Cooked a couple of 1+" Ribeye last night using the CI skillet and oven. Wife likes them medium well. She was born and raised on a cattle ranch in Texas. Well, the taste was "off"... they were seasoned with sea salt and pepper two hours before and coated lightly with canola oil. The beef used was "Nolan Ryan" grass fed beef. Normally we use CAB or prime. Can there be that much of a taste difference in guess fed vs corn fed beef?
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Yes, there can be a huge difference. I just bought a quarter of a grass fed highland cow from a place near to where I live:
Compared to grain or corn finished beef (in Alberta, the beef is finished with barley, this produces a better product than corn in my humble opinion) grass fed beef:
- Is leaner, the cows spend their lives walking around and foraging, they move way more so they are leaner. Conventional cows spend the final few months of their lives in sedentary feed lots eating processed corn or grain based feed to maximize yield, they are fatter and are not as healthy.
- Has a firmer texture, I am not sure if this is due to grass vs corn or grain specifically, or if it is just a product of the entire free range/grass fed process.
- Has a distinct flavour to it that I can only describe as beefier with a hint of earthiness/grassiness. They eat the shrubs and vegetation on the ground their entire lives, so this gives a different flavour than corn or grain.
I find you need to really watch how much you cook this beef, it can dry out very quickly due to being much leaner. I have learned to love grass fed, the unique flavour is truly superior and as long as you cook your steaks a notch or two rarer than you would with conventional beef, they come out fantastic.
I have not yet BBQ'd the short ribs and brisket that I got with my beef, I am interested to see how they come out due to having less fat in them.
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Sorry for posting in the wrong section. Apparently my fingers are too large to use the small screen on the tablet. Thanks for the above information. I guess grass fed or range beef will be an acquired taste.
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They can taste quite a bit different, which can be from a few things. My grandparents and uncles are cattle ranchers so I get fresh off the farm beef fairly often, and I personally don't care for it.
Cuts with little fat to begin with like sirloin were usually just ground in to make ground beef because cooking them wouldn't do much good, fattier cuts like ribeyes were pretty excellent if prepared medium rare and basted with butter or another fat. I have tastes that are sensitive to bitter and mineral flavors, so grass fed beef tastes very minerally to me, almost like biting your lip and tasting blood. My wife on the other hand can't tell the difference.Comment
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I think it has a lot to do with the micro environment if what exactly they are eating. The beef I bought from the link above is superb, but I have had grass fed beef from other places that I really didn't care for, the flavour was almost gamy, but not in a good way.Comment
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MH has said that pepper on a steak prior to cooking can cause the pepper to burn. Could that have been an issue?Comment
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The only grass fed beef I've had is the tri-tips I've bought from Trader Joe's and I didn't notice any flavor difference, although they were cooked medium rare.Comment
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Having pan-fried my share of rib eyes in my time(I'm a chef), I can offer a few observations; even though I haven't actually seen your steaks. First: the lower the grade of steak, the more oil you must use, but even with "high" grade steaks, oil is needed. Second: just because you purchased expensive steaks doesn't necessarily mean you obtained good ones. Humans and grading are not infallible. Third, it's my experience that you season the steak shortly before cooking. I you want to infuse flavor before cooking, do so, BUT leave out most or all of the salt until you are ready to hit the heat. Fourth: many premium steaks are dry cured, which is nothing more than controlled rotting: which can taste "off" if you are not accustomed to that flavor.
In other words: follow your technique, and don't "lean" on the food to get you where you want to go. Anyone can cook decent food with superlative ingredients, but a chef can make a consistently great plate no matter the ingredients.
I, and anyone I work with, can take a "select"grade ribeye and turn into ecstasy. Why? We season just before the steak hits the broiler. The fattier the steak, the less time searing is needed before moving to a cooler spot(or oven) to come to desired temp. This method is also true with a cast iron skillet.In my opinion, you did nothing really wrong. You just got "skunky" steaks, which happens regardless of grade.
I hope this helps. Greetings and good tidings from Houston, Alaska...Comment
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Strat -
There is a whole lot of science on the main site from MH and Dr. Blonder, as well as Dr. Blonder's video seminar on salt supporting dry brining - i.e., salting - for various amounts of time prior to cooking depending on the meat. We're also big fans of reverse searing, about which there is also some good information provided on the main site.Comment
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