8 Per Pound Graingrass Fed Beef

Video, Tiny Desk Kitchen: Watch These Iv-Legged Lawnmowers In Action

What's old is new again. Across the U.S. farmers are turning back to a traditional method of cattle raising: feeding cows on grassy pastures instead of troughs filled with corn. A decade ago, at that place were but nigh 50 grass-fed-cattle operations left in the United States. Now, there are thousands and the numbers are growing.

Just look to your local farmer's market or specialty grocer for the evidence. It'southward much easier these days to get your hands on grass-fed beefiness from farms where cows spend their days out on pasture grazing on all sorts of grasses — from clover to wild onions to different types of tufted grasses called fescue. And beef eaters find a difference from corn-fed cattle. (Lookout my Tiny Desk Kitchen video higher up with NPR'south Susan Stamberg and Ari Shapiro to meet which beef they preferred.)

The Sense of taste

And so in that location's more than of this meat on the market, merely is it actually whatever different? I was curious about differences — both in gustatory modality and diet — and then I chosen on farmer Forrest Pritchard, who runs Smithfield Farm in Berryville, Va.

Tiny Desk Kitchen host Allison Aubrey (left) gave a blind taste test of grass-fed beefiness and corn-fed beef to NPR'due south Ari Shapiro and Susan Stamberg. Encounter the video for the results. Maggie Starbard/NPR hide caption

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Maggie Starbard/NPR

Tiny Desk Kitchen host Allison Aubrey (left) gave a blind taste test of grass-fed beefiness and corn-fed beefiness to NPR'southward Ari Shapiro and Susan Stamberg. See the video for the results.

Maggie Starbard/NPR

"I call back of my cows as four-legged lawn mowers," Pritchard told me as we walked his pastures one morning. Subsequently he pointed this out, I noticed that his cows were always on the move. That exercise leads to more muscle tone. And the resulting beef? Well it tin taste a little chewier than most folks are accustomed to. Sense of taste testers say the flavor is more varied than the typical grocery store cuts of beef that come from corn-raised cows.

From Pasture To Trough

Farmers outset fabricated the switch from grass to corn years ago considering corn allows them to fatten up their cattle faster.

It's the difference, for humans, between eating bags of spinach all day vs. dense, calorie-rich oatmeal. A lot of corn-fed-cattle raisers yet starting time their animals out on pasture, but then rapidly motion them to troughs of grain for fattening.

That ways farmers can raise more cattle and in smaller spaces — because they don't need all of that pasture. And yes, that means at that place'southward more beef for the millions and millions of hungry Americans.

Something Fishy

Cows dear to eat clover, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Eating clover and other grasses gets those middle healthy fats into their meat. Zac Visco for NPR hide caption

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Zac Visco for NPR

Cows dear to eat clover, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Eating clover and other grasses gets those center salubrious fats into their meat.

Zac Visco for NPR

All right, there is a difference in sense of taste, for certain. But what I'one thousand really interested in is whether it'south nutritionally whatsoever dissimilar. And the story gets a piffling fishy here. Yous know how nutritionists are ever recommending fish? Well, that's because many fish are rich in middle-healthy omega-iii fat acids.

And where do the fish become these omega-3s? They eat it. (Well, mostly, the tiniest sea creatures eat algae, and it moves up the nutrient chain to bigger fish.) With grass-fed cows, information technology'due south a similar story. Omega-3s are in their meat-- because they're eating grasses and clover rich in these heart-salubrious fatty acids.

A recent analysis from the Union of Concerned Scientists constitute that grass-fed steak has near twice every bit many omega-3s as a typical grain-fed steak. Another study published in March in Nutrition Journal backed up those numbers.

Notwithstanding, with 35 milligrams of centre-good for you fats per serving, grass-fed steak tin can't compete with a salmon dinner, which has about 1,100 milligrams. Only it's a significant difference in omega-3s between grass-fed and corn-fed beef. (You can calculate the fatty/protein or micronutrients of whatever food in your diet with this USDA tool.)

And since grass-fed cattle are typically bacteria, most all cuts of grass-fed beefiness accept less total fat than beef from corn-raised cattle. Of course, the brood of cattle leads to variation, also.

The Cost

In that location'southward a lot of variation in price on both sides of the aisle — and grass-fed volition usually toll more. Farmers accept to pay for all that pasture. A random price check plant Whole Foods selling a pound of grass-fed sirloin for $nine.99; Safeway was selling its corn-fed sirloin for $7.99 a pound. (On the day we checked, Safeway had the sirloin on sale for $five.99 a pound.)

My conclusion? On the whole, grass-fed beef is better for yous than corn-fed. But information technology may not give yous that melt-in-your-oral fissure sensation yous grew upwards on, and it'south going to cost you lot a more. So are these differences worth the toll? That'due south upward to you.

Produced by Vikki Valentine and Maggie Starbard

Grass-fed cows nearly always take less total fat in their meat than corn-fed cows. Zac Visco for NPR hibernate caption

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Zac Visco for NPR

Grass-fed cows almost always have less total fat in their meat than corn-fed cows.

Zac Visco for NPR

America's Examination Kitchen: Pan-Seared Sirloin Steak

Tiny Desk-bound Kitchen doesn't have a stove, so we used an indoor grill. In the video, we only melt the steak for three minutes, because both sides are seared at once. If y'all're doing this at home on a stove, follow this recipe from America's Examination Kitchen:

Serves four

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 boneless shell sirloin steaks (superlative barrel) or whole flap meat steaks, each nigh 1 pound and ane 1/4 inches thick

Instructions

1. Estrus oil in heavy-bottomed 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until smoking. Meanwhile, season both sides of steaks with common salt and pepper. Place steaks in skillet; cook, without moving steaks, until well browned, about ii minutes. Using tongs, flip steaks; reduce heat to medium. Cook until well browned on second side and internal temperature registers 125 degrees on instant-read thermometer for medium-rare (about v minutes) or 130 degrees for medium (virtually half dozen minutes).

two. Transfer steaks to large plate and tent loosely with foil; let rest until internal temperature registers 130 degrees for medium-rare or 135 degrees for medium, 12 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare pan sauce, if making.

three. Using abrupt pocketknife, slice steak about 1/4 inch thick confronting grain on bias, arrange on platter or on individual plates, and spoon sauce (if using) over steak; serve immediately.

Copyright America'due south Test Kitchen

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Source: https://www.npr.org/2010/04/08/125722082/the-truth-about-grass-fed-beef

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