Why it's so hard to find a really good steak

[BuckySWT]

had a steak from my buddy's b.i.l. why lives and works on a cattle ranch. Butchered a calf and had a whole chest freezer full of steaks and cround meat. with feed for 60 days it cost him all of 1.50/lb after processing, etc.

Flavor was awesome.

x 10 on the pork and chicken. The wild hogs we shoot and butcher are SOOO much better than the pork you buy at the store. We LOVE to do pork burgers with the ground pork we have...so flavorful.

Best steak I've had in a while was at Texas Red's in San Marcos. Prime Ribeye...Med. Rare. Nothing but salt and pepper for seasoning. They hit it spot on on the doneness (which is rare at a restaurant, which tend to overcook). As a rule. I never order steaks at restaurants...always a disappointment to what I can buy from our local meat market. Their select NY Strips will go head to head with HEB's prime stuff, IMHO.

[Shane]

What about the stuff they spray on meat in the store to keep it from turning brown? Wonder if that affects the taste?? I suspect it probably does. If you have one butchered yourself, it's not going to have that stuff sprayed on it.

[Cam-Mac]

It's all about making money... or buy "organic" beef.

There is no such thing as "organic" beef. Isn't all beef organic? I promise you, these cattle have been "doctored", and the grass, wheat, feed that they are eating have had chemicals applied at some point in the not so distant past as well. If a person tried to risk raising animals without vaccinations, and hoping that they wouldn't get sick, he would not be producing for very long. They WILL get sick, and they WILL DIE. Even vaccinated, we lose cattle every year. Cattle diseases are just like human diseases, they spread rapidly, and can dessimate your entire heard if they are not vaccinated. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that ALL cattle have had medicine/vaccs/etc given at some point. There is no such thing as "organic". It's a farce, but many jumped on the bandwagon b/c they think it's "green" to do so. I personally know an "Organic Beef Producer". Suffice it to say that anything "Certified Organic" is based on producers reports and possibly a one-time facility inspection, which has nothing to do with production.

The same goes for "organic" vegetables. When I was in college, I farmed in California for two summers as a research tech for a major seed company. We were testing sorghum production in various climates, and I was assigned to the San Joaquin Valley south west of Fresno, CA. I was growing Sorghum, but the farmers all around me grew tomatoes, onions, cotton, etc. Some of these farms claimed to be "Organic" farms. The San Joaquin Valley is so hot that I would have to have the spray companies spray at night for mites/bugs/etc when it was cooler. One of the guys that worked for the chemical company was explaining that NOBODY is organic- it would be impossible to not be overrun by bugs/disease. He said since they spray at night- nobody ever knows the difference, but the farmers get paid more if they are "Organic". I wasn't convinced until he said "How do you think we would stay in business if we weren't busy spraying? Obviously we spray A LOT". So that convinced me.

So, the beef industry and vegetables are the only two industries that I know about, but I would assume all the other "organic" industries are much the same (organic milk comes to mind. I don't think it's possible unless you have your own cow in your back yard).

Not trying to hijack the post- just wanted to share my opinion on "organic". As a producer- I don't think that it is possible, and I've seen it with me own two eyes how these guys get around the regs. But just because something has been "doctored" doesn't mean it isn't safe. Big Bro makes sure of that, right?

Just sayin'.

[Jaspro]

There is no such thing as "organic" beef. Isn't all beef organic? I promise you, these cattle have been "doctored", and the grass, wheat, feed that they are eating have had chemicals applied at some point in the not so distant past as well. If a person tried to risk raising animals without vaccinations, and hoping that they wouldn't get sick, he would not be producing for very long. They WILL get sick, and they WILL DIE. Even vaccinated, we lose cattle every year. Cattle diseases are just like human diseases, they spread rapidly, and can dessimate your entire heard if they are not vaccinated. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that ALL cattle have had medicine/vaccs/etc given at some point. There is no such thing as "organic". It's a farce, but many jumped on the bandwagon b/c they think it's "green" to do so. I personally know an "Organic Beef Producer". Suffice it to say that anything "Certified Organic" is based on producers reports and possibly a one-time facility inspection, which has nothing to do with production.

