Is it Grass-Fed or Grass-Fattened Beef?

I just got off the phone with a new, exciting discovery, an Artisan Butcher named Bill McCann, from the Fresno, California, area. I hope to introduce you to him in more detail soon but I wanted to share a fabulous distinction that he made regarding grass-fed beef.

I'm simplifying this a bit but only because it feels like a great place to plant a seed for a future, in-depth conversation.

"There is a difference between grass-fattened beef and grass-fed beef."

That's a direct quote, this is paraphrasing: You can get grass-fed beef any time of year. Grass-fattened cattle come from graziers who know how to fatten beef on a grass (and legume) diet, no different than others who have learned to fatten beef on a diet that includes grain. With grass-fattened cattle you typically see white colored fat and you can get more intense flavors.

If you've spoken to or read enough about grass-finishers, you'll know that in much of North America it takes a lot of talent and the right genetics to have a year round grass-fed program. I've shared a few of these producers with you before. But I personally think it's worth considering this:

Wine grapes are harvested at their peak and, when wine aficionados find a wine they like, they stock up on it (often getting a discount in turn). Why don't we apply the same concept to beef, pork, lamb, and poultry? Exactly, why don't we?

Thank you to Renee and Fredo Martin of Slow Food Madera for providing me the opportunity to meet and learn from Bill. I see a wonderful future for Bill, he can help us demystify and better understand meat, not just beef, so we can find and celebrate the artisan ranchers, truckers, slaughterhouse workers, butchers, and purveyors who today are so very hard to find.

How to Choose Your Burger Meat

It's one thing to talk about artisan steaks. It's another to understand artisan burgers.

If I can give you any advice: Do not buy burger meat from your grocer.

The reason cited most often is risk of food poisoning. Please allow me to offer another reason to avoid grocery store ground beef and patties:

They don't actually taste that great! In fact, I'd say they don't taste much at all. Why else would we need to add seasonings to the beef or condiments on top?

At first glance, it doesn't make any sense that commodity burger meat is bland. Most is made from older cows or the steaks and roasts found in the front or back end where the muscles get more exercise. Exercise is one contributor to flavor.

There are two reasons that most grocery beef is bland.

1. Meat processors and grocers grossly oversimplify what drives taste, texture, and quality in beef.

We have been trained to think that USDA Grade (Select, Choice, or Prime) is the key contributor to quality, flavor, and juiciness. This is not true; flavor and texture also vary (a lot) depending on the breed, region, diet, aging techniques, and the relative talent of the grower, slaughterhouse, and butcher. This is as true for burgers as it is for steaks.

2. They are not selecting beef based on how good it’s going to taste in the first place.

To grocery stores and meat processors, beef is all about throughput and efficiency. Both industries have high capital costs but with rare exceptions do little to nothing to differentiate themselves vs. their competitors. As a result, they ultimately compete based on price and operate on very thin profit margins. In retail parlance, they literally calculate a "penny profit" - how many pennies do I make on each sale?

Rather than hand-select beef that will delight the palate, which would take time and money, most grocers select beef based on these criteria:

• How cheap it is (so they can increase penny profit)
• How much they can sell (so they can make an actual profit)
• How quickly they can sell it (so they don’t tie up cash too long in inventory)

Wait, you say, this is no different than any business, the idea is to lower the cost of inputs and sell at a profit.

To which I would respond, a company or brand that wants to say in business over time will also increase the value of what they are selling. In the case of ground beef, this means at minimum they would go out of their way to purposely offer really great tasting meat.

Where does this leave you if you want to enjoy a burger, some tacos, or nice bowl of chili?

Find a source of artisan quality artisan burgers! I use the same criteria as with artisan quality steaks, which you can find listed below.

If you’re a flavor hound, for burgers I would suggest that you look even harder for a good source of grass fed beef (just make sure you know what you’re getting, some misuse this terminology). When raised and aged properly, you’ll often find it to have a far more adventurous flavor. You will likely have also done a good thing for animal welfare and the environment while you were at it. That’s a win-win-win if I’ve ever heard one!

Finally, this post is part of Food Renegade's Fight Back Friday initiative meant to help individuals take control over what is on our plates. Every week I enjoy reading the posts of others who participate in the FBF carnival. I suggest that you take a look, too, and add your own post while you're at it!

Artisan Beef Institute® - Minimum Criteria For Artisan Quality Beef

• Specific farm or producer group (source-verified).
• Single breed or cross-breed.
• Known growing region.
  
• No added growth hormones (steroids, yuck!).
• No preventative antibiotics (if they can't keep healthy without 'em...).
• All vegetable diet, no funky stuff in there like stale chewing gum.
• Low stress conditions on farm, in truck, at yard (if relevant), & at slaughterhouse.
• Dry-aged or wet-aged for at least 14 days
• Bonus points: certified organic, humane, grass-only diet, holistic.

© All Rights Reserved. The Oliver Ranch Company®. The Artisan Beef Institute®