Florida Beef

mjrodney · October 2015

I seek commentary by Floridians who may agree or disagree with me on Florida beef.

My apologies to any Florida Beef Producers on the forum and I hope that some do not take offense by an observation I’ve made over the past 20 years that I have lived and worked in the Sunshine State.

Beef has been a significant part of our diet over the last 60 years and we have prepared beef dishes using every method known to man, from the stove top, to the oven, and to the backyard barbecue/kamado.

I don’t think there is a method we haven’t tried, a marinade we haven’t tried, or a dry/wet rub we haven’t tried over the years.

Since moving to Florida, however, we find that we are not eating anywhere near as much beef as we used to, unless it has been passed thru a grinder. Twice.

Beef in Florida seems to be tougher than we remember. (And yes, our teeth are fine.)

Florida produces a significant number of its own cattle within the state, and I suspect that what is being sold in our local stores is Florida grass fed choice/select beef.

I further suspect that since Florida grasses are less than ideal from a nutrition standpoint, cattle are being slaughtered later in life than their grain feed counterparts from other states. There are no Wagyu beef cattle in Florida that I am aware of.

I am excluding Prime Beef because that is a mail order product produced elsewhere.

Am I off base? Or is the trend to grass fed beef affecting the product everywhere?

Dobie · October 2015

Theres some local stock but I worked for a Florida based meat distribution company for over a decade and it all came from Texas and Nebraska.

mjrodney · October 2015

I stand corrected, Dobie. Would you then say that beef in general has declined in quality?

Lit · October 2015

Get a Costco membership there beef has always been great. Their steaks are better than any butcher I have found locally in GA.

jtcBoynton · October 2015

Florida produces a lot of young cattle. It is however all (or almost all) sent to the feed lots of the Midwest.

MaC122 · October 2015

I guess this whole beef thing is relevant. Some people in Florida think that La Nopolara is real Mexican food. La nop is the dog food of Mexican if you ask me. To answer your question, publix and winndixie suck as butchers. I even went to a local butcher of old st agustine rd.....no beef plate ribs. I rant

NPHuskerFL · October 2015

Most of the beef I purchase comes from Nebraska, Colorado and the Midwest period. I've had FL beef over the counter and from a co-workers farm. His cattle are grass fed and some grain. He also beefs (no pun) up to get girth quicker. They're delicious and would consider them Prime although it doesn't get stamp going through a local processor. There's definitely a difference in quality between cattle from FL vs the Midwest.

Chef_Hobo · October 2015

MaC122 said:

I guess this whole beef thing is relevant. Some people in Florida think that La Nopolara is real Mexican food. La nop is the dog food of Mexican if you ask me. To answer your question, publix and winndixie suck as butchers. I even went to a local butcher of old st agustine rd.....no beef plate ribs. I rant

Have you tried the beef from Fresh Fields in Jax? They are on University and I have been more than pleased with their beef, pork and chicken. They don't have any beef plate ribs though. That was one of the first things I looked for. The price is way better than Publix.

GregW · October 2015

From what I've observed, there has been a general decline in beef quality over the last 10 years. I don't know when it started, but from what I understand, beef is commonly given a drug in the feedlot that causes them to gain weight in the finishing stage. Unfortunately this weigh gain is all lean muscle mass. This results in leaner beef which is tougher and less flavorful.

I saw this in the news a few years ago if memory serves me.

gdenby · October 2015

Grass fed beef can have really good flavor, or really poor, depending on the grass the cattle ate. Where the cattle were raised does make a difference in the flavor, assuming they were only eating what was available in the pasture. Toughness may be caused by the animals moving around a lot. Are Florida beef wandering around large pastures?

Haley · October 2015

I live in Central Florida, all the cow pastures I see around here the poor ole Cows are standing in 2 feet of water eating some kind of stuff the Manatees eat and the other pastures are more Cows than what the size of the land can provide and most what grows are Thistles and not very nutritious weeds. I think the import Hay. Even most Oranges around here in the stores are from California.

Shiff · October 2015

Lit said:

Get a Costco membership there beef has always been great. Their steaks are better than any butcher I have found locally in GA.

One thing to be aware of with Costco beef - all cuts except for those packaged in cryovac have been blade tenderized. Even though I trust the cleanliness of Costco, the blade tenderizing process could potentially cause surface bacteria to be pushed into the middle of the meat and could cause problems if you like to cook your meat rare. There is also no reason to tenderize a rib eye steak or many other cuts. Just something to consider.

volfan1 · October 2015

You should check out Pasture Prime in Ocala. I've gotten Wagyu beef from them, and it's outstanding. Here is a link to their website: http://www.pastureprimewagyu.com/.

MelSharples · October 2015

It is possible that the cuts you are buying have not been properly wet aged in their cryos. Fresh beef is not as tender as beef that has been wet aged for at least 30 days. What we have been taught to see as the perfect color steak (bright red) would actually taste a lot better with some age (before it's cut) allowing all the enzymes to start breaking down giving it a nice deep red color. If your wallet allows, I would suggest buying a subprimal from Costco or Restaurant Depot, age it in the cryo for at least 30 days from the pack date, and then cut it yourself. Or if your feeling adventurous and want to be truly rewarded, dry age it using any of the various methods found here or other places on line. Just my 2 cents.

Florida Beef

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