Grass-fed beef has reduced marbling and fat content.  To understand why and how this alters cooking technique, read on!  

If you visit the recipe drop-down portion of the Otsquago Creek website, you can familiarize yourself with the various cooking techniques and options.

General Meat Preparation:  Always be sure to thaw vacuum sealed beef well in advance of preparation.  Prior to preparing, be sure to remove beef from the packaging and dry thoroughly using paper towels.  For certain larger steaks and roasts, your beef will benefit from what we call “the poor man’s aging technique”.  After removing your beef from the packaging and thoroughly drying it, please the beef on a rack in a tray or roasting pan.  Place the cut of beef in the refrigerator and allow it do “dry out” for one to three days.  You should plan to flip the beef over 2-3 times per day.

Grilling & Searing:  Because of the reduced fat content in our beef, we recommend that steaks and burgers be cooked at a lower temperature, and for a shorter duration of cooking time. The American Grassfed Association recommends cooking steaks and burgers to rare or medium rare.  If you are a somewhat less experienced cook and griller, consider investing in a good meat thermometer until you have more experience grilling our grass-fed product.

For more tender cuts – think Filet Mignon, Burgers, New York Strip, Tomahawk, etc – all you need to do is cook the same way you would cook conventional beef, but at slightly lower heat and for slightly reduced duration.

For more robust searing cuts – think London Broil, Sirloin Tip Steak, etc – these steaks benefit from a marinade containing some acid, to help tenderize the meat.  Marinating for at least a couple of hours will make all the difference.  You also have the option to use a tenderizing tool.  We recommend the Jaccard. (https://jaccard.com/product/original-super-meat-tenderizer-48-knives/)  The Jaccard is available both on Amazon and at Walmart.  We also include this tool as a gift for any of our customers who purchase in bulk from Otsquago Creek.  But a word of caution.  Do not use your Jaccard on your beef until right before you cook it.  You can jaccardize your meat, even if it has marinade on it.  But doing it too far in advance of cooking will cause you to lose a significant amount of juice, which the meat needs to stay moist.

There are those who swear by the “reverse sear” technique.  This can be especially useful when cooking a thicker steak.  Pre-heat your oven to 200.  If your steak has been marinating, it is already seasoned.  If not, pre-season your steak.  Place the steak on a rack on a sheet pan or roasting pan.  Place in the oven and cook until the internal temperature of the steak is 120 (for rare).  While the steak is warming in the oven, preheat your grill or skillet for the final sear.  After the steak has achieved your desired internal temperature, sear or grill the steak on high heat.  This “finishes” the outside of the steak and gives you a nice crisp crust.  Let the steak rest 5-10 minutes before slicing.

Roasting:  When roasting a Standing Rib Roast, Prime Rib, Eye Round Roast or Rump Roast, keep in mind (again) the reduced fat content of the beef.  Tenting your roast in foil, or cooking in a covered roasting pan will help the beef to retain moisture.  One of our customers recommends, for an Eye-Round or Rump Roast, placing some water in the bottom of the roasting pan.  IMPORTANT:  Check the internal temperature of your Roast frequently.  Grass-fed beef cooks more quickly than conventional beef.  As with any Roast, keep in mind that when you remove the Roast from the oven, it will have retained heat and will therefore keep cooking.  You should plan to rest the Roast for at least 20 minutes before slicing.  During that 20 minutes “resting” period, your Roast may gain another 10 degrees of internal temperature.

Braising & Stew:  There are not any cooking modifications that need to made to Braising & Stew Recipes.  This technique involves either slow cooking or a pressure cooker, which naturally moisturizes the meat.  Given the lean quality of Grass-Fed Beef, you might consider enhancing your dish with a little sour cream.

Smoking Specials:  When smoking Grass-Fed Beef, be sure to place a pan of steaming water in your smoker or your Weber BBQ to add extra moisture to the smoking atmosphere.  You’ll notice if you check out our recipes, that we often recommend wrapping the Beef that you are smoking in either unglazed butcher paper, or foil, or even plant material.  Congruent with other recommendations for cooking Grass-Fed Beef, consider a lower temperature and a lesser duration of cooking time.

Fast Meals, Ground Beef & Burgers:  All of the tenets of preparing Grass-Fed Beef detailed above apply to these categories.  Please check out our recipes for ideas!  You’ll notice that for our Burger recipes, we recommend adding a bit of good quality olive oil to the Beef before you form your patties.

Remember!  Our cattle are raised on forage.  In our case, this consists of rotational grazing on pasture in spring/summer/fall, and our own high quality organic hay in winter.

Grass-Fed Beef is structurally and nutritionally different than grain finished (feedlot) beef.  Pasture raised animals move around to access feed and water.  The age of our beef, when harvested is several months older than feedlot beef.  It takes a bit longer to achieve significant size for animals that are active and that are consuming only grass.  The age and activity of our animals affects the flavor of the beef (in a GOOD way – but we are biased); and the tenderness of the beef.  Our Piedmontese genetics enhance the tenderness of our beef, but it is still a lean, Grass-Fed, healthy product.