# grass fed beef tasetd AWFUL and TOUGH>>> any ideas why?



## wildacrefarms (Aug 27, 2011)

I'm new to the forum Hello!! 
BEEN RUNNING A SMALL ORGANIC FARM FOR FAMILY and A Little to sell.
had great luck with chickens, gardens, guineas, and horses and one little bottle calf now about 450lbs.

MY question is about a 1/2 of a supposedly grass fed beef cow that we bought from our vet. that meat was SO TOUGH that my husband can't even eat it. EVEN the HAMBURGER is tough! I didn't know that was even possible.
the cow was supposed to be young weighing 800lb live weight i believe. my question is how in the heck could a cow that small be that dern tough? and the taste was not that great either. not that you could tell cause it was Honestly TOO TOUGH TO CHEW. EVEN the steaks everything tough tough tough.

I've been too embarrassed to say something to the vet about it as I'm a little afraid that it might lead to an argument that might prevent me from using his VET services again and I don't want that. He did tell me that a few years back he sold every beef he could raise then last year no one wanted them from him and he didn't sell hardly any. Also He shared the beef with us and put part of it in his own freezer so he HAD to realize that it was uneatable right?? 
MY questions were a. could the slaughter house have gives us someone elses cow by mistake or on purpose? (very small place) how often does that happen and how can you tell for sure?
b. could the cow have been SO stressed with capture and killing to make the meat THAT tough (un-edible)
c. can a calf that young have meat that tough?
d. I have always heard that grass fed beef is a little tougher but i didn't expect what I got AT ALL. is that normal for grass only hormone free grass finished beef?

thanks for helping a newbie with the cattle questions.
Wild Acre Farms


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## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

If it was slaughtered at 800 lbs, the retail cuts will be much smaller than normal. That should tell you if there was a switch, because most animals go to slaughter at 300 lb heavier or so. 

Grass fed doesn't have the marbling of fat that lubricates the chewing.

It could have been stressed. 

Get a tenderizer or pressure cooker.


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## J.T.M. (Mar 2, 2008)

Add me to the list of people who was bummed out about grass fed beef............. I was told you had to cook it slowly. YUCKKKKKKKK


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## mamagoose (Nov 28, 2003)

Stress is an amazing factor just prior to butchering.

Our grass-fed beef are penned up and fed 1 quart grain 2X/day (and hay) for 2 weeks before taking them to butcher. That way, they aren't walking up and down the hills. 

Ours have little fat and we usually cook it slow and even the toughest cuts melt in your mouth and are delicious. We prefer the rich taste of Highland beef - no additives necessary.


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## wildacrefarms (Aug 27, 2011)

thanks for all the tips and info.
the meet didn't seem smaller than i expected and funny that is what my mom said too.
at that young weight the steaks would be very small but should be good. 
and I knew that grass fed beef was supposed to be a little more tough but buddy i tell you the stuff we got was un-edible. i could buy a pressure cooker and try that but I'd need to flavor too... I was just thinking that some folks must not be having this problem or no body would be buying the dern stuff no matter HOW much better is is supposed to be for ya. LOL
how can you make sure that the butcher is not damaging YOUR cows that you spend over a year babying bottle feeding and getting ready with stress, how much DOes IT AFFECT THEM? ? and how do you guys know if the meat you get back is the meat you came with? is there any way to know for sure other than watch it every step of the way?? also how long should it age before cutting? I don't think this aged but maybe a week.


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## wildacrefarms (Aug 27, 2011)

mama-goose,
I've heard and read great things about the Scottish highland cattle, I'm assuming that is what you are speaking of. being of Scottish and Irish decent you see LOL 
are the doable in the lower gulf coast states of Mississippi and Louisiana or would that be too hot for the above mentioned breed?


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## SCRancher (Jan 11, 2011)

I thought I read somewhere that young animals (not the super young veal) were going to have much less fat anyway because they are growing and gaining muscle and bone - it's not till they are more mature that they start to put the fat deposits into the muscle and such.

