Beef

Once or twice a year I have a USDA licensed slaughterhouse process one of our Certified Naturally Grown steers and offer cut and wrapped packages for sale to the public. I have heard and experienced many stories of folks who have taken their animals to certain facilities for processing and have received cuts that were obviously from some other animal and / or have not been given an honest amount in return. Quality abattoirs are hard to find and have a waiting list, often requiring reservations over a year in advance. I keep a list of requests for meats on file, and when the orders become sufficient I will have an animal processed at one of these reliable facilities. If you wish to purchase some of my artisan beef please be aware that there may be a waiting period before delivery! Contact me for availability.

I sell a minimum of 25 pound boxes of vacuum-packed cuts, representative of the portions found in a half of beef. Price is $6.50 per pound ($162.50 per box) at the farm. A typical 25-pound box will contain approximately the following:

  • 5-7 pounds of premium steaks
  • 3 pounds of roasts
  • 1 pound of ribs
  • 2-3 pounds of strew/grilling meats
  • 13-16 pounds of super-lean ground beef

Produce

I have Certified Naturally Grown garlic currently available! Two wonderful varieties: A pungent yet sweet hard-neck purple variety called "Trillium" and a fiery-hot light pink soft-neck named "Late Italian" that keeps for over six months. The Trillium is $7.00 per pound; the Italian costs $5.00 per pound. Trillium yields 7-8 bulbs per pound with 8-12 hard-shelled cloves per bulb, the Italian 3-4 bulbs to the pound, often with over 20 plump cloves in each. This price is about 1/3 of what other CNG growers charge as I am eager to find new customers.

Next year I will also have a unique variety for sale that I found at a farmer's market in the state of Guerrero, Mexico last February. Although I did not plant it until March this year, it produced gigantic beautiful pink bulbs with a mix of hard and soft necks. I have named this unique garlic "La Barra". All of this year's crop will be planted this October for next summer's harvest.

Click the images below to see a larger version.

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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