Grass or Grain Fed?

RedSkip

Looking at buying a 1/4 to 1/2 steer.  
Any thoughts on your personal experiences, grain or grass fed?

pgprescott

Grain fed for me. If you have not had grass fed beef, do yourself a favor and buy some steaks and try it. Might like it, might not. 

Toddski

I like grain fed

jabam

Most of the meat I eat is grain fed,  simply because I get 1/2 beef every six months from work and it is all dairy cattle. That being said when I do get grass fed, I very much enjoy it. 

Acn

Definitely try grass fed before investing in that much.  It is definitely a different flavor.

Smokin_Trout

I typically like grass fed. I was given a grass fed brisket and thought it was horrible. I believe that it depends on the cut and how it was cooked. 

Hans61

If you like very lean get grass. My parents bought a half grass fed beef, it was okay...

Hans61

Clarification if was all grass fed. They bought half of it..

bboulier

I grew up on grass fed beef and really like it.  You should definitely try it before buying, as it does have a distinctive flavor.

RedSkip

Lots of great advise, and the consensus states to "try it before you buy it."

Dredger

We switched to grass-fed a little over 3 years ago. Everyone is correct in that it is leaner, but, to us, the flavor is deeper if that makes sense. We get ours from a local gentleman that raises his own cows, so it is a one source supply. I agree that you should see if you could buy a few "samples" from your source to try first before buying in bulk.

Gunnar

I did some grass fed burgers a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed them....will try some other cuts.

smokeyw

I like grain fed better. I just don't care for the flavor of grass fed beef. I would definitely do a taste comparison before investing that much money.

gdenby

IMHO, grass fed CAN be better than grain fed. It can also be very poor.

Do a search on "Mark Schatzker Perfect Steak." He talks about how the grass changes the flavor of the meat. Some grass will make beef taste not good, others will be exceptional.

2 examples. There's an organic farm not far from me, now in its 3rd generation. Their beef tastes like none other I've had. Among the things their cattle get is lots of millet. Also tender. My DIL's family has a small free range herd on their farm in Idaho. While the meat tends to be somewhat tough, because the animals are roaming around a large area, the flavor is better than most other beef I've had.

Speaking of Idaho, the Schatzker fellow likes steaks from Alderspring Ranch, also in Idaho. Be prepared for sticker shock.

smokeyw

gdenby said:

IMHO, grass fed CAN be better than grain fed. It can also be very poor.

Do a search on "Mark Schatzker Perfect Steak." He talks about how the grass changes the flavor of the meat. Some grass will make beef taste not good, others will be exceptional.

2 examples. There's an organic farm not far from me, now in its 3rd generation. Their beef tastes like none other I've had. Among the things their cattle get is lots of millet. Also tender. My DIL's family has a small free range herd on their farm in Idaho. While the meat tends to be somewhat tough, because the animals are roaming around a large area, the flavor is better than most other beef I've had.

Speaking of Idaho, the Schatzker fellow likes steaks from Alderspring Ranch, also in Idaho. Be prepared for sticker shock.

Isn't millet, grain?

gdenby

smokeyw said:

gdenby said:

2 examples. There's an organic farm not far from me, now in its 3rd generation. Their beef tastes like none other I've had. Among the things their cattle get is lots of millet.

Isn't millet, grain?

I thought so to, but when I looked it up, it was listed as a grass. I know wheat is too, technically. Don't know at what stage the farmer let his herd have it. That is, w. set seed head or before. He did specifically say they were not grain fed. I suppose "grain fed" may be a way of saying "no corn," which I never saw in his fields.

Another farm he worked w. produces hogs. They can't really say the hogs are "organic" because even though they get corn from clean ground, there aren't any farmers in the vicinity that can guarantee no cross pollenization from GMO fields.

When I looked at the Alderspring website, they said their cattle also ate legumes, as alfalfa, which is nominally a pea.

bclarksicle

Grass for me. Much more flavor than grain. Even SRF steaks seem to lack flavor to me vs a good grass fed steak. The fat, especially, is delicious on grass fed beef.

fishlessman

can you get a steak from the source and try it. i like the australian and south american grass fed but have had local grass fed and theres differences between farms, some good, some better, one place my brother gets his because he processes his at the site can be really gamey some years, i still like it but its good to sample, cousin gets it from the same place and the wife hates it

J-dubya

gdenby said:

IMHO, grass fed CAN be better than grain fed. It can also be very poor.

Do a search on "Mark Schatzker Perfect Steak." He talks about how the grass changes the flavor of the meat. Some grass will make beef taste not good, others will be exceptional.

2 examples. There's an organic farm not far from me, now in its 3rd generation. Their beef tastes like none other I've had. Among the things their cattle get is lots of millet. Also tender. My DIL's family has a small free range herd on their farm in Idaho. While the meat tends to be somewhat tough, because the animals are roaming around a large area, the flavor is better than most other beef I've had.

Speaking of Idaho, the Schatzker fellow likes steaks from Alderspring Ranch, also in Idaho. Be prepared for sticker shock.

His "Steak" book is excellent, as is his other book. Really a must read. 

fiver29

Place I get my grass fed beef from ages it about 3 weeks before they process it.  It definitely makes a difference in the taste.  One that I like.

I am also in the try before you buy camp.  Not all grain or grass fed I've had is good.  Depends on lots of variables.

nolaegghead

In botany, technically grains are the seeds or "fruit" of grass.  But I get it. 

Toxarch

I've got a buddy that raises grass fed Angus. He's said anytime I want to go in on half to let him know. He does that for a couple of friends. I prefer a grain finished cow/steer myself. They are grass fed and then fattened up at the end. But the grain fed from the store tastes great to me. I don't need a whole side of beef.