Posted: 10/29/2007 6:26:36 PM EDT
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I just learned about a new outfit here in the central TX area. They are selling grass fed beef, no hormones. Check out BastropCattleCompany.com I've wondered for years why we (Tejans) can not find local non feed lot beef, one of our main claims to fame is cattle and there is no one offering range fed beef in this area until now. What do you think? |
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Looks good. However - those prices arent cheap. If the beef is quality... it might be worth it. Only issue I take.... is this is "free range"... but not really. It is grass fed, and/or hay. That means it isnt chemical free - because the grasses are likely fertilized with inorganic fert. Otherwise this would be classified as certified organic free range beef, and well worth the price. Probably worth a shot.... but I doubt it is completely chemical free. |
How far do you go to be completely chemical free? Do you not vaccinate or worm? One other thing you need to know about grass fed beef. It has a lot better flavor than grain fed beef, but your teeth will get a workout . |
Depends on what you mean or want by "chemical free". For organic certification, you need to avoid synthetic chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, fetilizers, feed additives, hormones, and genetic modifications. The land has to have been "chemical free" for at least 3 years. There are also documentation and 3rd party audit requirements. Then you are also subject to USDA on-site inspections. Kinda sorta my line of work but I do this for public entities and some private industry that are wanting ISO certification on environmental stuff. mm |
That depends on the critter and the aging. With a feedlot animal it's far less important to do it right. Properly aged from a critter from good stock, you can easily have more tender beef. Easily. |
| Also, if you can hit a good slaughterhouse, they should be able to hook you up with a rancher doing this. It can be closer and cheaper and you can wind up with a $5/pound processed animal of amazing quality. The only catch is that you have to buy the whole critter or a side. Still, the flavor is hard to beat. I use Readfields'. |
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I live in Bastrop and it has been an ongoing rant (to the Mrs.) of mine that with all of the ranchers out here we really didn't seem to have a local source for beef. I've always heard that ranchers, when raising their own get much better quality meat. When I lived in Laramie there were several places we could go for local meat, eating buffalo roasts was not unusual, that was such a treat. I've not tried these guys yet but I plan to soon, I've got a bunch of Omaha Steaks in the freezer right now that are really excellent so that's my gauge for flavor. I'll update this when I've given it a try. 
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Aging properly (for three weeks or so) makes all the difference in the world. These days, you may have "wet-aged meat" which means essentially that is was packaged up right away and refrigerated, which really doesn't help. You can take so-so choice grade beef and age it properly and people will be delighted. |