Grass vs. Grain finished beef

[paulraphael]

I know this topic has come up before in different guises. From what I've read, grass fed beef tends to win in the depth and purity of flavor; grain finished beef tends to win in marbling, tenderness, and succulence. And there are hybrid approaches that fall somewhere in the middle.

Is it always true that grass fed beef is leaner? Is it possible to raise beef entirely on grass and hay and develop marbling that would earn a USDA prime grade? And if so, is anyone doing this? And can I get some in NYC??

[jgm]

I don't know that I'd agree about the purity of flavor business.

A couple of summers ago, at our local farmer's market, I bought a couple of t-bones directly from the man who raised the 100% grass-fed cattle. I thought I was getting quite a prize.

The steaks were tough, gristly, and the flavor was just strange. It wasn't particularly "beefy". It was something else altogether, sort of like the beef flavor I'm used to, but mainly something else.

[Magictofu]

100% grass fed usually means lean. Often, farmers will 'finish' their beef for a few weeks with a supplemental dose of grains while letting them continue to graze. That could probably be called an hybrid approach.

That being said, the season the beef is being killed is said to influence the taste and marbling of the meat... I forgot which season is better though.

Some breeds will also develop better marbling than others.

[HKDave]

Is it always true that grass fed beef is leaner? Is it possible to raise beef entirely on grass and hay and develop marbling that would earn a USDA prime grade? And if so, is anyone doing this? And can I get some in NYC??

←

Grass fed beef is leaner, and the fat that is does have is supposedly healthier. It's very difficult to achieve high levels of marbling without grain. At the extreme, Wagyu spends 8-16 months on grain to get that marbling.

It is supposedly possible to hit USDA Prime with 100% grass-fed, but it would be very difficult. Think of how little grain-finished beef is able to meet Prime (maybe 2%?) These guys claim to sell it

http://www.rockymountaingourmetsteaks.com/filet-mignon.htm

but I have doubts... I've never seen verifiably 100% grass-fed that was close to Choice. There's no standard for what "100% grass fed" means, and it's almost impossible to get snow-white fat in truly grass-fed beef... hmmm.

A more practical product - that is available at retail in NYC in USDA Prime grade - is 100% pasture-raised cattle that have had their diet supplemented with grain.

http://www.lobels.com/store/main/naturalprime.asp

Edited October 17, 2008 by HKDave (log)

[paulraphael]

Think of how little grain-finished beef is able to meet Choice (maybe 2%?)

I think around 2% are graded prime ... is that what you mean?

Part of what's tough is that so much goes into the quality of meat, which makes it difficult to do a direct comparison. For example, that Montana ranch that you linked claims to wet age its beef, which is an inferior process to dry aging. If you don't like the meat, how much of the trouble is the feed and how much is the aging (or something else)?

I'm tempted to go someplace like Lobel's that sells premium quality of both types and see how they are side by side. An expensive experiment!

Edited October 16, 2008 by paulraphael (log)

[Magictofu]

I'm tempted to go someplace like Lobel's that sells premium quality of both types and see how they are side by side. An expensive experiment!

This could turn out to be a delicious experiment too!

[HKDave]

Think of how little grain-finished beef is able to meet Choice (maybe 2%?)

I think around 2% are graded prime ... is that what you mean?

←

Yup, that should read Prime. Now corrected in the original post. Thanks for catching that.

Also, it's less than 2% of all US beef that's graded Prime, not 2% of grain-finished.

[snowangel]

I talked to my dad about this question today. Now, keep in mind that my dad, in a former life, was a farm kid (corn, soybeans and wheat, as well as livestock) and in fact, rented and farmed a hundred acres as a senior in high school for a 4-H project. Also, in a former life, he served as a butcher.

He had one great comment: "Remember grass fed beef walk and walk and walk for their food. Grain feed beef? It's like watching TV and eating Fritos. Like humans, the more exercise they get, the leaner they are."

Now, I don't know how much truth there is to what he said, but it sort of makes sense, and who am I to argue with a man who raised live-stock and took them from live animal to parts that he dry-aged in a meat market?

[Magictofu]

I talked to my dad about this question today.  Now, keep in mind that my dad, in a former life, was a farm kid (corn, soybeans and wheat, as well as livestock) and in fact, rented and farmed a hundred acres as a senior in high school for a 4-H project.  Also, in a former life, he served as a butcher.

He had one great comment:  "Remember grass fed beef walk and walk and walk for their food.  Grain feed beef?  It's like watching TV and eating Fritos.  Like humans, the more exercise they get, the leaner they are."

Now, I don't know how much truth there is to what he said, but it sort of makes sense, and who am I to argue with a man who raised live-stock and took them from live animal to parts that he dry-aged in a meat market?

←

From this, should we understand that grass fed makes tastier stews and braises while grain fed makes more tender steaks?

[Katie Meadow]

I want to like grass-fed beef for all the obvious reasons--health, ecology and morality. It does have good flavor, but it also seems to vary a lot; sometimes I think it's good, other times, not so. My understanding is that true grass-fed beef is finished on either hay or grass, depending upon the time of year. It stands to reason that whatever kind of grass or hay the cattle eats results in a lot of variation in grass-fed beef.

Niman Ranch, before it was sold, used to produce pretty good grass-fed grain-finished beef. I don't what they do now. Frequently even expensive butchers don't seem to know exactly where their beef comes from, or how it is finished if you press them.