I'll make the analogy - how "tough" do you think an 20 year old's muscles are going to be compared to someone who's 30 and slowed down and has nice fat deposits?

Anyway that may also be a factor, most beef cattle are slaughtered what around 20-26 months old?


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## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

wildacrefarms said:


> and how do you guys know if the meat you get back is the meat you came with? is there any way to know for sure other than watch it every step of the way??


We butcher all our own meat, it is the same stuff we came with, guaranteed. 

If you really, really wanted to try and catch the butcher in a switch, you could pay to DNA test the animal and the meat to see if they are the same. A quick search turned up this place: http://www.biogeneticservices.com/animalgenotyping.htm and they will test any species from antelope to zebrafish. They even have your concern listed.



> Trace animal commodities and products from source (e.g. farm, packing plant, butcher shop, etc.) to packaged food product (e.g. steaks, roasts, etc.) on the shelf.


You might try going to some fancy all natural store and get a few grass fed steaks from someone else. See if the taste is as good as everyone says for their steaks, or see if you still prefer a grain diet for finishing.


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

We grass feeeed our Jersey steers on the most part, and have never had a problem with them. There sure is a differance with the cuts, they are smaller and not much of any fat on them. But they sure do taste mighty good, and you might try putting them in the slow cooker with some tomato juice poured over top. Turn it on low and leave it all day, should be able to eat shoe leather after this method. Sorry you got a bumm steer so to speak, I have no idea what went wrong, I doubt they switched your beef at the locker, but I don`t know them. > Thanks Marc


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## Cindy in KY (May 10, 2002)

What breed of beef was it? I can not imagine any beef that young being tough to eat. We have put older cows into the freezer that were not tough. Only way to know you get your own beef back is to do it yourself.

We did our 1000 lb Holstein steer in February, ourselves. He was only fed grass pasture, plain grass hay, lots of bread and a tiny bit of ground corn. We got the ground corn from a neighbor farmer. The meat is very, very good, very tender. He was very fat, but we cut all the fat off.

Maybe you got a very old bull back from the butchers?


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## Karin L (Oct 5, 2006)

Calves that are going to be slaughtered via grass should be on EXCELLENT quality grass, grass that will put not only muscle, but also a bit of fat too. If they're on poorer quality grass with no supplementation, then it's no surprise that the meat will be very lean and tough. 

One time we butchered a calf that was around 9 months of age, been only on hay (alfalfa-brome-timothy mix) and had maybe 1/2 lb of chopped barley every day (I say maybe because he had to compete with his fellow herd-mates for the same grain piles put out), and the meat was just great to eat, hardly any of it went to waste.

Stress prior to slaughter (rough handling both before and after getting to the slaughter house) will also contribute to tough meat.

Just my $0.02.


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## Cindy in KY (May 10, 2002)

Forgot, we didn't age ours at all. Hung overnight, then quartered and kept covered with snow and ice on the porch, and cut up and put in the freezer as fast as we could. My hands were frozen for 3 days. 

Our beef isn't organic due to the truck loads of bread, but it is good. No hormones or chemicals of any kind. No insecticides either. We do not buy any grain at the feed store, only salt. Our milk cow gives 3 gallons a day on just pasture and 8 loaves of wheat bread a day. And she is fat too. Our biggest problem is our critters get too fat.


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

Sounds like your vet doesn't have many repeat customers for his beef. I don't think I would be blaming the butcher.


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## Steve L. (Feb 23, 2004)

From - http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/371756/meat-processing/50333/Cold-shortening



> Cold shortening
> 
> Cold shortening is the result of the rapid chilling of carcasses immediately after slaughter, before the glycogen in the muscle has been converted to lactic acid. With glycogen still present as an energy source, the cold temperature induces an irreversible contraction of the muscle (i.e., the actin and myosin filaments shorten). Cold shortening causes meat to be as much as five times tougher than normal. This condition occurs in lean beef and lamb carcasses that have higher proportions of red muscle fibres and very little exterior fat covering. Without the fat covering as insulation, the muscles can cool too rapidly before onset of rigor mortis. The process of electrical stimulation (the application of high-voltage electrical current to carcasses immediately postmortem) reduces or eliminates this condition by forcing muscle contractions and using up muscle glycogen. Thaw rigor is a similar condition that results when meat is frozen before it enters rigor mortis. When this meat is thawed, the leftover glycogen allows for muscle contraction and the meat becomes extremely tough.


