• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Tender Beef Does Not Have to Rely on Feed

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 May 2008, 18:00 CDT

By MEL BLASE

High food prices have turned many cattlemen's attention to grass- fed beef. Frequently, they forget to mention meat tenderness and consumer acceptance. Although it reduces animal fat, which injures human health, grass feeding frequently results in meat that chews like shoe leather.

Unfortunately, under U.S. Department of Agriculture established grading standards, marbling is king. This is true throughout the marketing chain. Those of us who have had heart surgery know marbling means specks of fat interposed among the tissue. Hence, this fat cannot be cut out of beef like fat on the edges of pork and poultry.

Recent research findings suggest an alternative to the extremes above. Marbling makes beef tender and otherwise desirable to eat. But alternative ways of making beef tender have recently been discovered. Four are of note. The first three are relatively recent.

Because the animal genome has been mapped, DNA analysis can identify the inherent tenderness of cattle.

Noteworthy is the fact meat cutters have found that, despite low fat content, some beef is tender. Genetics are probably a factor in these cases.

A second source of tenderness requires a special technique by the cook. Recently, Louisiana State University found "split aging" improves tenderness. In contrast to aging beef for two weeks before processing, this meat is aged for one week, processed for the freezer and kept in the freezer until a week before cooking.

It is put in the refrigerator for that week to thaw and age for the second week. When packaged in vacuum coverings, the meat will retain its desirable color and become more tender.

The third source of tenderness is the unique feed used for finishing cattle. North Dakota State University has found inclusion of field peas improves the tenderness and other desirable qualities of beef. Because they are unavailable in the Midwest, the best substitute is the feed byproducts from ethanol plants.

Finally, for a long time meat scientists have known another tenderness technique. It involves weaning the calf at 5 months rather than 7 months and feeding it a concentrate ration until it weighs about 1,000 pounds at about a year old. The result is tender meat.

Like most of the above, the amount of fat is likely to be less than for an animal fed the conventional ration of corn and soybean meal.

Clearly, these are alternatives to consumers eating shoe-leather steaks and those that reek with fat. The cattle industry needs to be awake to new technology.

Mel Blase is a professor emeritus in agricultural economics at the University of Missouri and a breeder of Angus cattle.

Source: Columbia Daily Tribune

More News in this Category