The same goes for "organic" vegetables. When I was in college, I farmed in California for two summers as a research tech for a major seed company. We were testing sorghum production in various climates, and I was assigned to the San Joaquin Valley south west of Fresno, CA. I was growing Sorghum, but the farmers all around me grew tomatoes, onions, cotton, etc. Some of these farms claimed to be "Organic" farms. The San Joaquin Valley is so hot that I would have to have the spray companies spray at night for mites/bugs/etc when it was cooler. One of the guys that worked for the chemical company was explaining that NOBODY is organic- it would be impossible to not be overrun by bugs/disease. He said since they spray at night- nobody ever knows the difference, but the farmers get paid more if they are "Organic". I wasn't convinced until he said "How do you think we would stay in business if we weren't busy spraying? Obviously we spray A LOT". So that convinced me.

So, the beef industry and vegetables are the only two industries that I know about, but I would assume all the other "organic" industries are much the same (organic milk comes to mind. I don't think it's possible unless you have your own cow in your back yard).

Not trying to hijack the post- just wanted to share my opinion on "organic". As a producer- I don't think that it is possible, and I've seen it with me own two eyes how these guys get around the regs. But just because something has been "doctored" doesn't mean it isn't safe. Big Bro makes sure of that, right?

Just sayin'.

Don't get me wrong because i don't believe in the "ORGANIC" label either but in Texas to be labeled "Organic" you have to pass a pretty strict regiment of tests and surveys. For the first 2 years in the program you can't sell anything as organic and your property and crops are tested every week for the presence of chemicals and fertilizers. It was a pain in the *** when dealing with "organic" cotton farmers in the panhandle.

[Cam-Mac]

Jaspro- thanks for elaborating. I don't know what it takes to become a certified organic farm/ranch. There is probably a lot more to it than I think there is, thanks for pointing that out.

[Farmdog]

I always assumed that the meat I ate In Mexico came from "grass fed" cattle..Its always had a different taste that I did not like as much as USA grain fed, by "organic' I would think you mean..grass? pastures have fertlizer and chemicals too

[SMUMan02]

What about the fact that there aren't many restaurants that actually know how to cook a steak? If I order it medium and it's brown all the way through, something ain't right.

[Smart]

If I want beef, I go Saltgrass.

I'm just the opposite....to me a steak is much better made at home where an individual, who knows what they are doing, can chose and prepare a few individual pieces of meat. Having a restaurant chosen piece of meat with a predetermined seasoning and a line cook managing over 100 steaks at a time on a giant grill for three times the price does not appeal to me...

[100%TtId]

Does anything have any taste anymore? Chicken and Pork that is store bought is even more tasteless than store bought Beef.

I would say the same thing about many fruits and vegetables. What has happened in the last 20 years to the tomato, honeydew, and cantalopes? If you want any flavor, you have to grow your own. The store bought stuff tastes nothing like they did when I was a kid.

Maybe the flavor issue is not the food, but our tastebuds. I wonder if all those jalapenos, hot sauce, and chilies have done permanent damage to our ability to taste. Hope not.

[Fulldraw]

I get funny looks from US ranchers and beef producers when I tell them the average steak in South Africa and Argentina blows away anything produced in our country. But, it's the truth! Both countries have regs that say any commercially sold beef will be AGED FOR 21 DAYS. We don't age our beef here any more, not like we should. We spray some crap on it to keep it nice and pretty and put it out on the shelf. I submit that any quality steer finished out at home tastes better not because it was fed correctly but because most of us age the meat properly before it's packaged up, unlike the mass produced grocery stores.

South Africa and Argentina kick our butts on flavor and price. It's a crying shame you can't buy a good steak here unless you drop $100 on a meal at a high end steak house. (Which, by the way, insists to their suppliers that their meat is aged properly)

[zztex]

I always assumed that the meat I ate In Mexico came from "grass fed" cattle..Its always had a different taste that I did not like as much as USA grain fed, by "organic' I would think you mean..grass? pastures have fertlizer and chemicals too

We call em range cows.

[d1rich1]

Good read

[47]

A "beef guy" that I know told me that grass fed beef has much better flavor, but that the fat tends to turn yellow, which women don't like. And since women buy most of the meat at the grocery store, they want beef with white fat.

All the years i spent as a Meat Cutter, on the rare occasion we found some primals come through with yellow fat... let's just say none ever mad it to the counter.

And if they happened to be ribeye or short loins, a knife fight was not out of the question.

[Ricky T]

Good stuff, y'all. Kinda like the difference between a home grown tomato and those tough red orbs the grocery stores sell.

[tookeymonster]

Green beef is nasty. For you city boys that means the cattle came straight from the field and did not go to the feed lot. Green beef don't = organic or low energy that means green grass fed or pasture only fed beef.