Grass Fed Beef & High Temp Grilling?

jimdean · April 2012

I am a fan of high-temp grilling on the egg for burgers, steaks, etc. bought from the local grocery or Costco. Sear each side on cast iron at a high temp, then shut the egg down to let the meat cook a bit more at moderate temperatures. I love the caramelized crust on the outside and the juicy, med-rare inside.

However, my family is going to be switching over to grass fed beef (buying a side of beef from a local farmer). I have been reading a lot about how grass fed beef, because it is leaner, higher protein, and typically dry-aged, needs to be cooked at much lower temps and for less time in order to remain tender & moist. Sounds like many are turned off of grass fed due to cooking it the "same way" and have a tough/dry experience.

So, how to marry these two approaches? Does anyone have experience "T-Rexing" grass fed beef on the BGE? How do you achieve a similar consistency?

stike · April 2012

i don't think it is aged any more than other beef, fwiw. even supermarket beef is hung for a couple weeks from what i understand.

and don't worry about high heat doing anything to it. the only thing that dries out meat is cooking it too high. fatty meats, or brined meats (like 'solution added' chicken and pork) cook to higher temperatures only because so much more water is added to it in order to guard against it.

face it, most people don't know how to cook a steak. i didn't know any better either, until i got a decent grill and felt like i needed to start paying attention.

just don't over cook it, and you'll be fine.

pezking7p · April 2012

The notion that grass fed beef is drier or harder to cook comes from people who eat their steaks medium or higher. When you have a fattier cut of meat, even medium or medium-well can still be tender. But in a leaner cut of grass-fed beef, these medium-well steaks are tough and chewy.

Cook your meat to temperature, and you'll be fine (as long as that temperature isn't medium-well

)

bclarksicle · April 2012

i pretty much roll with only grass-fed beef. I always do a high-heat sear and have never had a problem.

bclarksicle · April 2012

I will say that I occasionally cook bison steaks, and those I typically do at a much lower temp. The bison steaks I buy are considerably leaner than any beef I've cooked.

Boileregger · April 2012

The only beef I eat is grass-fed. When doing steaks (I prefer ribeye), I cook them at 500 direct until they're medium. It's the best steak I've ever had. That's not to say trex won't work, it just doesn't appeal to me and I can get a better result this way.

MrCookingNurse · April 2012

My family butchers one of our cows every year and eats it. I've never cooked one on egg (yet) but I always do it wide open about 3 min on each side let it rest in a Tin Dutch oven until I can get the taters out of oven and it's best steak you can get. Kicks the pants off of Kroger or Wally world.

Oh by the way, I never had any of the problems you asked of

twlangan · April 2012

My family butchers one of our cows every year and eats it. I've never cooked one on egg (yet) but I always do it wide open about 3 min on each side let it rest in a Tin Dutch oven until I can get the taters out of oven and it's best steak you can get. Kicks the pants off of Kroger or Wally world.

Oh by the way, I never had any of the problems you asked of

Same here. On a couple of occasions we have had to buy burger from the grocery store to carry us over until we can get a beef butchered. That stuff was absolutely horrible. Even making chili out of it would not hide the taste. And this was fresh packaged burger, not frozen. Believe it or not, we found the least intolerable burger was in the frozen plastic tubes at Wally World - the cheapest stuff of all.

Home-grown freezer beef cannot be beat. We have had one steer turn out a bit tough once, but the taste was there. We usually butcher 2-3 times a year. Our family of 6 will take a half, my brother's and sister's smaller families will take a quarter each, and the folks will get some in there at some point too. Sometimes we'll sell some if someone asks, but usually turns out to be a bit of a hassle.

gdenby · April 2012

My experience of grass fed is that while it is leaner, it is not fat free. And what fat there is is supposedly more nutritious, as there is a better balance of omega-3 and -6 fats.

I've noticed more toughness sometimes, but that may have been due to the animals getting more exercise. It hasn't been nearly as lean as or tough as bison, and bison steaks are great seared.

Grass Fed Beef & High Temp Grilling?

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