Our Beef

beef_sampleMore on Our Beef

Although the herd keeps the grass manicured, the blackberries in check and constantly improve the soils, after 2 ½ years of stress-free life the steers finally give us their final gift, the ultimate beef. Grass fed and grass finished, no hormones or antibiotics, and always on natural meadowland, the potential for world-class meat lives in each of our animals. To achieve this potential I slaughter and process the meat on the farm. My animals never experience the stress of being separated from their herd, transported for miles to be fattened on the poisonous blend of grain and drugs and finally forced to the killing floor of a noisy, smelly slaughterhouse.

From an instant and humane death in the pasture to individually cryo-vacced flash-frozen packets, no labor or cost is spared in utilizing the tremendous gift each animal offers. I personally do it all and use every scrap; the intestines for sausage casing to boiling bones for delicious broth. What little that can’t be directly utilized is gratefully composted to eventually become produce from our gardens.

The halves of beef are hung in our dedicated walk-in cooler for at least 1 month, each half tensioned with a block and tackle to facilitate the tenderizing action of the meat’s natural enzymes. After a month or more, the surface of the halves is dry and dark and will have lost almost 25% of its fresh weight. Each quarter is then rolled out of the cooler on an over-head rail into the butcher-shop. Better than hospital-clean, my cooler and butcher shop are sterilized with short-wavelength UV bactericidal lamps and judiciously scrubbed. Although the Hobart band saw is used for major cuts of bone, all other cutting is done by hand with sharp knives. Each piece is then vacuum-packed in stable multi-ply “barrier” bags and taken to flash-freezing plant. The meat is then stored in my own chest freezers at below 0 degrees f.

Highlands are naturally low in fat because their double-thick, shaggy coat provides all the insulation that they need. Only grass fed, grass finished Scottish Highland beef offer a 1 to 1 ratio of omega 3 and omega 6 fats, the highest amount of CLA’s (conjugated linoleic acid) and less than 2 grams of fat per 3 oz. serving.

Links:
www.highlandcattleusa.org/recipes.asp
www.reluctantgourmet.com/highland-steaks.htm

Artesian beef

is much more than skillfully hand-cut meat  from grass-fed, drug-free steers.  It  should include a superior breed for flavor, tenderness and healthy meat;  natural grazing on pure pasture land; at least 6 months of mother’s milk; a  stress-free, un-crowded environment; humane slaughter in a natural environment  and long, cool air-curing of the hanging halves.  Cutting by knife, not saw, and flash freezing  the vacuum-packed product is the final touch.

Breed of Beef

Scottish Highland beef is arguably the healthiest beef in the world.   Having long hair and a unique second coat of “wool”, they do not produce the heavy layer of fat surrounding the meat of “modern” cattle.  They are the oldest known breed, recorded earlier than the 12th century in the Northern highlands of Scotland. The Royal family of England still maintains a herd for their premium beef.

Links:
www.ansi.okstate.edu
www.Scotlandfarms.com

Grass fed AND grass finished

Grass fed, grass finished beef is more nutritious than beef that spend even the minimal 90 days in a feed lot (as is in case with almost all commercial “grass fed” beef).
And grass-fed, grass finished beef is kinder to our atmosphere, both in CO2 and methane produced.

Links:
www.motherearthnews.com

Grass-fed is a perfect "10"

  1. Lower in total fat (1/4 of grain-fed)
  2. Higher in beta-carotene
  3. Higher in vitamin E (4 times more than grain-fed)
  4. Higher in B vitamins, thiamine and riboflavin
  5. Higher in mineral calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
  6. Higher in total Omega-3s (two to four times more)
  7. A healthy ratio of omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids (1.0 – 1.65 versus 4.84)
  8. Higher in CLA (cis-9 trans 11), a cancer fighter
  9. Higher in vaccenic acid (TVA)
  10. Lower in saturated fats.

Naturally healthy

Our artisan beef has no hormones or preventative antibiotics. Since it is not grain-fattened, the e-coli count is a tiny faction of conventional beef and what little there is cannot service the acidity of our stomach. Without the loads of antibiotics needed keep a cow alive on a feed-lot fattening routine, the production of antibiotic-resistant bacteria does not occur. The relaxed natural pasture environment is the only way to grow the animal needed to yield an artisan cut of beef.

Humanely treated

You can make bad beef from a great animal, but you cannot get great beef from an inferior steer. Even a grass finished organic steer of superior breed can be spoiled in its final days. A true artisan cut of meat should come from a steer that never experienced the trauma of separation from its herd, a horrendously crowded journey in a manure-drenched trailer to the death-camp of a common commercial slaughterhouse. Only farm-killed beef under the control of a caring owner well versed in animal handling and sensitive to individual animals will yield the ultimate beef.

Air cured

Not too long ago all beef was air cured. This is a process where the halves of beef are aged hanging in a cold-room with circulating air. The meat is gently aged for a month or longer, its natural enzymes tenderizing the fibers and enhancing the flavor. Up to 25% of the fresh weight is lost to evaporation. Today almost all commercial beef is immediately factory processed into boxed bags of large cuts. These boxes are then trucked throughout the country to be cut into serving-size at your local grocery.

Cut and wrap

Although a meat saw is indispensable in processing beef, its use is abused for the sake of saving labor. A band saw is fast, but it is messy, leaving bone powder on the meat and tearing the surface if the meat compared to the slice of a razor-sharp knife. It is best to knife-slice to the bone and follow with the saw.

Flash-frozen, vacuum-packed

Air and ice crystals are bad for meat! During the freezing process water forms crystals that can rupture the cellular walls which compromises the physical integrity of the product when thawed. Flash freezing is fast enough to minimize the crystalline grown to preserve the “fresh” characteristics. Vacuum packaging in hermetically sealed multi-ply barrier bags stops freezer-burn and preserves meats for a year without loss of flavor. Frozen meat should always be thawed slowly in the refrigerator, and never by microwave, as this tends to toughen the cut.

Recipes and cooking

Lean artisan beef requires special attention when cooking, too. Steaks, hamburger, and premium roasts should be cooked rare (or, if you MUST, medium-rare). If you like beef well done, you are looking at the wrong site! The following links have further suggestions, but keep it red!

Links:
www.highlandcattleusa.org
www.oliverranch.com

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