Not only does the meat itself vary a lot, but my experience is that it takes some practice to cook it. Anyone have suggestion about how to optimize the juicy factor?

[Jaymes]

I talked to my dad about this question today.  Now, keep in mind that my dad, in a former life, was a farm kid (corn, soybeans and wheat, as well as livestock) and in fact, rented and farmed a hundred acres as a senior in high school for a 4-H project.  Also, in a former life, he served as a butcher.

He had one great comment:  "Remember grass fed beef walk and walk and walk for their food.  Grain feed beef?  It's like watching TV and eating Fritos.  Like humans, the more exercise they get, the leaner they are."

Now, I don't know how much truth there is to what he said, but it sort of makes sense, and who am I to argue with a man who raised live-stock and took them from live animal to parts that he dry-aged in a meat market?

←

From this, should we understand that grass fed makes tastier stews and braises while grain fed makes more tender steaks?

←

Don't confuse the meaning of the terms "grass-fed" and "grain-fed." That makes it sound like "grain-fed" cattle are fed a diet of grain throughout their lives, which is not usually the case. Generally, cattle are born and raised by a rancher/breeder that lets them feed on grass in an open pasture until they are yearlings, at about 12-14 months or so, and around 800 pounds. Then they are sold at auction to feed lots where they are fed corn for a couple of months until they are sold to the processors. The feed lots are those large pens that you see when you're driving along the highways in cattle country. They're not born and raised in those pens, just finished. They eat the corn, which doesn't digest as readily and easily as grass, and they don't run as much as they do in the open pastures, so the meat marbles. Cattle are herd animals, so those pens are not a hardship, as evidenced by the fact that when you see cattle in their large pastures, most often they are grouped together in one part of it. And the finishing process only takes a few weeks.

So when you read "grain-fed," most often you are talking about "grain-finished."

I should add that at least that's the way it used to be. My father was in the cattle business for many years (rancher/breeder of Black Angus and Whiteface), but he sold out about 15 years ago and it's possible things have changed.

And it's also possible, of course, that my memory has gotten kind of fuzzy.

Edited October 17, 2008 by Jaymes (log)

[Magictofu]

I talked to my dad about this question today.  Now, keep in mind that my dad, in a former life, was a farm kid (corn, soybeans and wheat, as well as livestock) and in fact, rented and farmed a hundred acres as a senior in high school for a 4-H project.  Also, in a former life, he served as a butcher.

He had one great comment:  "Remember grass fed beef walk and walk and walk for their food.  Grain feed beef?  It's like watching TV and eating Fritos.  Like humans, the more exercise they get, the leaner they are."

Now, I don't know how much truth there is to what he said, but it sort of makes sense, and who am I to argue with a man who raised live-stock and took them from live animal to parts that he dry-aged in a meat market?

←

From this, should we understand that grass fed makes tastier stews and braises while grain fed makes more tender steaks?

←

Don't confuse the meaning of the terms "grass-fed" and "grain-fed." That makes it sound like "grain-fed" cattle are fed a diet of grain throughout their lives, which is not usually the case. Generally, cattle are born and raised by a rancher/breeder that lets them feed on grass in an open pasture until they are yearlings, at about 12-14 months or so, and around 800 pounds. Then they are sold at auction to feed lots where they are fed corn for a couple of months until they are sold to the processors. The feed lots are those large pens that you see when you're driving along the highways in cattle country. They're not born and raised in those pens, just finished. They eat the corn, which doesn't digest as readily and easily as grass, and they don't run as much as they do in the open pastures, so the meat marbles. Cattle are herd animals, so those pens are not a hardship, as evidenced by the fact that when you see cattle in their large pastures, most often they are grouped together in one part of it. And the finishing process only takes a few weeks.

So when you read "grain-fed," most often you are talking about "grain-finished."

I should add that at least that's the way it used to be. My father was in the cattle business for many years (rancher/breeder of Black Angus and Whiteface), but he sold out about 15 years ago and it's possible things have changed.

And it's also possible, of course, that my memory has gotten kind of fuzzy.

←

I do not live in cattle country but some farmers still raise cattle, particularly when high income is not an issue. Here, while hay remains a part of the diet of the animals, most are fed a supplement of grain throughout their lives. This means that they are not entirely grass fed or grain fed but that grains is fed to the animals everyday.

There are farmers who will grow their animals mostly on pasture and hay and often finish them with supplemental grains for about a month. Some among them don't even bother with grains but they tend to sell their meat through alternative distribution networks.

[Magictofu]

Anyone have suggestion about how to optimize the juicy factor?

Eat the meat rare (or raw).

Add butter or other fats on top of the meat and baste constantly.

Do not freeze the meat.

[Chris Amirault]

I just spent the better part of an afternoon talking with experts about beef (click here) and grass vs grain is just one element of the final product. Other factors include breed, program, aging, grade, and (as mentioned here) preparation. In addition, feed is a variable component of the program, which always starts with grass (all calves eat in the pasture at birth, I'm told) but can progress through a wide variety of feeding protocols.

Pulling one variable out of so many doesn't really give you the whole picture. I had two terrific steaks at the event linked above: one was grass fed and one was grain fed. However, the other elements were major factors as well. That makes me a lot less apt to judge a given bite of beef based on one isolated factor -- especially when considering the possibility that, unless you're dealing with a trusted source, you got a bum steer.