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We've tried it from two different suppliers and the beef tastes and smells, "earthy", almost gamey, but that has a negative connotation. Kind of like a steak, but a little different. I emailed one of the suppliers about this and he said it was because they are not on a corn diet, but on grass fed, pasture raised diet. Has anyone else noticed this?
I wonder if it's the corn diet or antibiotics given to them that makes it taste so bad now. I noticed that roast beef just doesn't taste right anymore, for the last few years it has gotten worse. I used to love beef when I was a kid but not anymore. How long have bulls been corn fed? I bet that would explain why since the early 2000's the flavor of beef is awful.
Standard ground beef is $$$ enough. I can't imagine the price of coddled beef.
Grass fed beef is not coddled, no. It's just raised entirely on grass pastures, without the feedlot grain at the end. Feedlots fatten cows up for slaughter, adding half their weight in a few months. And it is in feedlots that cows are fed antibiotics, both to help fatten them and to combat disease from being penned in tight quarters and not allowed to move about freely.
Grass fed beef is naturally lean, and has a different taste than feedlot beef. I could see someone considering its taste to be a little "wilder," or "gamier" than feedlot beef. It's the way all beef used to taste before the first feedlots were developed in Texas in the 1950s.
Ironically, grassfed beef is generally more expensive than feedlot beef, even though they aren't fed costly grain and other feed, because the cows weigh a lot less when taken to slaughter.
But there's a unique situation now on the Big Island of Hawai'i, where the local grassfed beef have long been shipped to the mainland for feedlot fattening and then sold to top steakhouses. Because of the high cost of shipping and high price of feed, local ranchers are selling more beef locally, so the price is generally lower than grassfed beef on the mainland.
And yes, it all has that deep red color and slightly earthy smell the OP mentioned.
Interesting. I used to travel to a ranch (two hours each way) to purchase grass fed beef before it was widely available, and we now raise our own grass fed beef (not for sale), and it doesn't have an earthy smell or taste to me at all.
Now, I can tell when a steer was frightened at the time of slaughter, because the taste that adrenaline adds to the meat is pretty unmistakable.
Grass fed beef is not coddled, no. It's just raised entirely on grass pastures, without the feedlot grain at the end. Feedlots fatten cows up for slaughter, adding half their weight in a few months. And it is in feedlots that cows are fed antibiotics, both to help fatten them and to combat disease from being penned in tight quarters and not allowed to move about freely.
Grass fed beef is naturally lean, and has a different taste than feedlot beef. I could see someone considering its taste to be a little "wilder," or "gamier" than feedlot beef. It's the way all beef used to taste before the first feedlots were developed in Texas in the 1950s.
Ironically, grassfed beef is generally more expensive than feedlot beef, even though they aren't fed costly grain and other feed, because the cows weigh a lot less when taken to slaughter.
But there's a unique situation now on the Big Island of Hawai'i, where the local grassfed beef have long been shipped to the mainland for feedlot fattening and then sold to top steakhouses. Because of the high cost of shipping and high price of feed, local ranchers are selling more beef locally, so the price is generally lower than grassfed beef on the mainland.
And yes, it all has that deep red color and slightly earthy smell the OP mentioned.
Thank you. You described it and explained it perfectly.
We've tried it from two different suppliers and the beef tastes and smells, "earthy", almost gamey, but that has a negative connotation. Kind of like a steak, but a little different. I emailed one of the suppliers about this and he said it was because they are not on a corn diet, but on grass fed, pasture raised diet. Has anyone else noticed this?
All depends upon the climate and grasses where the cattle are raised.
We raise our own on our own certified organic pastures and it's so far superior to what we find in most restaurants or meat counters that we rarely eat a steak when we're in a restaurant anymore. Not only do most of the restaurants have feedlot beef, but many marinate the steaks in all kinds of "stuff" to make it more tender for the less than Prime that they serve now. Especially the franchise/chain beef ... I haven't eaten a burger at any of the fast food places in years, and places like Outback or Texas Roadhouse destroy their beef before serving.
Grass fed beef is not coddled, no. It's just raised entirely on grass pastures, without the feedlot grain at the end. Feedlots fatten cows up for slaughter, adding half their weight in a few months. And it is in feedlots that cows are fed antibiotics, both to help fatten them and to combat disease from being penned in tight quarters and not allowed to move about freely.
Grass fed beef is naturally lean, and has a different taste than feedlot beef. I could see someone considering its taste to be a little "wilder," or "gamier" than feedlot beef. It's the way all beef used to taste before the first feedlots were developed in Texas in the 1950s.
Ironically, grassfed beef is generally more expensive than feedlot beef, even though they aren't fed costly grain and other feed, because the cows weigh a lot less when taken to slaughter.
But there's a unique situation now on the Big Island of Hawai'i, where the local grassfed beef have long been shipped to the mainland for feedlot fattening and then sold to top steakhouses. Because of the high cost of shipping and high price of feed, local ranchers are selling more beef locally, so the price is generally lower than grassfed beef on the mainland.
And yes, it all has that deep red color and slightly earthy smell the OP mentioned.
Still sounds a bit more "coddled" than feedlot cattle. I'd be more worried about that animal that was tranquilized with PCP at some point along it's way to market. Assuming vets and ranchers still use it. The huge demand for beef makes it tough to feed strictly on green pastures as it may be unavailable for grazing.
Droughts like experienced across the country this year have made this clear!
The sad thing is that lots of people do not know how real ( organic, grass feed, no chemicals, outdoor growing ) meat taste. Same with produce. Of course it taste different. The taste is real, not plastic with artificial flavors. One just would need to get used to it.
Buffalo can be gamey. I haven't noticed anything like that with organic beef, nor with grass-fed antibiotic-free beef. Maybe it depends on where you buy it. I've noticed quality can vary a lot from one store to another, and flavor as well. I have no problem with the beef from Whole Foods.
I have a meat market very close that sells antibiotic free, growth hormone free meat. I don't know if the beef is grain or grass fed, but it tastes SO much better, very much like steak, that I fork out the extra for it. Actually I haven't bought any meat of uncertain content from the store since he opened. I'll make a small burger of the extra lean and mix some pre cooked onions in and its got a flavor nothing the Walmart stuff can come near, or even the high grade stuff they sell. He uses only grade one and two meats as well. He sells bison and its also a fantastic, strong taste but tasts excellent.
I would rather eat less meat and pay a bit more for it knowing I'm getting food that's not stuffed with drugs and steriods. The local brand of milk which is free of both also seems to outsell even the cheaper not junk free milk. I am used to the taste and only buy that.
I think if more people got used to it there would be more demand to cease and decist with the everyone down the food chain sharing the expedient use of drugs on the animals.
The sad thing is that lots of people do not know how real ( organic, grass feed, no chemicals, outdoor growing ) meat taste. Same with produce. Of course it taste different. The taste is real, not plastic with artificial flavors. One just would need to get used to it.
I'd like to see all these antibiotics and such eliminated as much as possible. I don't like the after effects of antibiotics in human use. I still want the truth in advertising.... the labeling info ..full details on all our products. I don't want madcow disease or tuna processed in China!
Absolutely ever since I was a kid. I prefer the Bambii breed.
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