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Jeff T

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Grass fed/finished beef, is it all tough??

by Jeff T » Thu Sep 22, 2011 10:13 pm

So far I have had 2 bad expierences with grass fed beef. Both ribeys, one grilled at home, one at a restaurant last night in St Louis. Tough as shoeleather both cooked med rare. Any one else think this PC version of beef is just wrong or are there other factors i.e how the animal is raised, preparation methods??
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Robin Garr

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Re: Grass fed/finished beef, is it all tough??

by Robin Garr » Thu Sep 22, 2011 11:39 pm

Jeff T wrote:So far I have had 2 bad expierences with grass fed beef. Both ribeys, one grilled at home, one at a restaurant last night in St Louis. Tough as shoeleather both cooked med rare. Any one else think this PC version of beef is just wrong or are there other factors i.e how the animal is raised, preparation methods??

All of the above, Jeff, but prep is probably key. I've had good luck with using the technique of pan-searing the steak in a screeching hot skillet for just a minute on each side, then slamming it into a 400 or 450 oven for another two or three minutes until it just quits bleeding a little. This usually works well. Overcooking is definitely bad news.

Some farmers argue that the breed of the cattle is a significant factor. Most modern beef cattle have been bred to thrive on grain finishing, which is the usual procedure. There is ONE local processor, in Southern Indiana, who does grain finishing and slaughter locally and humanely, but by and large, whether you consider it PC or not, most grain-finished beef has been shipped west to industrial feed lots, and a lot of people want to avoid that.

Anyway, I digress: Stan Gentle of DreamCatcher farms grows Devon cattle, an heirloom breed that was grown for grass since the beginning, and I think it's no coincidence that, in my opinion at least, Stan's beef stands head and shoulders above the local competition. They're always at Bardstown Road Farmers' Market (right through the winter) and will be at St. Matthews/Beargrass Christian while it remains open, which I understand means a couple more weeks. Might be worth a try, if that's convenient for you, before you abandon grass-fed.
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Re: Grass fed/finished beef, is it all tough??

by Jeff T » Fri Sep 23, 2011 1:05 am

Good info Robin. Sounds like a bit of re-education for restaurants on cooking style if the grass fed trend continues. The jury is still out with me.
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Re: Grass fed/finished beef, is it all tough??

by Stephen D » Fri Sep 23, 2011 1:06 am

What he said.

Then, you could have possibly had 2 inferior cuts.

The trick is to think about the size of the eye vs. the exterior meat. You know, there's always that line of fat on a ribeye that separates the eye from the exterior meat? Consider the whole to be a prime rib roast- as you get to the ends, the eye gets smaller and the exterior meat gets larger. Now cut this into steaks. The ends make for junky steaks- the exterior meat gets tough, while the interior remains decent- it will even cup upwards on you.

The ideal is to get a center-cut, with minimal exterior meat- especially for Med Rare presentations.
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Re: Grass fed/finished beef, is it all tough??

by Robin Garr » Fri Sep 23, 2011 8:29 am

Stephen D wrote:What he said.

Then, you could have possibly had 2 inferior cuts.

The trick is to think about the size of the eye vs. the exterior meat. You know, there's always that line of fat on a ribeye that separates the eye from the exterior meat? Consider the whole to be a prime rib roast- as you get to the ends, the eye gets smaller and the exterior meat gets larger. Now cut this into steaks. The ends make for junky steaks- the exterior meat gets tough, while the interior remains decent- it will even cup upwards on you.

The ideal is to get a center-cut, with minimal exterior meat- especially for Med Rare presentations.

I'm going to agree in part but disagree in part: A lot of people think the "crown" - the skinny bit around the edge, outside the fat that separates the eye from the exterior - is the most flavorful part of the rib eye, even if it isn't as "refined." Just sayin' ... best NOT to overcook it, though.
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Re: Grass fed/finished beef, is it all tough??

by Jeff T » Fri Sep 23, 2011 3:10 pm

Stephen
Is that your recommendation for all beef or just grass fed? If just for grass fed thats kinda what Im driving at, that is, seems to be an inferior offerring at elevated prices. Is it really worth the fuss. Trim this, only cook this way and the like all for what? Seems to me its just another bogus "green" idea that doesn't live up the hype.
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Re: Grass fed/finished beef, is it all tough??

by Mark Head » Sat Sep 24, 2011 8:14 am

I've not been all that impressed with grass fed beef. Some of it may be what I'm used too and what my expectations are - I grew up around cattle that were pasture raised and finished with grain (the old Ky farmer way - my grand pa) and the meat wasn't tough nor require a different approach to preparation.
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Re: Grass fed/finished beef, is it all tough??

by John Hagan » Sat Sep 24, 2011 12:51 pm

Jeff T wrote:? Seems to me its just another bogus "green" idea that doesn't live up the hype.


I will admit that there is an obvious taste difference from grass finished and that which is finished on grain. As far as it being "just another bogus green idea", remember historically all beef was finished on grass, the idea of fattening them artificially using grain is a much more recent trend.
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Re: Grass fed/finished beef, is it all tough??

by Stephen D » Wed Sep 28, 2011 9:43 pm

Jeff T wrote:Stephen
Is that your recommendation for all beef or just grass fed? If just for grass fed thats kinda what Im driving at, that is, seems to be an inferior offerring at elevated prices. Is it really worth the fuss. Trim this, only cook this way and the like all for what? Seems to me its just another bogus "green" idea that doesn't live up the hype.


A couple things worth mentioning:

a) It is not possible to evaluate grass-fed vs (etc) unless one learns to cook the perfect steak for this cut, consistently. Medium-rare is too rare. The fats aren't yet rendered and will make the steak chewy. You want Medium Push, like Robin had mentioned. Once the blood comes out, it's Medium, is the rule.

b) You also can't evaluate this cut unless you have an understanding of the tissues involved. As mentioned, the fats must be rendered, the eye must be as rare as possible, while the crown does well with a little more heat, but not too much (hemoglobic content works differently.)

At the end of the day, most retail 'grass-fed' yaddie-dah is like the retail organic yaddie dah. Prolly not worth it. If you can get some local butchered product, on the other hand, you may be onto something...
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Re: Grass fed/finished beef, is it all tough??

by Will Terry » Fri Sep 30, 2011 7:07 am

Just go buy some Dreamcatcher meat and cook it to medium rare...

We got $100 worth of meat from them for my 30th birthday (still have some bacon, chorizo and 1 ribeye).. cooked a tenderlon on the grill to medium rare, and did not have any difficulty with toughness.

As for melting fat, I was under the impression that above 130 degrees got the job done.

I've followed my favorite food bloggers advice on it: Kenji Lopez Alt

My chief complaint about grass fed is it's not as fatty as regular steak.

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