Beef Is Everyone's Favorite

Beef Is Everyone's Favorite

Steaks, Burgers, Roasts, Brisket, etc.

Beef originates from four different animals: cows, bulls, heifers and steers. Although considered taboo in the Indian culture it is enjoyed by most other populations of the world.

Almost all parts of the cow are consumed or used in some fashion. We are more interested in the many different types of steaks and roasts, ribs, tenderloin and to a lesser extent the tongue and testes. Even the bones are used for making beef stock. Cows, or bovines, have been consumed by hunters going back to prehistoric times as depicted on cave paintings around 8000 BC.

Some of the various types of beef that is marketed today would be: ed certified Angus beef, certified Hereford beef, Kobe, Halal, kosher beef and organic beef.

Who wants to be Kobe Beef?  This beef, from the hills of Japan, are hand fed a mixture of high-energy feed, beer and beer mash!  Happy cows!  Then on top of that, they are hand-massaged to reduce stress!

In addition to the different types of beef, there are different grades of beef as well. The highest-quality, which only is about 3% of total production. is called US prime. The next highest-quality and which you most likely find in the grocery stores is US choice meat. At many of the discount retail stores you might find US select meat. All the remaining grades are used for other purposes.

To improve tenderness of various beef cuts, higher-end restaurants and butcher shops will age their prime meat for up to 28 days for dry aging and up to 45 days for wet aging. Dry aging involves hanging the various cuts in humidity controlled coolers. The outer surfaces dries out, some of the moisture evaporates and the outside may contain growth of molds (if too humid). This results in the butcher trimming the meat.  The evaporation concentrates the remaining proteins and increases the flavor intensity.

We find that beef is best when being cooked over a barbecue pit.

See Our Beef Sections