Interesting Article On The Meat Industry


 
Thanks JR.
Should be of interest to any steak eater.
The comments were mostly about Costco's beef, also interesting.
 
JRAiona;
Thanks for the link. I was raised on a farm, my Uncle was a butcher and owned several independant high end super markets. He often bought 4H steers from the local County Fair (paying premium prices for his customers. My brother worked for my Uncle as a meat cutter for some time. So, I have been privy to many conversations about meat quality.

Because of many of the issues raised in the article, my wife and I have largely dropped out of the beef market. Her father was a butcher and, again, quality beef was a big deal to him. We have just not been thrilled by modern beef. It's not so much about the cost (although that is a factor) but about the lack of the flavor that we grew up with. Our cattle were grass fed with one ration of grain a day. They were NOT raised in a muddy feed lot (like so many are today) but ranged in pastures then came up in the evening for their daily ration of corn. The flavor was terrific. We preferred White Faced Hereford's as a breed but later Black Angus also became important.

One thing not mentioned in the article, is that a lot of the change in the beef industry was market driven by the "health swing" when it was "stated" that lean beef was healthier. That led producers to change how they raised beef, producing beef that met "standards" but was more geared to fast raising than to flavor.

To a much lesser extent, pork was raised leaner, too. This, to a lesser extent, resulted in leaner pork than I deem preferable.

At any rate, as I mentioned above, my wife and I eat more pork and chicken. We are NOT suffering, however:eek:, and this forum has helped greatly in that regard. The methods and techniques offered here for smoking and grilling has raised our standards and our enjoyment of those "other meats" to a very high standard, indeed.

Thank you Chris, for providing this fine site!

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
As the demand for quality beef increases, it's no surprise that the supply will "magically" increase. It does seem that the search for quality is more of a guessing game these days. For example, our local H-E-B sells choice ribeye for $12, CAB for $14, bone-in prime for $15, boneless prime for $16 and dry-aged prime for $20 per pound. But the marbling in the CAB and prime are often indistinguishable from each other -- and at other times are clearly different. It seems to depend on what came in the back door that day. A good-looking CAB usually tastes better than a so-so prime, but the dry-aged is almost always very good. The in-store butcher chooses the best prime for dry-aging.
 
I'll have to bookmark the site and finish the article later, but they are saying that grass-fed beef is not as good as grain-fed? I was under the impression that grass had more sunshine vitamins in it than grain did, and that grass produced better flavor. Maybe not according to comments.

I didn't see anything related to GMO grain either. I wonder how much of the stuff is consumed by the beef industry considering the public backlash against such products, and could that affect flavor too?
 
Grain-fed cows generally have more fat content than grass-fed, therefore have more flavor. Great article, I'm going to have to read again when I'm not so tired
 
Most cattle down this way are grass fed, grazing on the ranch, then sold to outfits that bulk them up with feed before slaughter. So they are "mostly" grass fed. As I hear it, the breed of cattle is the main factor in the taste, and there are a few dozen different breeds in this area. Texas Longhorns are common grass fed beef cattle since they have a good beefy taste and can find grasses and plants to eat even during droughts. If you like fat, though, they are not your best choice.
 
It might be time to find a farmer and get friendly! Pay a fair price and let him raise one for me. Well. Then I'd need a freezer (I do anyway)!
I need to look into that for a lamb roast at some near date too, a whole lamb on a spit, a gallon of red wine, mandolins half a dozen friends to stay up with! Should be a grand time!
 
Very interesting article. I always wondered why Costco's choice meats always seemed better than the local grocery stores choice meats. Never realized there was sub levels in each category of meat such as choice.
 
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