Do You Prefer Grass Feed Beef or Grain Feed Beef?

fishlessman · December 2014

best steaks ive ever eaten were 42 day dry aged choice ribeyes that were most probably not grass fed. now a grass fed all beef hotdog in a natural casing.....
:-\"

bclarksicle · December 2014

The taste of the fat on a 100% grass fed beef in out of this world. The more grass fed beef I eat, the more I think the grain finished has no flavor

minniemoh · December 2014

I'm with @twlangen on this one. While I don't consider myself an expert on this subject, I'm an old farm boy myself and we raised cattle on our farm for generations. Unfortunately, we went out of business in the early 90's as a result of some financial mistakes made 15 years earlier. We raised purebred Angus and some Holsteins for slaughter as well (we had a beef herd and a dairy herd).

I have eaten many 4H steers, purebred Black Angus steers, purebred Hereford, purebred Holstein steers, Holstein/Angus crossbred steers, old cows, etc. etc. etc. Personally, I can say that I prefer grass-fed grain finished over all grass-fed by a long shot. While I have never (so far) purchased locally raised grass-fed beef, I have paid WAY too much for it at restaurants over the years and found it not to my liking. This was also before I had an egg - I don't really order steaks when I go out anymore as I usually leave deeply disappointed because I feel like I can make a better one at home on the egg.

For those that want grass-fed finished on alfalfa, I think you would be astonished at the cost of such a product as the price of alfalfa hay is off the charts here in the midwest and has been for while.

Really what it comes down to is whether you like what you just pulled off your fork. For me, I'll take grain finished with some nice marbling served up med rare. Buy what you want and enjoy it. Just my 2 cents...

Zmokin · December 2014

NDG said:

Ok soooo I understand that many people are not that into food (ex: my inlaws call it "fuel") so they buy a frozen tube of ground beef or the discounted brownish-grey ground beef that is leaking through the plastic wrap.

BUT I am shocked how many people on this forum say "I buy the cheap stuff" when it comes to Meat . . you bought a freakin $1,000+ grill . . and you decide to skimp on the MEAT? The actual thing you are grilling and digesting . . wtf!

Oh, so because I bought a good grill so it will last forever, I should ignore all of my frugalness and only buy the most expensive cut of meat or seafood I can find. I guess because I buy a nice car, I should only get gas at the most expensive gas stations as well. Maybe I should give up living in a home I own free & clear and live like the rest of society in a home more expensive than I can afford with a mortgage that is higher than the value of my home.

Or better yet, I'll keep to buying the things I want, as I see fit, and retire in 10 years living life comfortably by my standards, not yours. And I promise I won't tell you not to buy the most expensive Wagyu if that is what floats your boat.

Eggcelsior · December 2014

Zmokin said:

NDG said:

Ok soooo I understand that many people are not that into food (ex: my inlaws call it "fuel") so they buy a frozen tube of ground beef or the discounted brownish-grey ground beef that is leaking through the plastic wrap.

BUT I am shocked how many people on this forum say "I buy the cheap stuff" when it comes to Meat . . you bought a freakin $1,000+ grill . . and you decide to skimp on the MEAT? The actual thing you are grilling and digesting . . wtf!

Oh, so because I bought a good grill so it will last forever, I should ignore all of my frugalness and only buy the most expensive cut of meat or seafood I can find. I guess because I buy a nice car, I should only get gas at the most expensive gas stations as well. Maybe I should give up living in a home I own free & clear and live like the rest of society in a home more expensive than I can afford with a mortgage that is higher than the value of my home.

Or better yet, I'll keep to buying the things I want, as I see fit, and retire in 10 years living life comfortably by my standards, not yours. And I promise I won't tell you not to buy the most expensive Wagyu if that is what floats your boat.
You're reaching a little. Plus, if you are buying A-5 Waygu, you best eat that raw. Grilling would ruin it.

stemc33 · December 2014

@Zmokin‌, your frugality may help you retire early, but if the experts are right about the omega 6 and omega 3 ratios between the different types, your health may be compromised later in life. I don't know, it might be better to retire poor and healthy rather than comfortable with daily visits to the doctor due to health concerns. Plus, the economy can only survive when people spend money. Just kidding.

I'm not frugal, but should be. Buying the BGE was a major purchase for me and it definitely doesn't mean I've got money to burn on anything I want. With that said, I enjoy eating and spend more money on food than I should, but enjoy it. For me, I think the grass-finished beef is a special treat and I get it for a good price due to my location.

I can see why people prefer the different types of beef, especially when a guy/gal is accustomed to a certain type. Unfortunately, with cattle populations near the 1950 levels, grain lots are a necessity to feed the world at an affordable cost.

Little Steven · December 2014

In Canada there are regulations on how much grain, specially corn, can be fed to pastured beef. Then this guy tells me he imports US beef and I buy some from him. I haven't bought any Canadian beef in a year and a half.
(

)

stemc33 · December 2014

Looks like Canada has better standards.

