Buying bulk meat grass fed vs. grain?

[HOGEYE]

Thinking about buying a 1/2 or quarter beef. Don't know if better flavor for grass fed vs. grain. Just want the best quality and flavor. Also what does one pay per pound when sold as hanging vs. wrapped?. Is it better to buy from store when cuts are on sale?

A recent local ad stated, "Grain Fed Black Angus Beef. Whole, halves or quarters. $1.85/# hanging weight plus processing. Halves will weight approx. 350-375#; Quarters 175 - 190#."

[thirdeye]

The majority of the meat you get now in the supermarkets is finished with a special diet of grain and corn. Before getting too deep into grass fed beef you might try a few cuts to see how you like the flavor. I'm okay with it, to me it tastes a little strong.

There are plenty of positives when buying a 1/4 or 1/2 beef. And some drawbacks too. Some processors use the hoof weight and some the hanging weight for pricing. It's just a way for them to calculate their labor more accurately. They will work with you and help calculate the true "freezer weight".

The first thing you need to do is get a copy of the cut sheet. It's sort of the menu of your options on each quarter. Take it home and see what's best for you. What many folks don't understand is that it's a give and take kind of thing. For example, if you ask for a prime rib roast, you won't get any rib steaks. Or if you want fillet minion, you can't have any porterhouse or T-bones. Then see how much ground meat you will wind up with, and see how that fits into your usage.

[reinhard1]

i'm with the grain fed side of the beef issue. one thing that stands out from your post is that you have apparently one price quoted to you. half a beef should be cheaper than a quarter. for example a half is the cheapest normaly, then the front quarter, and the hind quarter is usualy the most expensive. another thing is that you have the hanging weight quoted to you plus additional cost for proccessing.

it's been awhile since i proccessed hanging beef, but when we quoted someone the hanging price that includes all proccessing as well. i see the same thing in venison proccessing adds. instead of one price, there are seperate costs for skinning, packaging, and grinding for example. that to me puts up a red flag for being overcharged. ask the person who you will buy from for one price hanging weight.

like Thirdeye has said, you should want to know what you want in your cuts. the whole side will give you everything in cuts and burger, the front quarter will give you mostly roasts [unless you want the prime rib cut in steaks], the hind quarter will give you more steaks [t-bones, porterhouse, round steak, and sirloin steak] with roasts out of the round if you wanted. or you could ask for top round steak and the bottom round for roasts. the tip can be used as a roasts or a roast or for tip steaks.

knowing the place you get your beef is important wheather it's a butcher shop or a farmer. get references. also tell the person doing your beef how you want it trimmed and wrapped. dont let them decide that for you. that will lower the chances of complaints at a later time.

it's an old back and forth wheather to buy a side or just sale items. i think there are those who buy from a farmer that has quality beef and are happy with what they get. other than a farmer, pretty much everyone else handles the same. black angus is found in the majority of supermarkets today. with choice being the prominent grade.

for me i buy sale items in the local markets and volume buy in places like Sam's. for others it may be different. as long as your happy with your purchase, that is the most important thing. however shop around. good luck.

[fishinchicks]

We have gotten beef from a friend of ours (Scottish Highlander), and he gets his pork from us. Typically we get a mixed quarter that has cuts from the front and the hind. None of us who split are terribly picky about what we get, so it works for us. He feeds his a combination grass/grain mixture, which it pretty typical.

Grass fed tend to be a little more lean than grain fed, mostly due to the lower protein found in the forages. Some are a little higher omega 3's because of their diet, but it depends on the grasses they have available. It takes a little extra time to get them to market weight, which can make them a little higher in price.

[thirdeye]

Here is sample cut sheet to check out. Take note to the "-or-" and the "-and-" in the particular sections.... and you will see what items you give-up or gain by selecting certain cuts. This cut sheet has little drawings that are helpful, some just have names. Since this is custom butchering, it's up to you to choose. Read their small print on the first page...If you don't specify something in particular (like flank steak) they will just grind it.

[McGurk]

Nice posts, guys. Thanks for posting your knowledge and experience for the rest of us.

[OnAFly]

We get steak&burger a couple times a year from ranchers in MT. They are grass fed, free range cows and there is a definite difference in flavor from your grocery store meat.

I like it, but that's just me. It's a stronger flavor that you get used to. After a while, the grocery store stuff tastes bland.

[Pooh]

May want to make sure that one of your options is a 1/4 or if its "1/2 of a 1/2." My family is fairly small (1 and 4 yr old wife and I). We dont use beef fast so we buy a 1/2 or a 1/2. which is a mixture of front and rear 1/4's just like fishinchicks is saying. Which is just about perfect for us. But its been awhile since I bought a 1/2 of a 1/2.

[reinhard1]

thanks, Thirdeye, helpfull as always. for you Minnesota people a delmonico steak or roast is a boneless rib eye roast or boneless ribeye steak. a flat bone steak is also known as a bone in sirloin steak [which i haven't seen in years in stores]. the bone can be almost round to the shape of a finger. you certainly can get the sirloin cut that way with hanging beef. most of the chain stores go boneless now with few exceptions. i loved buying the bread and butter pot roast and the round bone roast. only a few places still have them. thanks again for the chart. good luck.

