Grass Fed Flavor

[Rhune]

Im finishing a freemartin heifer right now on alfalfa. Hoping it tastes good. Anyone have experience with it?

Years ago we finished one on alflafa. Meat tasted like grass.

Did not want to hear that. I have fescue hay, but I really like the gains she is getting from alfalfa. Do you like grass finished beef at all? How would grass finish a heifer?

Thanks in advance.

 

[dun]

Im finishing a freemartin heifer right now on alfalfa. Hoping it tastes good. Anyone have experience with it?

Years ago we finished one on alflafa. Meat tasted like grass.

Did not want to hear that. I have fescue hay, but I really like the gains she is getting from alfalfa. Do you like grass finished beef at all? How would grass finish a heifer?

Thanks in advance.

After that fiasco we just finished them on grain with grass hay as a filler

 

[Rhune]

Dun, do you age the meat at all. If so, dry or wet?

 

[dun]

Dun, do you age the meat at all. If so, dry or wet?

Just hang it in full sides for 2-3 weeks. Depends on the amount of fat cover. 3way is a lot better person to talk to about aging beef.

 

[chippie]

I did not read all of the replies.
I had my first certified grass fed hamburger in August.
Gag.
It was at a 4-star restaurant where my son was a chef.
It had a gamey funky taste and odor, and I could not eat it. I saw the boxes that it was shipped in, Texas beef. The restaurant would cut steaks to order and ground their own hamburger. I asked my son about the fat. What color was it? It was yellow, not white like grain fed beef.
The funky taste comes from the fat.
The hamburger was $12.00 without a side.

I can't eat lamb because it is gamey to me as is some venison. If lamb doesn't bother you, you may not notice the nasty flavor.

Edited to add: I thought about you all and the discussions here about grass fed beef when I took my first bite

 

[lavacarancher]

I don't have a lot of experience on eating grass finished beef so I couldn't tell you one way or the other. In fact we bought a registered angus bull from these folks who claimed to finish on grass. Their beef was being sold for $15/pound and they told me they could not keep up with demand. So, we bought a couple of steaks just to see for ourselves if we were missing out on an opportunity. Folks, I gotta tell you that steak was the toughest piece of meat I've ever tried to get down my gullet. I think it was P.T. Barnum that said "…a fool and his money are soon parted" which I think may apply to those folks customer base. It's hard to draw a conclusion on one experience but I was really disappointed.

 

[cattle60]

Can't say that I've ever eat grass fed but my brother finished a steer,about eighteen months old, in a lot with grass, and grain fed in late spring/early summer. the lot must off had alot of wild onions because the meat had an oniony taste to it and was pretty stout. Didn't eat alot of it.

I always try to get the butcher to let my meat hanging for a minimum of 21 days before processing, but under busy times that can't always happen.

 

[Toad]

Keep in mind most of the people I know who buy grass fed beef are really more interested in eating "clean" beef. The real thing they are looking for is no antibiotics or hormones, just natural beef. They don't care about taste as much as they care about knowing what they are putting in their bodies. I really think this is a growing thing. These people normally are well off and money isn't an issue.
I built a 2 acre lot where I finished the last steer. Plenty of grass and then about 15lb of grain a day. I'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out.

 

[boondocks]

Gotta say some of y'all are making me nervous. We are picking up our first meat (grassfed 2 yo heifer that wouldn't breed) this saturday and delivering to customers. I am also giving them a copy of a cookbook on cooking with grassfed beef. I'm read about 6 of them the past month, and it seems many people cook it just like grainfed. It's supposed to be cooked at a slightly lower temp and for a shorter period of time. Some cuts may need marinated or braised a bit more. But the true believers swear that it's how beef is "supposed" to taste, with hints of the minerals and grass coming through (like terroir in wine). I guess that kinda makes sense...those who like it say (as one person did above) that once you have had good grassfed beef, grained beef will taste bland and fatty.

The butcher called to say ours graded as prime, FWIW. The folks above have reminded me about the importance of not waiting until too late in the season to butcher grassfed. i hope we did not wait too long; maybe should have done a month earlier. Fingers crossed it's good....

 

[greybeard]

I'd hate to bite into one that was grass finished on my pasture anytime since middle of June. Crunchy bahia probably isn't very tasty.

The key word, is "finished". Just leaving one out on pasture till it reaches a desired weight is not finished.

 

[boondocks]

I'd hate to bite into one that was grass finished on my pasture anytime since middle of June. Crunchy bahia probably isn't very tasty.

