Re: pasture fed meat

August 16, 2003

There's a big difference in the look of grass fed versus grain fed meat. The

grass fed doesn't have the marbled look that people have come to think beef

ought to look like. Maybe that's why they say it's low fat.

August 16, 2003

At 02:35 AM 8/16/2003 -0400, you wrote:

>i've been researching sources in my area for pasture fed meat. alot of the

>farms i've found state that their beef is low fat. are they just trying to

>appeal to the mass majority that is afraid of fat?

Grass-fed beef and lamb is somewhat naturally lean. One practice for some

specific markets is to " finish " the grass-fed animal on grain which

increases the marbling (fat) in the meat during the last few months. It's

always a good idea to ask the farmer to name all of the foods that are fed

to the animals. And, yes, there are a large number of people who believe

that fat is bad. Thankfully that erroneous idea is being slowly turned

around. In the L.A. area, for example, many are turning to high fat, low

carbohydrate diets to stay healthy and keep the weight down. Of course,

raw unheated fat and oils are healthy, so caveat emptor. Sometimes I ask

the farmer to include the suet from the animal - to me it is like ice cream

it is so tasty and fatty. It's the same stuff fed to wintering wild birds

in really cold areas.

Regards,

-=mark=-

August 16, 2003

In talking to other folks who raise meat animals, I'm finding that many

consider their animals pasture fed if they have spent most of their life on

pasture. Many will call them pasture fed even if the last month or two are spent

being grain fed. Others seem to forget the first months when the animal was fed

medicated feed to make it grow faster. You might ask:

1. How did you get that animal to grow so big so fast? This may just lead to

talk about steroids.

2. I've heard that finishing with some grain gives a nice marble to the meat,

do you do that?

Belinda

>

> hello.

>

> i've been researching sources in my area for pasture fed meat. alot of the

> farms i've found state that their beef is low fat. are they just trying to

> appeal to the mass majority that is afraid of fat? should i let that alter

> my

> decision? everything else about them sounds great - pasture fed, no grains,

> soy,

> hormones, antibiotics, pesticides. any other questions i need to be asking

> the

> farmers?

> any advice offered will be appreciated.

>

August 16, 2003

>are they just trying to

>appeal to the mass majority that is afraid of fat? should i let that alter my

>decision? everything else about them sounds great - pasture fed, no grains,

soy,

>hormones, antibiotics, pesticides. any other questions i need to be asking the

>farmers?

>any advice offered will be appreciated.

Beverly:

I've heard from growers that often young beef is low fat, or at least " low

marbelled " . I started

asking for the fat, and got WAY more than I expected and we couldn't process it

all. The

fat was on the outside of the beef. This time I'm asking for it, and I'll render

it to use in

cooking. The meat itself tends to be lean, with a rib of fat on the outside of

the steak. Steak

that has the fat marbelled into the meat is " prime " and costs more.

From a nutritional standpoint, I'm not sure it matters. I fried up some steak

tonight --

nice and rare, dredged in sorghum-flour and spices and fried in fat and eaten

rare.

Absolutely great! If the meat isn't marbelled, add butter or tallow or coconut

oil

when you cook it, same as you would fish.

And yes, they are trying to market to the " low fat " phobics. But it really *is*

a problem

for the beef growers. To get nice " prime " beef, it has to be older or grain fed,

either

of which is expensive. Personally I go for Longhorn beef, which tastes great

even

if it isn't marbelled, and is amazingly tender. If you can get Longhorn, it

beats

Angus hands down!!!!

-- Heidi

August 16, 2003

Most of the grass fed beef out there is much too lean for my taste.

Like most people I love fat. I love a tender juicy fatty steak.

Just about every grass fed farmer I have talked to says that lean is

just the way it is. Some even try to convince you its a good thing,

less fat is healthy.

Its simply not true that grass fed beef cannot be fatty and

marbled. In fact I have had it from one very special farmer in New

Hampshire. She is a dairy farmer, and it was even a Jersey that had

never touched a grain in her life. According to her you have to let

the cow get to over 3 years old to get marbled meat. She knows this

since she eats here cows once too old for milking. Talk to farmers

and they will tell you they don't want to kill a cow over 2, because

the meat gets too tough. I think it has more to do with economics.

I think there is a market here.

Anyone familiar with beef from Argentina? I heard is some of the

best in the world and a lot is grass fed.

> hello.