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## wildacrefarms (Aug 27, 2011)

again everyone thanks so much. I was really mystified by what was going on. steve L I really think you may have hit the nail on the head there!!  like 5 times tougher than normal THAT is what I'm talking about. the slaughter house we used was a real real small operation and i always thought that steps in the cutting process might have been missed?? or that the cow was handles SO roughly that it ruined the meat. both when it was rounded up and at the butcher plant. I know places like that have a hard time keeping help. it's not the greatest job probably....
Allen Yes i HAD thought about that too and I"ll never buy another one from him LOL.
My mother said I should ask him if he noticed anything "funny" about that meat we shared and invite him to say that it was tough but i just imagine us getting into an argument and don't want to go there with him. he is the only "real world" priced vet around and i don't want to jeperdise that for a few pounds of tough meat.


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## JHinCA (Sep 20, 2003)

Cindy in KY said:


> ..........
> 
> Maybe you got a very old bull back from the butchers?


We have in our freezer meat from a 4.5 year old 100% grassfed shorthorn bull that is tender and delicious. So grass fed plus bull does not necessarily equal tough meat.


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## wildacrefarms (Aug 27, 2011)

as far as the age and breed I don't know. he wanted to do a 500lb calf and my mother said NO that was just too young and the calf had not had a chance to live and she didn't think that was right(for Her no judgment on others that want veal shes just a softie). so he said OK and did this 800lber (which is not much bigger) 
we have a bottle calf heifer calf 1/2 Jersey and 1/2 Holstein that we started on the bottle in January and shes prolly 500lbs. but hopefully shes for milking and not eating.


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## wildacrefarms (Aug 27, 2011)

I'm very intrigued about the "home butcher" My hubby is a former chef that I think could do the cut up (but he's a big sofite too) if he didn't have to kill the animal. I don't know what the chances of the "big switch" are but I do know that if I've done my part in raising chemical free animals and going out of my way to do everything right for both me and the animal i sure as heck want to reap the benefits of that. raising this little Jersey/Holstein Heifer has really let me understand exactly what it takes to raise a bottle calf and it's a lot of work. we had quite a few health problems with ours at first and when she finally settled down and really started growing it was SUCH a relief. having been to the vets 3 times in the back of our suv. ha ha. I'm sure that we caused alot of out own problems in the beginning and there is a learning curve for sure. i read all about raising them on the sticky you all have posted too VERY enlightening. 
thanks again hopefully well just do our own from now on and we wont have this problem ever again. and i'm totally gonna try putting the meat in a pressure cooker. that is a great idea and may actually work


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## marytx (Dec 4, 2002)

We have ours hung 2-3 weeks. Only one week is not going to be long enough hanging time to tenderize.


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## Cindy in KY (May 10, 2002)

We have never hung ours like that, beef or deer. They hang 1 day and then we start on them. I would think the meat would get nasty after 1-3 weeks not frozen. Plus you would have to have somewhere to hang it. The last 4 we started to cut up the next day, and the meat was great, deer too. We did the same with the hogs, and had no problems with toughness.


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## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

wildacrefarms said:


> My mother said I should ask him if he noticed anything "funny" about that meat we shared and invite him to say that it was tough but i just imagine us getting into an argument and don't want to go there with him. he is the only "real world" priced vet around and i don't want to jeperdise that for a few pounds of tough meat.


Do the neighborly thing and invite him over for supper. Maybe grill some steaks and sweet corn and green beans. See how he likes your meal.


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## ksfarmer (Apr 28, 2007)

Wildacrefarms; you refer to the beef you got as a 800 lb cow. Weight is not an indicator of age. Was this a steer, heiffer, or possibly really a 800 lb cow?? What age? An 800 lb cow could be just that ; an old canner cow that never should have made steaks, grass fed or not.


