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So what's the beef against grain-fed beef?

W

Whitewing

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 4, 2009
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5,855
Location
Venezuela
While our animals down here sometimes get some decent grain, for the most part they're finished on grass. Why? Because it just doesn't pay to finish on grains.

Also, the average Venezuelan detests any fat on his meat and the average steak is cooked to a crisp.

Yeah, I miss the big juicy medium-rare fat-ladden steaks from back home. :cry:
 
I've never heard of corn grass Jodywy. LOL. Now, to the argument.......... Personally I prefer grain fed. I have had grass finished and did not care for it. The grass finished people have found a niche market and I'm happy for them. The article FH posted the other day was very informative and it proved some suspicions and theories I've had for a while. I think grass finished might work for some people, but it sure wouldn't work here unless you like the taste of sagebrush and greasewood. This next part is strictly my opinion, so I will feel no need to argue or debate it. In my opinion when people buy grassfed beef, they are paying a premium for an inferior product. In my opinion you get a finer product with grainfed. The premium you pay for grass finished beef is a result of good marketing. Its about like free range chickens. I had to explain all of this to my own mother a while back. Has anyone looked lately at what free range chickens eat? Anything and everything. They especially like the corn pieces in cow pies. Again, this is strictly my opinion. If you raise grass finished beef and it works for you, I'm happy. Keep on keepin' on.
 
If anyone read Al's Obs this month in SGF, he mentioned that there are alot of grassfed producers essentially selling heavy feeder cattle. It takes true expertise to produce a finished animal on grass.

The fact is Tallgrass has run the stats. They have as high of a percentage grading choice as feedlot finished, and actually higher grading prime.

You'll notice more flavor in a grassfed animal, but also healthier fats that you can quantify in a lab analysis. All health benefits and flavor come from the fat.
 
I said that to just pull your leg jodywy.you raised a good question though. I've always heard that things that come from below the surface are vegetables and those above ground are fruit. Not sure that would work here though. Quite the conundrum we have here. I have no farming knowledge so I'm out of smart*#+ remarks. I just looked in the dictionary. It says a small hard seed,especially of a cereal grass. An american cereal plant. This is the part where I realize you are right jodywy. Now is when I call you a name so I can fit in around here. I have been bested. :D
 
I feed out 5-10 head every year. I guess I can advertise it as grass finished and still feed it corn. Atleast that's what my dictionary says. It won't take as long to finish out feeding the corn grass. Hmmm. I learned something new tonight.
 
Okay, I understand that some believe grass-fed animals don't have the taste that corn-fed finishing provides, but what's the beef against using corn or other grains to finish the animals?

Is this nothing more than some environmental issue related to the production of grains?
 
Just a few observations. No doubt that grass finished and grain finished taste different. I like both. When we cook the grass finished it doesn't need or get BBQ sauce or peppercorn sauce because it has a built in flavor. Of course some like it and some do not. For me the grain fed is plainer in taste and some sort of sauce is added to amend the flavor. I like it that way too. As far as raising the grass fed it takes experience and skill to get it to taste good and grade. For us though the ones that don't quite make it are some of our most profitable commodity beef, sold as short keeps to repeat feedlot customers. What keeps us in the grass fed game is our belief (can be scientifically backed up) that grass finished is a healthy product and that honing the skill to create finished tasty beef off grass is fun.
 
It's my thought that any meat that is older has more flavor.
Grain-fed beef is usually not very old, having been fed hard
to gain fast; grass fed tends to be older.
I like OUR own grain fed beef the very best, but grass fed,
harvested at the right time of year can be very good.
 
Faster horses said:
It's my thought that any meat that is older has more flavor.
Grain-fed beef is usually not very old, having been fed hard
to gain fast; grass fed tends to be older.
I like OUR own grain fed beef the very best, but grass fed,
harvested at the right time of year can be very good.
Click to expand...

FH, I agree an open long 2's or a long 3 fat off the grass is the best eating beef IMO. True beef flavor, especially if it is dry aged 21 days.

The typical aged in the bag baby beef(16 months old) may be tender but to me it is virtually tasteless.
 
Well said Dylan.
Maybe why beef consuption continues to decline. Kind of like hothouse tomatoes.
Most of us don't eat that much store bought, but i can't figure out how they get it to be so much diferent than home harvested.
 
Store bought is not aged. That makes a HUGE difference.

I'm with Dylan, tender meat with no flavor...isn't much.
We butchered a steer that was 30 months old, grain fed.
Absolutely delcious in every eay.

And all the talk about marbling, I've been told that
marbling is an old cow disease. :P Meaning, the older
the animal the better it will marble.
 
I have a system for feeding out a beef that seems to really work for me. I feed for 90 days, going from cake to cracked corn and also barley. By the time the 90 days are finished, they are getting 10#'s of cracked corn and 3#'s of barley per day plus all of the good quality hay they can eat. The barley seems to really add some good marbling. Its is kind of spendy this way, but I have a lot of repeat customers. There is no farming in my area, so my feed cost are a little high. I sat down recently and figured it up and it cost me $627 for feed and hay for the 3 months I feed. I also pay for the butchering. The customers cost averages out to about $5.50 per pound. I've seen hamburger in the stores here selling for almost $5 per pound. I've found a lot of people will try to argue saying that's too high, but then they will go pay $10 to $20 per pound on steaks. I usually end up selling to the same people every year. Eventhough some might say my price is a little high, I'm not making very much once you figure in my time and expenses.
 
The key is starch vs. sugar. With grassfed you're looking for plants with the highest BRIX or sugar content as possible.

Grass (Forage) Fed – Grass and forage shall be the feed source consumed for the lifetime of the ruminant animal, with the exception of milk consumed prior to weaning. The diet shall be derived solely from forage consisting of grass (annual and perennial), forbs (e.g., legumes, Brassica), browse, or cereal grain crops in the vegetative (pre-grain) state. Animals cannot be fed grain or grain byproducts and must have continuous access to pasture during the growing season. Hay, haylage, baleage, silage, crop residue without grain, and other roughage sources may also be included as acceptable feed sources. Routine mineral and vitamin supplementation may also be included in the feeding regimen. If incidental supplementation occurs due to inadvertent exposure to non-forage feedstuffs or to ensure the animal's well being at all times during adverse environmental or physical conditions, the producer must fully document (e.g., receipts, ingredients, and tear tags) the supplementation that occurs including the amount, the frequency, and the supplements provided.
Click to expand...
http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams...=GrassFedMarketingClaims&resultType=&acct=lss
 
Faster horses said:
Store bought is not aged. That makes a HUGE difference.
Click to expand...

And if it is aged it is very probably aged in a cryovac plastic bag, an anaerobic process producing an entirely different flavor then the good old fashioned aged in the cooler on the hook process.

If you ever go to a high end restaurant and they proudly serve you 28 day aged beef and it has an off sour taste that prevents you from finishing your steak you will know it was aged in the bag.

The processors get to avoid any shrink aging it in the bag, even though the buyer pours all the black purge down the drain.

Dry aged in the cooler, depending on external fat cover, cooler humidity, air circulation, ceiling height and temp you will get 6 to 8 % shrink on the carcass on a 21 day hang. If it's a lean animal you can expect 10% shrink.
 

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