Tough beef

[RalphWD45]

I sent my first beeves to slaughter 2 wk's ago. They were 3 bulls, that were 16 months old. Really fine looking angus calves. that were totally grass fed, except for a quart of ground corn daily, the last two months. I ate my first rib steak tonight, and was very disapointed. The wife cooked our steaks the same way we cook our ribeyes that we get at safeway, but they were very tough, and didn't taste as good. What really worries me is that 5 other people, have bought halves from me, and are just now getting their meat from the butcher. Are they going to be as disapointed as me? $2:00 a lb to me and $.50 a lb, to the meat cutter. I was very happy to move the extra meat, till now. Is it because they were grass fed? or is it because they were bulls? I realize that based on one tough steak, that I may be over worring this thing.
 

[JDseller]

I would try more of the meat before I made any judgments. I would make sure in the future to not allow bulls to get that old without castrating them. They may grow a little faster but they can make much tougher meat.

For myself I don't think the grass feed beef is as good as grain finished beef. The grass feed beef has a following that makes it like a religion to them. I can tell the difference in the meat before it is cooked, the color is different. Then you can get tougher steaks too. Maybe some people like chewing on their work boots but I like mine nice and tender. I usually get that with grain feed beef. The grass feed beef is kind of a crap shoot on whether it it tough or not.
 

[wisbaker]

Usually there is an inverse relationship between flavor and tenderness. Meaning if it has taste it'll be tough, if it's tender it'll be tasteless. At 16 months you should of been able to produce tender meat. Looking at the steaks can tell you how much finish was on the cow, the juiciness is a function of how much fat is in the meat. In years past some meat markets would age their beef, hang the full or 1/2 carcass in the cooler for a while with the belief that the aging caused the beef to become more tender. There are some markets for lean grass feed beef, it's healthier for you and more sustainable if you're raising cows on land that is marginal for crops. Being grass feed and how much exercise they had and even how they are handled transporting them to slaughter will all affect beef quality. IMHO feeding them a quart of corn every day was a waste. Neighbor of ours would pull his slaughter cattle out of the pasture, put them in a stanchion and feed them grain for 30-45 days before slaughter, by the way he was a Michigan meat inspector. Next batch get them castrated, save the corn until the last 30 days, pen them up and feed them grain.
 

[JMS/.MN]

A quart of corn per day for 60 days is not much. Takes corn to get the marbling (fat- where the flavor is) and texture. Grass fed might be a good mantra for the PC types with the pastoral view of the world. Basically what you have is bologna bulls- only way to eat them is ground up, very fine. The first knife to contact that meat should have been a scalpel.
 

[2x4]

sounds like you didn't age it long enough. My grass-only fed 2 yr old bull was aged 3 weeks at 35 to 37 degrees. Maybe marinate yours next time, see if it helps. Mine was purebred Scottish Highland.
 

[RalphWD45]

I think I will buy next yr's beef at Safeway! I sold 3 steers, 4 months old, at a feeder sale, and ended up with$1950.00, after comission, ins, and vet ck. I think that would be the best way to handle next yr.s calves, even tho the market won't hold that long!
 

[oliver power]

Beef needs to be 2 - 3 years old for flavor. You sent them to slaughter too soon.
 

[gene bender]

You dont butcher bulls they need to be fixed second grass fed it takes corn and they should weigh 1100 lbs finished its always been that way unless you dont care about choice meat.
 

[5020s rock]

you probably got somebody else's meat. they sold your angus to some sucker.
 

[BIG RUH]

There is no guarantee that you got your beef back. This is why we do our own
 

[Randyinpenna]

I usually take them out of the pasture and into the barn an hammer the chop to them for a good 3 or4 months. Always made them nice and tender, that's just me tho
 

[larryanderson]

Usually cattle can eat 2/1/2 percent of their body weight when on full feed.Grass fed beef doesnt have the tenderness,fat cover or flavor of corn fed beef.With corn at over $.10 cents cattle can eat 25# of grain plus roughage.Too save on cost many use the corn by-products.Cost of gain is over $.80 and if cattle are over $120 per hundred you should still make a profit.Young bulls usually stay leaner and it doesnt cost much to band them. Genetics and the lenght of time on feed play a big difference.Some of the best meat I have eaten came from a dairy animal that had been on full feed since it was young.I have judged many live and carcass shows and you can only give an educated guess what is underneath the skin.I buy many beef for people at our fair and I usually take the fast gainers that are yield grade 2&3 as the are fatter and eat much better than the overfats or underfats.
Hamburger can have fat added steaks have to stand alone.I personnaly would take a MacDonalds probably imported Australion[Certified Angus cow beef] burger over a tough steak anyday
 

[mjbrown]

Grass fed means they were out on pasture (not fed green chop)? If so they were getting too much exercise. Confinement is half the equation on growing tender beef. I bought back a half once that was tough and had it made into slim jims.
 

[Traditional Farmer]

Read an article in Grassland Farmer about slaughtering,stressed animal's meat is tougher and very important to quickly cool the meat.Also the quality of your grass is very important.Then again you may have not gotten your meat back especially if the slaughterhouse sells meat.All reasons why I kill my own here on the farm.
 

[keh]

I would not have let them get that old. The last one I had butchered was less that a year old. He was taken off the cow.

KEH