Cooking grass fed meat versus grain fed


 
LinBerl

LinBerl

TVWBB Member
I prefer to cook grass fed, but it has little fat. Since I'm new to the wsm, I'm wondering if anyone has advice regarding cooking times for grass fed versus grain fed? Do you cook it less, or do something to account for the lack of fat? I did a gf brisket on my kettle once, and it was good, but a little dry. Since gf is pretty expensive, I'm hoping for some tips before I cook it up. I know my gf burgers cook in about half the time that regular burgers cook. Anyone have experience and suggestions? Thanks in advance.
 
Some grass fed beef is lean, but not all. I think you are correct, though, that the fat level has implications for cooking. A lean cut is going to be more of a challenge to cook regardless of whether it is grass fed or or not. The fat level in ground beef is controlled during grinding and one of my grass fed suppliers regularly supplies 75% beef, which cooks like normal and makes great burgers. This seems preferable since the quality of the fat is why you buy grass fed in the first place.

Some of the grass fed beef, particularly that coming from Australia these days, is nicely fatty. A lot of it isn't, though. The briskets and chuck roasts I have tried have been lean and I haven't been able to make very good barbecue with them. Edible, but not excellent. You definitely want to avoid overcooking, but that's not much of a solution for tough cuts like brisket. I have mostly been sticking with steaks, which grill up nicely if you like them on the rare side.
 
Carl H. said:
Some grass fed beef is lean, but not all. I think you are correct, though, that the fat level has implications for cooking. A lean cut is going to be more of a challenge to cook regardless of whether it is grass fed or or not. The fat level in ground beef is controlled during grinding and one of my grass fed suppliers regularly supplies 75% beef, which cooks like normal and makes great burgers. This seems preferable since the quality of the fat is why you buy grass fed in the first place.

Some of the grass fed beef, particularly that coming from Australia these days, is nicely fatty. A lot of it isn't, though. The briskets and chuck roasts I have tried have been lean and I haven't been able to make very good barbecue with them. Edible, but not excellent. You definitely want to avoid overcooking, but that's not much of a solution for tough cuts like brisket. I have mostly been sticking with steaks, which grill up nicely if you like them on the rare side.
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Ah, well, that's kind of what I was worried about. I will have to find a local butcher who sources quality meat (non-gf) with antibiotics or other junk and uses a reliable source of grain. Atleast for my brisket. For meatloaf, I mix gf beef with ground pork so that works pretty well. Maybe I will see if bacon-wrapped brisket is any good, lol. That would keep the gf meat moist.
 
Here's Why Corn Fed is Best

I have lived worked and now I own a ranch where cattle are king. Grass fatten beef is leaner, but more iron rich (think American Bison) and healthy and flavorful. Grain fattened beef is how we improve on our grass fat cattle by letting them have all the grain they want for about six weeks before slaughter. They are much more marbled and bring us a better price, but our most sought after product is CORN FATTENED BEEF. The beef is marbled with YELLOW fat not white. The flavor is more like butter basted and is our most expensive beef and the most in demand. With the price we pay for corn to feed the cattle going up due to the corn being diverted into the ethanol business, corn fattened beef may be only for the upper class billionaires like Bill Gates, Mike Bloomberg, and our royals in the People's House. Our taxes pay for only the best prime beef for the banquets that are so frequent and spoken of there these days.
 
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LAKramer said:
I have lived worked and now I own a ranch where cattle are king. Grass fatten beef is leaner, but more iron rich (think American Bison) and healthy and flavorful. Grain fattened beef is how we improve on our grass fat cattle by letting them have all the grain they want for about six weeks before slaughter. They are much more marbled and bring us a better price, but our most sought after product is CORN FATTENED BEEF. The beef is marbled with YELLOW fat not white. The flavor is more like butter basted and is our most expensive beef and the most in demand. With the price we pay for corn to feed the cattle going up due to the corn being diverted into the ethanol business, corn fattened beef may be only for the upper class billionaires like Bill Gates, Mike Bloomberg, and our royals in the People's House. Our taxes pay for only the best prime beef for the banquets that are so frequent and spoken of there these days.
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Granted I am maybe a bit overboard in being careful what I eat, but isn't most all corn today GMO? I prefer, when I can, to eat beef that has been raised on natural grass to avoid all the manipulation of grain and corn. Am I wrong? Is there actually corn raised beef that is raised on organic corn? I don't eat a lot of beef, so price is not a big deal...grass fed is about $1.50 more per pound where I live.
 
