What makes good beef?

Our Hereford steer will be going to the butcher on October 4th. As with the pigs, we will be offering cooperative shares of the live steer. We plan to keep half of the steer for ourselves and then sell ten shares of the other half. Our aim is the best beef possible. Here’s a breakdown of what’s required to meet that goal.

Pastured/Grass-fed/Grass finished. Cows are grazing animals and biologically, they are meant to eat the vast majority of their calories from grass (and hay). They can eat small amounts of grain (we do this just to keep them coming to the barn daily) with no adverse effects. They are NOT meant to eat corn and soy. Many commercial cattle are allowed to pasture up to a certain age and then are sent to feedlots for a few months before slaughter to fatten on massive amounts of corn and soy. It is the equivalent of a person eating junk food every day for a few months. If you are what you eat, this is not healthy meat at all. If you buy meat commercially, look for the term “grass finished” this means the animal was allowed to be on pasture its entire life, much better for the animals, much better for you. For example, pastured beef is actually high in Omega-3 which is derived from the grass they eat whereas conventional cows are not, having a diet consisting of corn and soy, here is a great article explaining this in more detail.

Antibiotic/Growth Hormone Free. When cattle are fed a diet they are not meant to eat (large amounts of corn and soy) and kept in close confinement, they get sick. To prevent this, they are fed antibiotics constantly. In fact, more antibiotics are consumed by livestock than by people in the US. Also, many cattle (both beef and dairy) have been given growth hormones to make them grow unnaturally large (or produce huge quantities of milk). No one really understands how this effects people who consume the meat. If you buy beef (and dairy products), look for antibiotic and growth hormone free labels.

Dry Aged. This is meat that has been allowed to hang for a minimum of two weeks and up to six. Dry aging allows excess moisture to evaporate and the meat develops an amazing flavor and texture. Only the best quality meat with good marbling can be dry aged, poor quality meat simply falls apart. Think about this. Commercial meat producers want to get the most money for their product. It behooves them to sell meat that has a high moisture content (some even inject water or brine into meat) as that makes the weight heavier. To increase the weight by as much as 20% on a product that is priced by the pound means bigger profits for the meat producers. But, for the consumer, it means that they are getting an inferior product and getting charged more for it.

For some really excellent reading on this subject, check out books by Michael Pollan or Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (especially his Meat Book).

Good beef (pastured/grass fed, antibiotic and growth hormone free, dry aged) can be very expensive. In the past, when we bought beef, we bought the best we could afford. But, this meant that we ate it very infrequently, or bought lesser cuts (for example short ribs or stew beef). It really is worth it, the flavor is like nothing else, and knowing that the animal was raised and processed in a humane fashion is always worth paying more for.

We hope you find this post informative, it is interesting for us to sit back and reflect on just what goes into raising high quality beef for ourselves.