Grassfed Meat is Tough! Right?!

Lamb’s Edge…

You have a conviction. You want grassfed meat because of the nutrients it provides, and the natural lifecycle the animal lives, which you absorb through your consumption. But the problem with that is you have to sacrifice meat quality. Grassfed beef is tough! Right? 

Why would you pay a premium price for a bunch of ground meat, because you don’t know if you have the skills to cook tough cuts to make it edible?

Friend, I have a solution to that problem…you guessed it…lamb!

Is grassfed meat tougher? Well, yes and no. Let me elaborate…

Tenderness comes from fat within the meat tissues, or “marbling,” combined with age. Marbling happens when the animal is nearing it’s fully grown state and starts building fat reserves. This is a crucial time to “finish” the animal with diet to provide a juicy and tender steak or roast. For cows eating grain in a feedlot, it’s around 18 months. Where grassfed beef has gotten a bad reputation is here. 

Still with me?

Grassfed beef producers have tried to mimic this 18 months, rather than feed the animal through 2 winters (which can get expensive). Except for the most expert grass fed beef producers, the beef cow cannot be “finished” with marbling fat in that short time frame on grass alone. So we end up with ultra lean, but tough meat.

This is lamb’s edge…

Lamb was made to finish on forage alone. The smaller frame and richer meat quality make it a perfect fit for filling out on grass as it hits that fully grown state. And these animals do it so well, the shepherd doesn’t need to be as skilled getting them there. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love beef too. But I wouldn’t hold a candle up to an unknown sourced steak compared to an unknown sourced lamb chop.

My lambs spend their lives on green grass and forbs, and in the fall, finish out on pumpkins. Mother’s milk, grass, and pumpkins. That’s it! And I’m yet to experience a cut that didn’t do the work for me in providing a rich, tender meal to wow our guests!