Grass Fed Beef

[globetrotter]

Originally Posted by crazyquik

This entire forum is about proving one's personal style and tastes are superior because they are more refined. Loving grass fed is right in line with the fetish over handstitching.

for much of the world, grass fed is the only type of beef available. I wouldn't say that it is more refined, it is a different option.

 

[DrZRM]

Originally Posted by foodguy

and just for the record, ALL beef is grass-fed until the last 6 months or so.

That's not right! They transition calfs onto corn as soon as possible but they can't survive on corn feed for their first few months. Often they are transitioned to feed at around 100-150 days. They nurse and graze until then. Feeding cows corn allows them to be fattened and ready to be slaughtered at 18-24 months, while grass fed beef takes around 4 years to get large enough to slaughter. Most cows will eat feed for 15-21 months after being transitioned to corn, after being on milk and grass for 4-5 months.

 

[oman]

i like beer-fed kobe steak but it's hard to find and sometimes it's fake

 

[Xiaogou]

Is Whole Foods the best place to find grass fed beef? Anybody know where prime grass fed can be found? I looked at Prather Ranch and from what I can tell, they do not sell on-line.

 

[kaxixi]

I buy grass-fed and free-range meats from a local farmer's market. Do you have any near you? Edit: strike the rec... I didn't notice you were looking for Prime.

 

[milosz]

Whole Foods is the best option near me (North Texas) - they source from a rancher's co-op that covers the region. Prices are more affordable ($12.99/lb t-bones - not outrageous) than ordering directly from the few local ranchers, particularly in small quantities.

Embarrassingly for living in a farm/ranch state, there are no good affordable meat/poultry farmers' market/CSA options in the DFW area. Several good markets for vegetables and fruits, but weak on the rest.

 

[Manton]

Whole Foods are not consistent around the country because they source from the best (or at least what their buyers consider the best) sources close to them. At the one in White Plains they have dry aged prime but not grass fed. At the one in Santa Cruz they have grass fed but not dry aged prime. You just have to check your individual store to know.

 

[samus]

Originally Posted by crazyquik

This entire forum is about proving one's personal style and tastes are superior because they are more refined. Loving grass fed is right in line with the fetish over handstitching.
While this particular little corner of the internet might prefer grass-fed beef for what we might call Veblen reasons, there are very strong ethical, public health and ecological reasons for preferring grass fed beef, or perhaps more correctly, a return to a majority-grass-fed beef production system. Consider: - Corn is cheap because of taxpayer subsidies. That is, grain-fed beef isn't as much cheaper as people think it is. We just don't realize the way the Farm Bill has been screwing us for decades. - Because grain-fed beef appears cheaper at the register, people (Westerners) are eating record amounts of meat, and showing record incidence of heart disease, stroke, etc. - As has been noted in this thread, grass-fed beef is leaner and has higher concentrations of Omega-3s and other beneficial compounds (read: they are healthier), because the cows have to (gasp!) move around. - Increased grassland for cows to graze on would mean large reductions in soil erosion, a growing problem for the deforested Great Plains. See the Sept. 2008 National Geographic if you don't believe what a big problem this is, and will increasingly become. - Cows didn't evolve to eat grain. Digesting corn causes widespread health problems for cows, notably greatly increasing stomach acidity, causing painful ulcers, which is cause for concern itself for animal cruelty reasons. - Increased stomach acidity provides the perfect environment for cows to grow extra-powerful E. coli. Grass-fed cows have been shown to have 80% less of the E. coli strain that causes human death and illness. - Feeding cows corn allows them to be put into the little circles of hell known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, which are miserable, dangerous, disgusting places. Diseases spread freely, as the cows stand around ankle deep in manure all day, to say nothing of the massive polluting effects these places have on the earth and water around them. - Lots of unhealthy cows together mean lots of shared disease, which requires the application of huge quantities of antibiotics - weakening their effectiveness for other species, namely us, that might need them. I'm sure some of you will shrug this off as environmentalist propaganda, but believe me, I am no hippie vegetarian tree hugger. I love a steak. But I also want to keep enjoying steaks, and for my kids to be able to one day, without killing ourselves and the planet.

 

[Manton]

- It tastes better (or at least different; I think I like it better).

 

[KObalto]

Originally Posted by Manton

- It tastes better (or at least different; I think I like it better).

There's a minerally taste to grass fed that I like, but I think it's best when corn finished for the last few weeks.

 

[ChicagoRon]

Originally Posted by Xiaogou

Is Whole Foods the best place to find grass fed beef? Anybody know where prime grass fed can be found? I looked at Prather Ranch and from what I can tell, they do not sell on-line.
You should check out the North Market. It's been a while since I've been there, but there were always great local suppliers, and there is DEFINITELY local beef in COW-Lumbus

 

[Xiaogou]

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

You should check out the North Market. It's been a while since I've been there, but there were always great local suppliers, and there is DEFINITELY local beef in COW-Lumbus

Can't believe I missed it.

http://www.bluescreekfarmmeats.com/

 

[foodguy]

just read the last page so forgive me if i'm re-stating the obvious. grass-fed is a different product than grain-fed. there is a gamy quality that is not unlike lamb. most important, though, is that it is EXTREMELY lean. If you're not point-on with your cooking temps, it's going to completely dry out.
Environmental aspects aside, I do prefer corn-finished. that's the beef that makes Japanese tourists head for the first available steakhouse when they hit the US.
Also, as far as I know (and I've reported it pretty thoroughly over the years), unless something has changed, almost all beef is grass-fed to maturity, then finished on grain to develop marbling. That goes for supermarket beef and for Niman Ranch alike.

 

[Dragon]

Originally Posted by foodguy

just read the last page so forgive me if i'm re-stating the obvious. grass-fed is a different product than grain-fed. there is a gamy quality that is not unlike lamb. most important, though, is that it is EXTREMELY lean. If you're not point-on with your cooking temps, it's going to completely dry out.
Environmental aspects aside, I do prefer corn-finished. that's the beef that makes Japanese tourists head for the first available steakhouse when they hit the US.
Also, as far as I know (and I've reported it pretty thoroughly over the years), unless something has changed, almost all beef is grass-fed to maturity, then finished on grain to develop marbling. That goes for supermarket beef and for Niman Ranch alike.

The only reason they were heading to the steakhouses is because of they`re cheap in comparison to the steak houses in Japan. If they could afford it, they would be eating Japanese beef.

While in the States, I get my grass fed from here:
http://www.homegrownmeats.com/

I doubt they are the best, but just convenient for me. Usually I just buy corn fed from other places anyway, and save the grass fed for when I am in other countries.

 

[RSS]

Originally Posted by Manton

Actually, there are few places in the country where Whole Foods fits in so well, yet that needed one less. The local markets here are killer, two in particular. Westchester could use one or two more Whole Foods. There's so much bobo money there, I don't know why the markets are so terrible.
Berkeley has a Whole Foods ... but I pass two Andronico's & the Berkeley Bowl on the way. I need one on my side of town.

But to be honest ... I miss Balducci's c. 1990. Nothing here comes close.