>

> i've been researching sources in my area for pasture fed meat.

alot of the

> farms i've found state that their beef is low fat. are they just

trying to

> appeal to the mass majority that is afraid of fat? should i let

that alter my

> decision? everything else about them sounds great - pasture fed,

no grains, soy,

> hormones, antibiotics, pesticides. any other questions i need to

be asking the

> farmers?

> any advice offered will be appreciated.

>

> thanks,

> beverly

>

August 16, 2003

Hey Joe..

Tell you what, I will send you a roast from a 12 year old cow and let me

know if you enjoy eating it or end up playing basketball with it.

If you cook it slowly in a crock pot for 36/48 hours it may become soft

enough to eat but flash cook it for an hour and 1/2 and it will become

the most inedible thing you have ever encountered.

Old cows do make the best hamburger though for the flavor.

It is not economics, it is fact.

Yes a three year old that doesn't get stressed much can be tender to a

point the but the general rule is two years max to have a quick meal if

you want steak.

And yes there is breeds that do well on grass but do take up to 4 years

to dress out but most farmers don't have access to them so any farmer

raised meat will be a far cry better than any feed lot animal you get in

the store, grass fed or not.

Tim

Joe wrote:

> Most of the grass fed beef out there is much too lean for my taste.

> Like most people I love fat. I love a tender juicy fatty steak.

> Just about every grass fed farmer I have talked to says that lean is

> just the way it is. Some even try to convince you its a good thing,

> less fat is healthy.

>

> Its simply not true that grass fed beef cannot be fatty and

> marbled. In fact I have had it from one very special farmer in New

> Hampshire. She is a dairy farmer, and it was even a Jersey that had

> never touched a grain in her life. According to her you have to let

> the cow get to over 3 years old to get marbled meat. She knows this

> since she eats here cows once too old for milking. Talk to farmers

> and they will tell you they don't want to kill a cow over 2, because

> the meat gets too tough. I think it has more to do with economics.

>

> I think there is a market here.

>

> Anyone familiar with beef from Argentina? I heard is some of the

> best in the world and a lot is grass fed.

>

> > hello.

> >

> > i've been researching sources in my area for pasture fed meat.

> alot of the

> > farms i've found state that their beef is low fat. are they just

> trying to

> > appeal to the mass majority that is afraid of fat? should i let

> that alter my

> > decision? everything else about them sounds great - pasture fed,

> no grains, soy,

> > hormones, antibiotics, pesticides. any other questions i need to

> be asking the

> > farmers?

> > any advice offered will be appreciated.

> >

> > thanks,

> > beverly

> >

August 16, 2003

We got a cow from a neighbor. She was injured (broken leg) and he was

concerned that she wouldn't be able to get along on pasture and he wasn't going

to

confine her. We took her for the hamburger. First tough hamburger I've ever had.

Don't understand how hamburger can be tough but some of this was.

Belinda

>

> Hey Joe..

> Tell you what, I will send you a roast from a 12 year old cow and let me

> know if you enjoy eating it or end up playing basketball with it.

> If you cook it slowly in a crock pot for 36/48 hours it may become soft

> enough to eat but flash cook it for an hour and 1/2 and it will become

> the most inedible thing you have ever encountered.

> Old cows do make the best hamburger though for the flavor.

> It is not economics, it is fact.

> Yes a three year old that doesn't get stressed much can be tender to a

> point the but the general rule is two years max to have a quick meal if

> you want steak.

> And yes there is breeds that do well on grass but do take up to 4 years

> to dress out but most farmers don't have access to them so any farmer

> raised meat will be a far cry better than any feed lot animal you get in

> the store, grass fed or not.

> Tim

>

August 16, 2003

Actually, I have heard that the miniature cattle, said to be the size cattle

used to be prior to World War II, do fine on grass/pasture. Our huge

cows of today were bred for grain eating and that is why they get tough on

pasture. Texas Longhorn are a bit better as they have been allowed to

free range the most, though they still received grain supplementation

over the past few years.

When I do start up my farm it will be with one or two miniature breeds.

There is one farmer near San already doing this and I'd like to try

their beef. And the guy who educated me the most about this is near

Dallas.

It's fascinating.

I plan to get a miniature jersey or two for milk. They eat 1/3 the

grass/hay.. whatever you choose to feed and still produce 1/2 the meat.

So you input is less than your output! =)

Only problem is these animals are expensive.

Dawn

> Most of the grass fed beef out there is much too lean for my taste.

> Like most people I love fat. I love a tender juicy fatty steak. Just

> about every grass fed farmer I have talked to says that lean is just

> the way it is. Some even try to convince you its a good thing, less

> fat is healthy.