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## goldspur (Nov 12, 2004)

how long did the butcher age the meat, that in itself makes a big difference, and the temperature the animal was stored at.


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## Brady (Jun 23, 2011)

I can't imagine that the vet would have a problem with you offering an honest opinion about the meat you bought from him. I bought a 1/2 a steer from a friend a few years ago and every now and then you you hit a very off flavored nasty tasting bite. Some of it was good but you never knew when you were going to hit some yuck. At first I was nervouse to share my displeasure with our friends but eventualy they asked how we liked it and I told them the truth. They were (or acted) suprised and that was that. I wasn't going to demand my money back or anything like that but I figured if they are producing a product, it would behoove them to know if something is not turning out right.


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## roanhorse (Jan 31, 2007)

We have butchered several longhorns, several jerseys, and one holstein that were grassfed. Ages 13months to 3 years. The first was a longhorn that was 3 years old and we butchered him off grass because he was aggressive toward our cows. Normally we would grain feed first. He was wonderful, very tender and the meat tasted great. Since then we have only butchered grassfed beef. The only tough one we have had is a holstein that was 2 years old. I think that if they are grazing good pasture and in a weightgaining/growing condition that the meat is much better. The holstein we butchered was coming out of winter, and even though he was in good condition he was coming off of a hay only diet. 

Sorry to hear the meat isn't good. I have cooked roasts all night at 220 in the oven, covered, and they turned out really good. 

My husband roped a wild cow for the neighbor (he couldn't catch her), after chasing her across the neighbors field a couple of times with his horse (couldn't get an opportunity to rope her) The neighbor took her immediately to the locker and had her made into hamburger. He gave us 20lbs of meat as a 'thank you'. It was really good! Sometimes I wonder if a lot of it is just genetic.


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## Steve L. (Feb 23, 2004)

wildacrefarms said:


> ...or that the cow was handles SO roughly that it ruined the meat. both when it was rounded up and at the butcher plant...


I can't put any stock in that theory. There have been several times in my life when I've had to track down wounded deer. Your 'cow' wasn't shot several times and then chased around the woods for hours before it was finally dispatched, yet the meat from these deer has always been fine.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

> Our grass-fed beef are penned up and fed 1 quart grain 2X/day (and hay) for 2 weeks before taking them to butcher. That way, they aren't walking up and down the hills.


Which means it's not truly grass-fed. (We have several people on this board who falsely advertise what they're selling!)
Grass fed has no grain, period. 

However, anyone reading this thread for suggestions about creating a good beef product, this is what I'd suggest. Finish it for the last couple of weeks on grain.
It'll still be home-raised, hormone free, etc, etc but you get just that little bit of tenderness for a nicely finished animal.


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## Lionrose (Jun 4, 2006)

We just had a Â½ Holstein, Â½ brown Swiss steer processed. He was 13 months old, live weight of 925lbs. He was a big pet and had never been in a trailer. He was stressed from the haul and ride to the processors an hour away. Was foaming at the mouth when we got there and very scared, nearly didnât get him unloaded. So he was very stressed, Iâd say. We picked up the meat two weeks later, so I donât think it hung more than 10 or so days.

He was a bottle calf when we got him 5 days old. Gave him milk replacer, I would whip up two eggs in it, once a day. As he was weaned, he was on grass, we gave him sweet feed twice a day since weaning. He also had good hay, ate with the horses, so it was horse quality hay, Bermuda and mixed grass. He was never sick not once. The meat is so tender you donât even need a knife to cut it. Literally melts in your mouth, with a wonderful flavor. 

So Iâm not sure what makes meat tough but ours sure is the best we have ever had. We just got two more bottle babies from the same source. 

A few months ago bought some grass feed beef from a gal that was going through a divorce, got a great deal on it, $2 a package, two cuts to a package. It wasnât near as tender, on the tough side not as bad as the OP says theirs is, but it wasnât very good either. So again I donât know what makes meat tough, there are a lot of theories. But weâll do it like we did last time an hope for the same results. 