The key word, is "finished". Just leaving one out on pasture till it reaches a desired weight is not finished.

GB, we went by 2 primary factors in terms of timing: first, we had been told (apparently correctly) not to butcher too late in the year. We had also been told that (unless you are just going for burger) not to let them go much past age 2. So, within those parameters, and assuming that she was on good grass, and given that she graded as prime, was there a step to "finishing" that we should have paid more attention to? I have not heard the term applied much to grassfed beef, I will admit; I usually hear it in the context of grassfed cows being finished on grain. (In the case of this heifer, she went about 1100 # on the hoof, and hanging wt. was a bit over 600#. For sure she would have grown out a bit more had we kept her longer. She was about 24 or 25 mos).

Any further advice as to how to properly "finish" a grassfed bovine is appreciated, from GB or anyone, including: how do you know when you're there? And is the season more important, ie, if the animal isn't quite "finished" but the grass is, what's the best step?

Thanks!

 

[HDRider]

I would think if it graded prime it should taste great.

Will you get a sample steak for testing?

 

[dieselbeef]

i just pick one that looks fat. in the early summer when the grass is good and green..closer to 20 24 mos..usually gets me about the same wieght as yours..close to 1100 or so..between 6-700 on the rail..
we will not eat any other beef...
when ya fry it up ya dont need to drain the pan. but they have good flavors and alotta marbling. ive got alotta pics on here from our past butchering

 

[boondocks]

I would think if it graded prime it should taste great.

Will you get a sample steak for testing?

Oh yeah! ;-) Gonna buy a couple pounds back. Just a few burgers and maybe a steak or small roast.

 

[boondocks]

So, I got the first taste of beef (Angus) we raised ourselves. It was very lean; I had a burger cooked medium and probably should have been medium rare. Far from being too strong, the flavor was if anything a bit mild. We had not used seasonings (other than a tiny bit of salt/pepper) as we wanted to taste it without doctoring it up. It was very good, lean, high-quality meat (the steak was well-marbled) but I think in future I may see if a customer prefers a bit of fat added back in.

I read somewhere that some people ask their butcher to add a bit of hog fat in to flavor very lean burger. For personal consumption, I would rather keep it very lean and just add a packet of onion soup mix (or whatever), but am wondering if anyone else had ever heard of adding (hog or bovine) fat in, to meet a certain fat content?

 

[Putangitangi]

We had some grain-fed Angus at Christmas time, brought by a guest with contacts with one of the few feedlots here. It was certainly tender, but had a funny sort of oily texture or taste. I didn't like it very much. Normally we eat our own and they're only on grass.

 

[dun]

So, I got the first taste of beef (Angus) we raised ourselves. It was very lean; I had a burger cooked medium and probably should have been medium rare. Far from being too strong, the flavor was if anything a bit mild. We had not used seasonings (other than a tiny bit of salt/pepper) as we wanted to taste it without doctoring it up. It was very good, lean, high-quality meat (the steak was well-marbled) but I think in future I may see if a customer prefers a bit of fat added back in.

I read somewhere that some people ask their butcher to add a bit of hog fat in to flavor very lean burger. For personal consumption, I would rather keep it very lean and just add a packet of onion soup mix (or whatever), but am wondering if anyone else had ever heard of adding (hog or bovine) fat in, to meet a certain fat content?

Adding pig fat to burger would be a huge mistake if it's going to be kept for more then about 6 months. Even frozen, pig fat starts to sort of turn after that. Adding beef fat is a common practice if the beef is way to lean.

 

[Nesikep]

Burger meat does need a certain amount of fat to fry well, etc.. same goes for sausages.

I can't tell you anything about the 'history' of the ground beef we bought (yes, at a store, we're out of our own stock temporarily). it was Lean. Meatballs made with it had the texture of compressed sawdust, it was bright red when raw, and a deathly pale gray when cooked. It had no flavor (thankfully).
I can't wait for my steer to get whacked and have good beef again! There's just no comparison between our meat and the crap you get in the store.

 

[Son of Butch]

Local German butcher makes great course ground hot dogs.
The Hot dogs are about 80% beef 20% pork. I believe the 20% is the cheaper fatter pork trimmings added to lean beef.

 

[boondocks]

Interesting, thanks all! I think I will offer a bit of cow fat added back in the burger if customer prefers a less-lean but juicier burger. I would guess the fat content was maybe 5% tops. Probably a bit more seasoning; fat to get it to 10%; cook it just a bit less; and voila.