Little Steven · December 2014

Not for marbling and fat. A lot of the prairie raised beef is world class but leaner are hard to get tender. 30 months is maximum slaughter age here too which means the beef is a bit more fit.

Zmokin · December 2014

Eggcelsior said:

Zmokin said:

NDG said:

Ok soooo I understand that many people are not that into food (ex: my inlaws call it "fuel") so they buy a frozen tube of ground beef or the discounted brownish-grey ground beef that is leaking through the plastic wrap.

BUT I am shocked how many people on this forum say "I buy the cheap stuff" when it comes to Meat . . you bought a freakin $1,000+ grill . . and you decide to skimp on the MEAT? The actual thing you are grilling and digesting . . wtf!

Oh, so because I bought a good grill so it will last forever, I should ignore all of my frugalness and only buy the most expensive cut of meat or seafood I can find. I guess because I buy a nice car, I should only get gas at the most expensive gas stations as well. Maybe I should give up living in a home I own free & clear and live like the rest of society in a home more expensive than I can afford with a mortgage that is higher than the value of my home.

Or better yet, I'll keep to buying the things I want, as I see fit, and retire in 10 years living life comfortably by my standards, not yours. And I promise I won't tell you not to buy the most expensive Wagyu if that is what floats your boat.

You're reaching a little. Plus, if you are buying A-5 Waygu, you best eat that raw. Grilling would ruin it.
I'm Reaching ?!
I'm getting cussed at for saying "I buy the cheap stuff".
So, yeah, I take it personal.

bboulier · December 2014

In an earlier post, I said that all beef was good.. but that I preferred grass fed. Let me qualify that. When we lived in the Philippines in the mid-1970s, we got grass fed beef from New Zealand a couple of times. That beef was not at all comparable to what we purchased in the US. Unless things have changed, I would not recommend grass fed beef from New Zealand.

Little Steven · December 2014

bboulier said:

In an earlier post, I said that all beef was good.. but that I preferred grass fed. Let me qualify that. When we lived in the Philippines in the mid-1970s, we got grass fed beef from New Zealand a couple of times. That beef was not at all comparable to what we purchased in the US. Unless things have changed, I would not recommend grass fed beef from New Zealand.

I just watched a show on that beef. Purest water in the world, cleanest soil, no pollution in the air etc. I wondered about it. I was there for the millennium and when we ate beef it wasn't anything to write home about.

stemc33 · December 2014

Little Steven said:

bboulier said:

In an earlier post, I said that all beef was good.. but that I preferred grass fed. Let me qualify that. When we lived in the Philippines in the mid-1970s, we got grass fed beef from New Zealand a couple of times. That beef was not at all comparable to what we purchased in the US. Unless things have changed, I would not recommend grass fed beef from New Zealand.

I just watched a show on that beef. Purest water in the world, cleanest soil, no pollution in the air etc. I wondered about it. I was there for the millennium and when we ate beef it wasn't anything to write home about.

That's because nobody like purity.

twlangan · December 2014

The chart Little Steven posted above, comparing Canadian and US beef grade, I found rather interesting. Mostly the yellow fat part of it. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, since we are in dairy country we have finished out a lot of Holstein steers over the years. But we have also finished (and butchered for our own consumption) Jersey steers. Jersey beef has a yellowish fat to it. It is different to look at, but I can say that the Jersey beef has always been spectacular. It is almost fork tender steaks, juicy, and flavorful.

I should also mention, just for the sake of conversation, that Holstein steers are raised completely differently than beed breeds such as Angus or Hereford. Beef breeds need to be started out on "grass". Beef breeds will fatten easily - so they are fed forage (or pastured) to allow them to get some size to them - and then corn is pushed to them the last few months to fatten them out. This is called "building a frame". You allow them to "grow up" - their skeleton develops some size - and after that we push the corn to them to build the meat on them. Most of your beef bought in supermarkets come from feedlots that are feeding their cattle in this manner since they mostly raise beef breeds. I think that the young cattle are mostly pastured on range land to build the frame, taken to a sale barn, and bought by the feedlots that bring them in to fatten them up for slaughter. I don't think there are very many large beef producers out there raising an animal from birth to slaughter on the same farm or ranch. As a result, most of this beed is "grass fed" except for the final few months before slaughter.

Holsteins on the other hand - we push corn to them from the time they are 3-400 lbs until slaughter. Holsteins are naturally large frame cattle. You cannot seem to over-fatten them as they grow in size. In fact, we have had some Holstein steers that we just could not seem to fatten up - they just kept growing. We butchered a steer like that once. He was almost 6' tall at his back line and weighted over a ton. Most beef breeds will be around 1300-1500 lbs when finished. The locker plant worried that their tower was going to collapse when they hoisted him up to skin and gut him. The steaks from that steer would cover a plate they were so large. It was good beef - nice and tender - but we would have taken a beating on him if we had tried to sell him for slaughter as most people don't want steaks and roasts that large.

Just a bit of insight on raising and finishing beef if anyone was interested.

Do You Prefer Grass Feed Beef or Grain Feed Beef?

Comments

Categories