Grass-fed Beef help

Hey guys. Have been reading up a lot lately about the huge benefits of eating grass-fed beef and pastured chickens vs. the more conventional meats you find in supermarkets packaged in not-so-good-for-you cellophane (which contains PVC). Needless to say, I am looking to make the change to grass-fed beef and pastured chicken (besides reading a lot on the subject, watching "Food, Inc." solidified what I was thinking anyway).

I am curious who eats grass-fed and pastured meats, your experience vs. conventional meats, and where would you suggest I look to get my hands on this stuff? I know there are online vendors, but do you suggest any from 1st hand experience? Or do you know of any farms in your area that will take orders to ship to NY? Any and all info/help is greatly appreciated....thanks guys!

If I have a choice I prefer it. Although I might be kind of spoiled in that regard since the wife's family owns some cattle and knock off a cow once in awhile to split amongst family. It's pretty good meat. Being in Texas though it isn't too hard to come by that sort of thing.

I haven't tried anything like ordering online. Have you tried any of the meat markets in your area? You might be able to find where they get their meats. Make friends with a butcher in your area. You stated grass-fed specifically and while not all of the meats your butcher may have come from grass-fed or free range critters, he/she might know of a source. I get better service and better tasting products from the butcher counter then out of the packages.

If you can get grass-fed beef do, it can sometimes be hard to get but it is worth it. It's hard to really describe, but it just tastes better.

Niman Ranch has some excellent grass-fed beef. We can get it out here in Iowa pretty easily. They are a pretty large distributor, you may be able to find them in your local Whole Foods or a co-op. I know they provided the steaks for my girlfriend's 10 year reunion at Yale and that was the best darn steak I ever had. I even ate the fat. I never eat the fat.

I eat grass fed beef. Mmmmm.

I find the taste superior to the corn fed variety of beef. Grass fed generally is a leaner cut of meat, but because of that you may have to do some tenderizing and extra prep. Takes less time to cook as well. And I can't imagining switching back. I had some Costco Tri-tip (Morton's) today and nearly gagged.

My first choice would be to go local, but I have had excellent results with US Wellness meats. I now have a local guy I'll be ordering from, but US Wellness will do in a pinch. They overnight all packages, so it always arrives fresh/still frozen. Local will be cheaper tho, you can buy a quarter, which is around 100 lbs for far less than you will from any online vendor.

http://www.grasslandbeef.com/StoreFront.bok

That's all I get.

I'm lucky enough to have beef/pork and chicken within 1km from my place.

I'm still looking for lamb and better fish. There's a huge difference in the taste IMO. Cleaner and more flavours. On the BBQ, the best!

I have a butcher where I get the chicken that sells grain fed, free range, organic chicken. The supermarket down the street sell the grass feed beef and pork. If I go to the one further down the road (same chain), doesn't have it.

All the local cattle here is grass fed. The economics of running a feed lot are prohibitively expensive for Hawaii. We'd have to import grain as feed. Ironic, 'cause its appears to be just the opposite for the mainland USA.

Being in NY, you should be able to find something in the city that has grass-fed beef. I live upstate and the farmers market I go to has at least 3 local farmers that sell beef. We normally buy from Lewis Waite Farm. I don't know if they ship down your way, but in between you and I is the Hudson Valley. Surely there's a farmer somewhere in there that raises cows!

I agree with buying in bulk if you have the chance. I bought half a pig last weekend. 120 lbs of meat for $180! Make sure you have a freezer!

Depending on where you live, try Whole Foods Market. I'm not sure how prevalent grass-fed beef is around the country, but I do know a rancher who was selling his grass-fed beef to Whole Foods.

Find your local co-op. If you can't visit the farm your beef comes from, how do you know it's actually grass fed?

Grass fed is definitely the way to go, especially the hormone free, antibiotic free variety.
It tastes like game meat without the gaminess.
The Omega-3 goes up & the Omega-6 goes down - much healthier for the heart & joints.
Grain fed cattle, using feedlots & corn silage, pumping the animals full of hormones (estrogen) is quite possibly one of the main reasons enlarged prostates, osteoporosis/osteoarthritis & heart disease are rampant.
All the red meat I've eaten for the past ~25 years or so has either been grass fed organic or game meat.
A good alternative in a grocery store is bison - by law, they have to be grass fed on the range & fed hay silage in the winter. It is as delicious as the best grass fed beef, and has more protein & CLA per serving than just about anything out there, including Wild Pacific salmon.

