Grass Fed Ground Beef Anyone?

[Cujet]

Originally Posted By: Linctex
Originally Posted By: Cujet
Beef does not taste like I remember. Today, none of the locally available beef tastes right to me. Quite simply, it tastes weird.
NOTHING tastes the same as when we were kids! Everything is bland and has no flavor anymore.
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
There's more people now.. more mouths to feed.. but we dont have any more land than before so those farmers have to make those cows grow quicker and send them to market. No different than pine wood... If it grows fast then there's just not enough time for things to concentrate and get built up........ no flavor.
Sadly, it is true.


I get your point. That's why I so enjoy fresh fish that is not farm raised. Locally we have Dolphin (mahi mahi) and other tasty treats.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: Reddy45
Originally Posted By: Cujet
Beef does not taste like I remember. In HS, I worked as a meat cutter (not the same as a butcher) in an independent firm that used local beef. I'd just cut sections of beef for various vacuum packaging and rapid freezing. Then load the -50 to -60 freezer with the beef.

In any case it was good quality beef and I enjoyed eating it.

Today, none of the locally available beef tastes right to me. Of course, if I go overseas to a 3rd world country it's like I remember. I tend to avoid beef and beef products, as I don't care for it anymore. Quite simply, it tastes weird.


There's more people now.. more mouths to feed.. but we dont have any more land than before so those farmers have to make those cows grow quicker and send them to market. No different than pine wood versus something like oak. If it grows fast then there's just not enough time for things to concentrate and get built up.

And I'm sure the marketing firms found that the "average US consumer" doesn't like beef that tastes even remotely gamey. Chicken is another case where we are literally just eating textured animal protein.. no flavor.

No land shortages in N.A., it's the market demanding cheaper meat and not caring or knowing what that meat could/should taste like... Feedlots can produce meat cheaply with cheap subsidized grains. If there was a pasture subsidy you can bet there'd be more cattle raised that way.
Anyways, you can buy good meat, just not at walmart or a regular grocery store. You can go to specialty butcher and pay quite a bit more, or if you live in farm country you can probably go right to a farmer and get it that way.
Or raise your own meat, if you've got some grass. For a couple hundred bucks you can get into chicken farming and fill your freezer quite easily with the best chicken you've ever had. We have goats too which requires a bit more money to set up, but are easy to deal with if you have good fences.

 

[Duffyjr]

My dad was a butcher/meat cutter and he always aged what he brought home and it wasn't bright red like you see in the store, it takes on a much darker look to it. It's why I don't buy many steaks these days.

I've also lived where all you could get was grass fed and to me it was tasteless compared to the corn fed I grew up on.

 

[SZR48207]

Originally Posted By: Duffyjr
My dad was a butcher/meat cutter and he always aged what he brought home and it wasn't bright red like you see in the store, it takes on a much darker look to it. It's why I don't buy many steaks these days.

I've also lived where all you could get was grass fed and to me it was tasteless compared to the corn fed I grew up on.


Regarding the color, I think the meat in the supermarket is packaged with carbon monoxide to keep it bright. This has somewhat screwed with consumer perception because now some think that any brown on raw meat is a problem although that isn't necessarily the case.

 

[sleepery]

I have eaten Natures Reserve grass fed ground beef . It is 100% grass fed and is on sale for $2.99 a pound occasionally .
The beef cooks faster than regular beef and tastes normal to me .

My brother cooks for a living and says grass fed has a deeper flavor and requires less seasoning than regular beef . I guess it is hit or miss with the brand you try as far as flavor . I have not noticed any difference in the smell while cooking it .