[mainbutter]

Solely on the issue of grass fed vs grain:

I'm a fan of grass fed. I find they have far superior flavor. Sirloin steaks and T-bones are incredible.

[McGurk]

For people that don't know what "grass-fed" tastes like, I'd say that it has a noticeable, almost "earthy" flavor that you won't get from corn-fed and fast-finished cattle. After having it routinely, going to a grocery store cut will seem bland and flavorless. On the contrary, going from grocery meat to a true grass-fed 1/4 will be a slap in the face of your tastebuds, and FYI you may not like it.

If you are contemplating it, you might want to try to source a market/ butcher/ restaurant that has it available, and give it a taste before committing to a 1/4 or 1/2. I had a nice steak at a restaurant in Colorado that offered "100% free range, grass fed, Canadian Black Angus" and thought the flavor was a bit off-putting and distracting.

[thirdeye]

For people that don't know what "grass-fed" tastes like, I'd say that it has a noticeable, almost "earthy" flavor that you won't get from corn-fed and fast-finished cattle. After having it routinely, going to a grocery store cut will seem bland and flavorless. On the contrary, going from grocery meat to a true grass-fed 1/4 will be a slap in the face of your tastebuds, and FYI you may not like it.

If you are contemplating it, you might want to try to source a market/ butcher/ restaurant that has it available, and give it a taste before committing to a 1/4 or 1/2. I had a nice steak at a restaurant in Colorado that offered "100% free range, grass fed, Canadian Black Angus" and thought the flavor was a bit off-putting and distracting.

Yeah, earthy is good way to put it. Some people call it "musky" and that's not a good description.

HOGEYE, Another place to find grass fed beef is organic markets.... but take your checkbook. Heheheee.

[muskiemanAD]

I buy a 1/4 cow from a buddy's grandparents farm every year. It is organic and grass feed. I split the 1/4 with my sister and brother in law. We generally get it all made it to hamburger with a few roasts. If I'm gonna have a steak I'll go to the local meat market and by a fresh one. That being said for our bi weekly taco Tuesday meals you can't beat the taste of the hamburger in my opinion!

[reinhard1]

i love burger myself. actualy i'm making 3 lb. of jerkey right now from burger. as far as burger from a store or shop my favorite is ground chuck. usualy labeled 80 percent. that is the best tasting burger in my opinion. it should say ground chuck on the label or tag on a service counter. good luck.

[SkunkedAgain]

I don't know if this still holds true but my uncle, a dairy farmer, told me about 15 years ago that the main difference (in his opinion) between grass fed and grain fed was the toughness. Grass fed typically meant that the cattle roamed free eating grass which built up strong / tough muscles. Grain fed typically meant that the cattle mostly were in their barn stanchions or just in the barn yard, not roaming the pastures. So the meat from grain fed cattle was typically more tender because they mostly stood around.

Maybe these days that's not an accurate portrayal, so someone else might be able to support or dispute it.

[reinhard1]

the worst beef i have ever had was when i was at Silver Dollar City in Branson Missouri. dont get me wrong, i loved it there. in resturants we had a choice of chicken or catfish basicly for the most part. but in that park [kind of like Vally Fair but more low key} i smelled this BBQ pit going and i was sold. went over and looked and they had ribeys on the grill and they would put one on a bun for you. well i said i'll take one please. well it was the most tastless meat i ever ate. was it grass fed, i dont know but a ribeye should have at least some flavor. this one had none. just a memory. good luck.

[HOGEYE]

Wow! Thanks for all the input everyone. When and if I decide to go bulk, it will be well informed.

[delcecchi]

I grew up eating grass fed beef, up through college. Uncle had a farm in north central wisconsin. That stuff was rank, sort of gamey, like pine county venison. Moose was much better than either.

Grocery store beef was a real treat.

[muc33]

As a beef producer, and a lover of beef to eat, I feel the mixture grain fed cattle offer the best in flavor and marbling. Our cattle get both grain and grass. As will any. Be it from pasture grazing during the summer to full feed lot cattle that get a mixture of wet corn, oats, pellets, and grass hay bales. During the winter a tub grind mixture of alfalfa, grass hay, bean stubble and silage. We feed to 1300lbs then butcher. I just brought home a whole heifer on Friday from the locker. Add in hang time and the longer the better, for pure flavor. I will say this. Not just because it's what we do, but grain gives flavor! To each their own, but we do it like we like it and that is what counts! Get what you like and all should be good. Buying direct is the cheapest method as well. you can buy a half of beef fully grown for roughly 1000-1100 dollars at just under $3.00 per pound. Hard to beat! When 350 to 400lbs hit your freezer and then your grill!

[UncleKes]

Grass fed tends to make the beef a bit more lean and not quite as flavorful in my opinion. That is why farmers will start beef on grass an d then the last 90 days finish it on a mixture of grain and corn. The grain/corn adds weight and fat which makes the beef more flavorful.

However, many cattle are sent to market these health awareness days fed only on grass. The meat is leaner and less fatty. I suspect it is a personal opinion, but most people I know prefer beef that is finished on grain and corn.