Try your local natural market. Down here its the Fresh Market, Earth Fare or Whole Foods. They will usually have some sort of grass fed beef. Also try local markets or farmers markets. Where I'm from, there is an open air farmers market that runs during the warm months. A guy has a grass fed beef stand, and literally sells out within 2-3 hours of opening every Saturday. Also, check with any AG schools in the area. The AG department used to slaughter cows every Thursday morning and sell it that afternoon.

Razorburne said:

Have been reading up a lot lately about the huge benefits of eating grass-fed beef and pastured chickens vs. the more conventional meats you find in supermarkets packaged in not-so-good-for-you cellophane (which contains PVC).

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Not to get too off topic here, but what are you babbling on about? Cellophane is made from cellulose.

gollum83 said:

Not to get too off topic here, but what are you babbling on about? Cellophane is made from cellulose.

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I think he used it as a general term for the known-to-be-harmful plastic food wrap (not neccessarily the trademarked cellulose derived cellophane).

gollum83 said:

Not to get too off topic here, but what are you babbling on about? Cellophane is made from cellulose.

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Gollum83: Cellophane is cellulose + chemicals, and it gives food a taste.

OP: Grass-fed beef is awesome! We use it, and we are able to get it from a local supplier. A couple things to be aware of:

1. Grass fed beef tastes different than grain fed. I like it, and the argument could be made that grass feed it the way it is supposed to taste
2. Grass fed beef cooks differently than grain fed. It cooks faster, and requires a lower temperature. A big thing that has caught us with steaks is that it keeps cooking after you pull it off. You have to be ready to get it off almost before it would normally be ready, and you have to pull it off right away to avoid overcooking.

ofelas said:

I think he used it as a general term for the known-to-be-harmful plastic food wrap (not neccessarily the trademarked cellulose derived cellophane).

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Why not use the term plastic wrap instead. It is a little more all encompassing.

jdeville said:

Gollum83: Cellophane is cellulose + chemicals, and it gives food a taste.

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Oh no! Chemicals!

And please note he said "packaged in not-so-good-for-you cellophane". Packaged, as in packaging, not food additives.

Again, I didn't want to get to far off-topic. It just that little bits of misinformation like that bug me. Nothing wrong with grass-fed beef though. Personally, I like it just on account that it tastes better.

gollum83 said:

Why not use the term plastic wrap instead. It is a little more all encompassing.



Oh no! Chemicals!

And please note he said "packaged in not-so-good-for-you cellophane". Packaged, as in packaging, not food additives.

Again, I didn't want to get to far off-topic. It just that little bits of misinformation like that bug me. Nothing wrong with grass-fed beef though. Personally, I like it just on account that it tastes better.

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Doh! I'm tired. I was pointing out there that it's not just cellulose in a box, but I really could have done better . My bigger issue is that I notice the odd taste whenever I get something with plastic wrap on it.

jdeville said:

Doh! I'm tired. I was pointing out there that it's not just cellulose in a box, but I really could have done better . My bigger issue is that I notice the odd taste whenever I get something with plastic wrap on it.

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Point taken. So about that grass-fed beef...

Yes, about that grass fed beef...

I can't wait until august when my supplier butchers again. We're all out of that steak

originally by gollum83 - And please note he said "packaged in not-so-good-for-you cellophane". Packaged, as in packaging, not food additives.

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I'll bite.
Steaks wrapped in cellulose derived cellophane packaging tastes bad compared to similar steaks wrapped in waxed butcher paper. When meat has been raised in a synthetic free environment I see no reason to reverse the process by having plasticky tastes transfer to the cuts, which it certainly does after extended contact.
All that assuming the critters haven't been licking plastic shovels or anything of course
That's why I have my butcher wrap them in paper & then shrink wrap the cuts before they go into the freezer.