Bought a black steer for eatin'

[M. M. Wright]

We have 3 kids at home now and use a lot of beef so I bought an Angus steer from my oldest son's step father. 1210 lbs. on the hoof and cost me $1.50 per pound. Another $325 or so for processing and I had a bunch of meat. Dressed out at 63%.

The steer had been fed 150 days on brewer's mash. The slaughter house cut up the front quarters after hanging 14 days but their vacuum packaging machine broke down and the back quarters were in for another week until they could buy a new machine so 21 days of hanging for them.

I've killed a lot of steers over the years, mostly horned Herefords that had been fed 60 days on rolled corn but this is the best beef I've ever eaten. No, it's not lean by any means but the flavor is just superb. There is no store near here that sells anything comparable and it was cheaper than hamburger.

Not sure what brewer's mash is. Guess I'll have to look that up.

[plowboy 45]

I hauled cattle for a man that feeds mash, it looks like biscuit doe, they mix with corn screenings and such
Of course it's dry when mixed
Oh its the stuff left after makin beer, is the way they tell it
They call it beer mash

[Blaine]

The local stores have been having some mighty commen, expensive beef of late.

[Rusty]

Part of the reason it tastes so good is because it's not lean. The fat is where the flavor is. A well marbled steak is a thing of beauty.

[SteveR]

We have 3 kids at home now and use a lot of beef so I bought an Angus steer from my oldest son's step father. 1210 lbs. on the hoof and cost me $1.50 per pound. Another $325 or so for processing and I had a bunch of meat. Dressed out at 63%.

The steer had been fed 150 days on brewer's mash. The slaughter house cut up the front quarters after hanging 14 days but their vacuum packaging machine broke down and the back quarters were in for another week until they could buy a new machine so 21 days of hanging for them.

I've killed a lot of steers over the years, mostly horned Herefords that had been fed 60 days on rolled corn but this is the best beef I've ever eaten. No, it's not lean by any means but the flavor is just superb. There is no store near here that sells anything comparable and it was cheaper than hamburger.

Not sure what brewer's mash is. Guess I'll have to look that up.

Brewers mash is the leftover grains from beer making, sometimes whiskey, but depends on how much residential alcohol is left over. It is a great win, win for brewers and cattle men, but the US government is trying to stop the practice, it will result in beef becoming very expensive if they quit allowing for the brewery's to keep selling the cheap mash to the cattlemen.

Steve

[Pete44ru]

.

Most super grocery store's meat departments never even get near prime (grade) beef, usually selling choice or select grades - and at exorbitant prices, to boot !

I miss the days, long passed (late 1970's), when there were a couple of nearby (within 10 miles) stores (with names like Beef City Beef), that sold hanging sides of prime beef by the hanging pound, butchered/cut up/wrapped (in freezer paper) to the customer's preferences (including all the bones suitable for making beef stock), while the customer waited.

For no extra fee (besides the charge for the side), they would usually include a side of pork (likewise cut/wrapped), 20lbs frankfurters, and 20 chickens (cut or not, to order).

The total retail cost (back then) was usually around $600-$700.

Since my and most of my relative's (free-standing) freezers could in no way hold all the meat (venison takes up some freezer space), a few of us shared the cost, and split up the meat purchase.

Even a partial share kept us in prime meat for 4-6 mos.


.

[BigSky56]

You have to be careful with distillers grain and cattle the fermenting of the grain raises hob with their gut some is fine too much isnt. marbling is what flavors beef and barley gives fat a different flavor than the other grains, some like the taste most dont. danny

[.45colt]

In a Grocery store if We get in USDA Prime meat most shoppers would run away in Horror because of ALL THE FAT............ .
The way that Meat is shipped today to the Grocery stores is simply all about profit.... . before the age of Cry- o-vac plastic packaging fresh beef was shipped either 1/4's or fresh pieces.. chucks ,rounds, loins ect. every second a piece of meat is hanging in the cooler or on a refer truck it is shrinking by weight...losing money for whoever owns the beef. today beef all comes to the stores in boxes in cry-o-vac plastic broken down into the primal cuts.
So here We Go......................1210lb x$1.50=$1,815.+325 for processing =$2,140.
63% yield =750 lb.
$2,140 divided by 750lb=$2.85. per lb.
I can only say WOW.....When do You want Us to come over?

[jeepnik]

I grew up around dairies. At that time you didn't waste things. Even though this was after WWII, my folks knew what life had been like in the depression and didn't go about wasting anything.

My point is, in my rambling fashion, is that the best beef I've had was bull calf. The dairy would generally let them get big enough to make slaughtering worthwhile and not a second more. I have eaten a lot of Holstein, Jersey, Guernsey and Brown Swiss.

To drift a bit, I now drive by several large, what I call "factory", dairies regularly. I notice they are all pretty much pure Holstein herds. Someone might be able to correct me, but I seem to recall Holsteins are great for quantity, but the milk is lower in butterfat.

[mark08]

I grew up, to a point, on a dairy. Still have neighbors that dairy. You are right the black and white's give about 3% to 3.75% BF. Jerseys about 5%-6%BF, Brown Swiss can as high as 8% BF. Bull caves at about 250- 300lbs., just above veal, are some good eaten.

[M. M. Wright]

45 Colt,
Those are exactly the figures I used to say it was all cheaper than hamburger and those inch thick T-bones or Rib Eyes are just superb off the barby. I like medium rare, (warm red center).

[3leggedturtle]

Part of the reason it tastes so good is because it's not lean. The fat is where the flavor is. A well marbled steak is a thing of beauty.

You got that right, Everyone's so aghast at having any fat on their meat.

Sounds like the beef would taste good even with out salt and pepper or any kind of seasonings...