Latest stats say about 90% of all US corn is GMO. Even higher if you consider cross-pollination between NGMO and GMO. I am lucky that I can get non-GMO stuff. Kinda sad all this drive for yield.
 
Not many of us have the resources to be able to grow the organic corn to feed to cattle that we raise in the backyard, maybe in a perfect world. With that in mind we must make do with what is available to the majority of beef shoppers, and what we think tastes the best. Much of the "to do" about GMO corn and other foods seems to be drummed up "chicken little" hysteria aimed at folks who do not think for themselves. With that said, grass fed beef would be my last choice based upon taste alone. Buffalo tastes better to me than grass fed beef, even though much of the buffalo is grass fed. My first choice for taste is corn fed beef every time. If you are going to grill a grass fed beef steak, use a lower temperature and don't go past medium rare, as often the next step will taste like shoe leather.
 
There's a burger place about an hour from me called Meer's in Oklahoma that serves Longhorn beef which is VERY lean from cattle they raise. I'm not sure what they do because even though the burgers are 99 percent lean they are fantastic. They do a griddle style burger though.
 
Some people think the leanness of grass fed is the benefit. As I said, it's not all lean. To me the reason to eat it is that the fat is healthier - loaded with omega-3 , CLA, etc. The fatter the better! The flavor is a bit different, but I like it. It's a bit like Australian lamb versus domestic.
 
Bob H. said:
Not many of us have the resources to be able to grow the organic corn to feed to cattle that we raise in the backyard, maybe in a perfect world. With that in mind we must make do with what is available to the majority of beef shoppers, and what we think tastes the best. Much of the "to do" about GMO corn and other foods seems to be drummed up "chicken little" hysteria aimed at folks who do not think for themselves. With that said, grass fed beef would be my last choice based upon taste alone. Buffalo tastes better to me than grass fed beef, even though much of the buffalo is grass fed. My first choice for taste is corn fed beef every time. If you are going to grill a grass fed beef steak, use a lower temperature and don't go past medium rare, as often the next step will taste like shoe leather.
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While your cooking info is spot on, I suspect you have never taken a genetics course.
 
Bob H. said:
Tom, I respectfully stand by my previous statement especially about the drummed up chicken little hysteria portion of it. Check the following link if needed. http://www.syracuse.com/opinion/ind...s_are_so_bad_wheres_the_proof_commentary.html
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AS we all know, studies are funded by someone. There will probably always be "evidence" to support both sides, but I prefer to err on the side of caution. There is so much in the world I can't control, I will take my little victories:D

(1) https://www.uclm.es/Actividades/repositorio/pdf/doc_3721_4666.pdf

(2) http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0069805

(3) http://rt.com/usa/gmo-gluten-sensitivity-trigger-343/

(4) http://responsibletechnology.org/media/images/content/Press_Release_Gluten_11_25.pdf

(5) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691512005637

(6) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23756170

(7) http://earthopensource.org/files/pdfs/Roundup-and-birth-defects/RoundupandBirthDefectsv5.pdf

(8) http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/tx1001749

(9) http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416

(10) http://omicsonline.org/open-access/...s-in-animals-and-humans-2161-0525.1000210.pdf

(11) http://www.organic-systems.org/journal/81/8106.pdf

(12) http://static.aboca.com/www.aboca.c..._genetically_modified_crops_for_nutrition.pdf

(13) Reese W, Schubert D. Safety testing and regulation of genetically engineered foods. Biotechnol Genet Eng Rev. 2004;21:299–324

(14) Schubert D. A different perspective on GM food. Nat Biotechnol. 2002;20:969–969.

