I Don’t Care for Grass-fed Beef

[Thunder77]

There I said it! Being the open-minded and curious person that I am, I wanted to see if there was that much of a difference between grain fed and grass fed. I bought some of each in a NY strip cut. I did not like the texture of the grass fed at all. It was rather stringy. Perhaps I just got a not so good one? The taste was a lot different as well; the grass-fed was a lot more earthy tasting to me. Not bad, but not a fan.

Maybe I will try a ribeye next time.
I hope I don’t get tossed out of the Pit for heresy! 😁

[Troutman]

I agree 100%. Raised on and will always prefer to eat grain finished beef.

[DavidNorcross]

I have to agree. Fat is what gives the flavor and there is just much more fat in grain fed.

[hoovarmin]

100% agree with you

[Oak Smoke]

Me too! We butchered a grass fed beef once when I was in junior high. It was awful. There was an off putting flavor I couldn’t stand. The fat was yellow and the hamburger even smelled different when it cooked. I know it wasn’t the steer or the quality of pasture, it was a charolais steer on our pasture. After that dad went back to grain feeding a steer forty days before we had it processed.

[Dan Deter]

Add me to this list. I'm okay with primarily grass fed (I mean, what cow isn't??) but I want it grain finished.

[captainlee]

Yes it definitely tastes different, not to my liking.

[tstalafuse]

I'll be the odd ball, which should go without saying, in that I like grass fed beef. However, you do have to like it rare or no more than medium rare because it turns to boot leather.

[Thunder77]

To each his or her own!

[Mosca]

One factor is that it is easy to find bad grass fed beef, and hard to find good grass fed beef.

Even when you get good grass fed beef, it isn’t going to taste like you expect it to. I know that I expected it to taste like grass fed/grain finished, but better. But it doesn’t; it tastes different. It is definitely chewier, and that is hard to reconcile. But the trade off, for me, is that it is intensely beefier. I liken it to having the flavor of two steaks at once. There is more of that mineraly-ness, irony-ness, that makes steak taste like steak.

I got my steaks from D’Artagnan, which advertises them as 100% grass fed and finished Australian beef. I’ve had filets, ribeyes, and strips from them. I’ve enjoyed them all. (However my steak loving daughter turned her nose up at a grass fed/finished strip.)

All that being said: while I disagree that (properly produced) grass fed steaks are bad, I agree that I, too, prefer grass fed/grain finished steaks. I’ve been eating them all my life, pretty much, so that’s what I expect a steak to taste like. I wouldn’t buy a grass fed/finished steak over a grass/grain steak for the same price, let alone pay a premium for one.

[JCBBQ]

100%. I’ve had good grass fed but never seek it out. When I want a steak, I want a big one. Grass fed, at least in my mind, always seems on the small side.

[Jfrosty27]

I’m another who agrees with you. Not a fan at all.

[Donw]

A lot depends on the pasture. Bad pasture with things like wild onions and other noxious weeds definitely equals inferior taste. Cattle raised on quality pastures will definitely be better even if not grained finished.

[DTro]

From the grass fed beef that I have experienced, I have to say I much prefer grain fed beef. I assume most people that buy grass fed beef, buy it for health reasons and not necessarily the flavor.

[PGH_RAM]

I've had good luck with grass fed beef. My wife and I know a rancher through church who raises a small herd of short horns about an hour north of Pittsburgh. We bought half a steer from him earlier this year and I couldn't be happier. The meat has cooked up tender and delicious with exactly that depth of flavor that Mosca described so well. The steaks and rib roasts have less marbling than grain fed beef, but I haven't missed it. The short ribs and chucks have had a really good ratio of meat to fat, though. Additionally, the suet and fat rendered down into some delicious tallow--snow white and clean tasting.

[DTro]

I have got to try some of that!

[58limited]

I've had tough and I've had tender grass fed beef. Grass fed tends to be lean and tough but I've bought some well marbled grass fed ribeyes locally that were tender. The most tender that I've had is a top sirloin from my buddy's ranch. I dry brined it for 36 hours, realized that I wouldn't be able to cook it right away, froze it for 2 weeks and it rivaled the best ribeye in tenderness. Usually his grass fed beef is on the tougher side but the flavor is great.

I have learned not to buy from my local friend or my buddy during drought years - due to poor grass conditions the cattle forage noxious weeds more and the meat is gamier.

[jfmorris]

"Grass fed" beef that grazes on wild onion is the bomb... NOT!

[Huskee]

I feel the same way. I did a grass-fed brisket beside a Sam's Club Prime one and it was no contest. Grass-fed was perfectly edible and delicious of course, just tougher, steak-like.