Sorry your meat is so tough, hope you find a way to use it, hope the slow long cooking works for you. 

D


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

I sometimes hear that certain butchers will switch animals. Mind, you might get back the right pounds of meat but it might be from a different animal. Joel Salatin writes books about grass-fed beef, and he switched butchers for that reason.

In Iowa we used to buy grass fed beef from the grocery store for a little bit more per pound. It was a bit leaner and it had less marbling, but the animals were younger so they were not tougher. To be honest with you it was simply beef. I bought it because I considered the low-fat bit to be healthier. 

With your inedible beef, why don't you try a pot roast? If you keep the water barely simmering for an hour you can then boil it tender. MIND, "barely simmering" means just a little bit of boiling, there should be just a tiny bit of bubbling. If you take it straight to a boil the protiens will coagulate and the meat will be even tougher: the key to making the protiens in the meat relax is to barely simmer it for at least an hour. I can cut my pot roasts with a fork, so perhaps it would make your beef edible?

I wonder. Would it be possible to tell your vet that the steaks looked like they were from a much larger animal? I am bit of a social klutz, so I really do not know how to plant an idea in somebodies head.


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## Shygal (May 26, 2003)

Maybe the vet would like to know, especially if he said he doesn't have repeat customers. Maybe it is the way the slaughterhouse does things and he would switch. He has to be losing money with steers he is unable to sell?


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## shagerman (Apr 10, 2008)

i have heard a few people say that grass fed isn't good. so what i do is pasture. hay and a good grain mix a couple times a week. 1 lb or so. i have taken them in at 1530 lbs before. hole-steins and they were wonderful.


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## SpaceCadet12364 (Apr 27, 2003)

mamagoose said:


> Stress is an amazing factor just prior to butchering.
> 
> Our grass-fed beef are penned up and fed 1 quart grain 2X/day (and hay) for 2 weeks before taking them to butcher. That way, they aren't walking up and down the hills.
> 
> Ours have little fat and we usually cook it slow and even the toughest cuts melt in your mouth and are delicious. We prefer the rich taste of Highland beef - no additives necessary.



But when you take those Highland beefs, grass fed, and pen them up and heavy grain them, they really are not true grass fed beefs anymore. By the graining of them, you are ruining some of the benefits that you get with grass finishing your beef.


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## SpaceCadet12364 (Apr 27, 2003)

Hang time at the processors can make a difference too, as well as cooking methods used. Since grass fed is normally leaner, you might look at it as you would cooking other lean meats such as venison.


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

Used to be in England, they had dogs that were trained to grab a bull's nose and slam the bull into the ground. This was required by law and butchers would lose business if they didn't adhere to it. The thinking was that the animal's hormones made the beef more tender.


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## Cindy in KY (May 10, 2002)

I never cook our beef with water. My friend told me do not use water. I cook the roasts in the crock pot. They make their own juices. She said water will make the meat a lot tougher. I have noticed a huge difference this way too, so tender, even the lesser cuts.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Feed grain if you want tender steaks. Feed grass if you want lean hamburger


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## SpaceCadet12364 (Apr 27, 2003)

We got lovely tender steaks out of our grass fed Highlands so far.....even the 7 yo cow we had done.


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## JulieLou42 (Mar 28, 2005)

Our first bull, 1/2 Saler, 3/8 Guernsey 1/8 Angus, was 15+ mos. at processing, and had hung in the cooler for 14 days before butchering. Grass and milk were his only feed, the latter from his mother. He was about 1000lbs.

He was as tender as could be, all of him.

The second was half Jersey, remainder as above, but was only 9 mos. old, again all grass and milk, very fine and tender meat.

The third was 7/8 Guernsey, and he was 10 mos. old, same food, and absolutely the best yet.

None of these calves ever took to being fed grain, for some strange reason, tho' their mother liked it plenty!

They were all killed right on the property, gutted, skinned, while hung from the cooler truck's hanger, and carried off to the processing building 25 miles from home, where it hung 14 days before butchering.

We have no reason to believe we got anything but our own beef calves returned to us in an edible form.


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