Monday, April 9, 2012

A Steak Test

If you’re going to taste test something, it might as well be steak.  As I’ve mentioned many times, our neighbors across the road raise Belted Galloway beef cattle (Oreo cows) and sell them both as calves and as freezer beef.  I’ve always known that the males were castrated to turn them from bulls into steers but I never knew exactly why, other than they look much different.

They recently processed a bull and Pat brought us a T-bone steak to try, advising that the meat was tougher and not as well marbled so we decided to give it a seven hour soak in the Best Steak Marinade In Existence from Allrecipes, which we’ve used a couple of times previously.

Lately I’ve been overcooking steak so I pulled this off at 125* after direct grilling the entire cook.

We served it with some salad and grilled garlic bread.

It seemed to have a more dense appearance than most steak – more like game - and it was definitely chewier, similar to eating round steak.  My conclusion is that it would make very good lean ground beef.

As an aside - you know Reality Shows are popular when the Weather Channel starts showing them – Coast Guard Alaska, Ice Pilots, Turbine Cowboys, Storm Riders, and maybe more J

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Open-Faced Breakfast Sandwich

Two years ago:  A Nice Surprise Beef Sirloin

Larry

3/30/12  meal date

11 comments:

  1. Looks like a great piece of meat. Interesting how a t-bone from this cow is so much different than from another t-bone you'd buy at the market. The plate looks like the perfect summer meal!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well it looks great! Beautiful grill marks - picture perfect. And thanks for the link to the marinade. Sounds terrific. Hope you had a blessed Easter.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Having grown up on a cattle ranch, we never ate bull meat. My father would keep one but sell the others are breeding stock to other ranchers. They usually bring more money than being sold to meat.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Here and I thought it was only because they're mean that bulls were castrated. And it turns out that it's because they're chewy, too. Learn something every day!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Larry, Nice looking plate full of food! I don't mind a 'chewy' steak as long as the flavor is there and it's cooked the way I like it. Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

    ReplyDelete
  6. Last year, we purchased along with friends a 1/3 of a cow ( grass fed, organic). What I discovered was that when the meat was slow cooked ( e.g. pot roast) the game flavor disappeared but, when when we cooked steaks...the grass flavor was prominent. It was not bad but, eating corn fed (sugared up cows) made it a leap for me (sigh). Fresh farm beef is definitely leaner than its commercially raised sibling-no doubt.

    Velva

    ReplyDelete
  7. YUM.... one of my all-time favorite meals.... I love steak, baked tater, and salad... YUMMY...

    Have a great Tuesday.
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow, I would never have thought that just castrating a cow could change the texture of the meat that much!

    ReplyDelete
  9. The name 'Oreo Cow' really suits it! Too bad the steak wasn't a little more tender, though.

    Your blogger party sounds like so much fun - wish I didn't live in Almost Heaven - North ;)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Taste-tests are always fun. Your steak looks good to me! As for the darn reality shows, I'm just not a fan at all. Is that a serious list? Turbine Cowboys? I am sitting here giggling just thinking about it. I'm off to google now.

    ReplyDelete
  11. You can see it most certainly was not overcooked, so it was the beef not the preparation.

    I've tried grass fed beef a few times. I find I prefer grain fed.

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate and enjoy your comments