up, I don't imagine their condition was too great at slaughter. Anybody heard of special uses for bull meat?

[sammyd]

bologna

[myersfarm]

I think I could give you a steak from... a 6 year old Jersey ... a 3 year old Jersey and a 1 year old Jersey ...and you would have a hard time telling the difference if I cut the steaks down to the same size all grass feed and used on cows

[kycrawler]

I dont cut my dairy bull calves till they are about 350 lb or when they try to start mounting . I think they grow better as youngsters . If i wasnt worried about the little heifers i wouldnt cut the ones for our freezer at all this years beef is a 3 yo jersey bull that has started to turn mean . He would only bring about 45-50cents a lb at the sale so we put him in the freezer