(15) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19146501
 
Hmm... an economist vs geneticists and medical doctors. Who to beleive.... hmmm... AS I said earlier, I am thankful to be able to get non-GMO food.
 
I'm an old guy with maybe a bit different perspective. One of my grandfathers raised chickens and sold eggs for a living, the other was a dairy farmer. I was raised on what would be concidered "organic" today, that was just the norm for them then. I only eat beef once a week now, so my preferance is a well marbled ribeye when and if I can find one. If everything was raised the way that my grandparents did it in their heyday, the 1940s, all of our eating habits would probably be different. Having said that I have no issue with folks that are into organic and grass fed, I'm glad we have a choice.

http://www.aei-ideas.org/2011/05/corn-yields-have-increased-six-times-since-1940/
 
I am also an old guy, and remember and loved the food before the average farmers were bought out by corporate farming. I liked that way of raising food, and living life and think that America would be much better off living local instead of living corporate. But that would be one hell of a revolution to get back to those ways of living before the advent of a Wal-Martized and corporatized America. I see our choices becoming fewer and more limited each day, and do not like it at all.
Mike Martin said:
I'm an old guy with maybe a bit different perspective. One of my grandfathers raised chickens and sold eggs for a living, the other was a dairy farmer. I was raised on what would be concidered "organic" today, that was just the norm for them then. I only eat beef once a week now, so my preferance is a well marbled ribeye when and if I can find one. If everything was raised the way that my grandparents did it in their heyday, the 1940s, all of our eating habits would probably be different. Having said that I have no issue with folks that are into organic and grass fed, I'm glad we have a choice.

http://www.aei-ideas.org/2011/05/corn-yields-have-increased-six-times-since-1940/
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Bob H. said:
I am also an old guy, and remember and loved the food before the average farmers were bought out by corporate farming. I liked that way of raising food, and living life and think that America would be much better off living local instead of living corporate. But that would be one hell of a revolution to get back to those ways of living before the advent of a Wal-Martized and corporatized America. I see our choices becoming fewer and more limited each day, and do not like it at all.
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The choices are there, albeit fewer. That's why it is really important to support local, pesticide free, non gmo, organic suppliers. If it becomes sufficiently lucrative, as we all know, more will follow. That is why you now have Safeway, etc., with shelves of organic products, and Costco with organic ground beef. Ultimately, if people stop buying crap food, more options will exist and they will then become less expensive. We can swing the pendulum around if we try. It just means being selective and paying a bit more for a while; I'd rather have a little less and have it be healthy.
 
LinBerl said:
The choices are there, albeit fewer. That's why it is really important to support local, pesticide free, non gmo, organic suppliers. If it becomes sufficiently lucrative, as we all know, more will follow. That is why you now have Safeway, etc., with shelves of organic products, and Costco with organic ground beef. Ultimately, if people stop buying crap food, more options will exist and they will then become less expensive. We can swing the pendulum around if we try. It just means being selective and paying a bit more for a while; I'd rather have a little less and have it be healthy.
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It's the old guy again. There is, and will be a market for organic food and I think that's great. However most people are dependent on non- organic raised food. Read the article in the link in my post. If all growers switched to organic yield would go down and prices would go through the roof for food. The pendulum can't swing back. That doesn't mean I like it but in my opinion it's the way it is.
By the way, the only people in my youth that ate totally grass fed beef were the ones that couldn't afford to grain them. How things have changed. :)
 
Bob Bass said:
For 'locally' grown, organic, non gmo beef, we have Brandt Beef.
Also, there's Snake River Farms.

As you said... "It just means being selective and paying a bit more... "

And then there's Kobe Beef ;)
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Bob, I hadn't heard of Brandt beef although I live in California, so I looked them up and did a little research. Apparently they use GMO corn as part of their feed. bummer. SRF is fantastic, though. There is also Prather Ranch, Nieman, and Belcampo.

http://passionatefoodie.blogspot.com/2013/05/rant-brandt-beef-is-it-true-natural.html
 
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