How Much Corn Does Corn Fed Beef Consume
Video, Tiny Desk Kitchen: Lookout man These Four-Legged Lawnmowers In Activity
What's former is new once again. Beyond the U.South. farmers are turning dorsum to a traditional method of cattle raising: feeding cows on grassy pastures instead of troughs filled with corn. A decade ago, there were only about 50 grass-fed-cattle operations left in the United states of america. Now, at that place are thousands and the numbers are growing.
Just expect to your local farmer's market or specialty grocer for the evidence. Information technology'due south much easier these days to get your easily on grass-fed beef 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 notice a divergence from corn-fed cattle. (Watch my Tiny Desk-bound Kitchen video higher up with NPR'southward Susan Stamberg and Ari Shapiro to see which beefiness they preferred.)
The Taste
And so there'southward more than of this meat on the market, but is it really any different? I was curious virtually differences — both in gustatory modality and nutrition — so I called on farmer Forrest Pritchard, who runs Smithfield Farm in Berryville, Va.
Tiny Desk-bound Kitchen host Allison Aubrey (left) gave a blind gustation test of grass-fed beef and corn-fed beef to NPR's Ari Shapiro and Susan Stamberg. Run across the video for the results. Maggie Starbard/NPR hibernate caption
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Maggie Starbard/NPR
Tiny Desk Kitchen host Allison Aubrey (left) gave a blind taste test of grass-fed beef and corn-fed beef to NPR'southward Ari Shapiro and Susan Stamberg. See the video for the results.
Maggie Starbard/NPR
"I recollect of my cows as iv-legged lawn mowers," Pritchard told me as nosotros walked his pastures one morning. After he pointed this out, I noticed that his cows were always on the motility. That practise leads to more muscle tone. And the resulting beef? Well it tin taste a petty chewier than near folks are accustomed to. 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 offset made the switch from grass to corn years ago because corn allows them to fatten up their cattle faster.
Information technology's the difference, for humans, between eating numberless of spinach all day vs. dense, calorie-rich oatmeal. A lot of corn-fed-cattle raisers all the same start their animals out on pasture, but then quickly move them to troughs of grain for fattening.
That ways farmers can raise more cattle and in smaller spaces — considering they don't demand all of that pasture. And yes, that means at that place'south more beef for the millions and millions of hungry Americans.
Something Fishy
Cows love to consume clover, which is rich in omega-three fatty acids. Eating clover and other grasses gets those eye healthy fats into their meat. Zac Visco for NPR hide caption
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Zac Visco for NPR
Cows love to eat clover, which is rich in omega-3 fat acids. Eating clover and other grasses gets those heart healthy fats into their meat.
Zac Visco for NPR
All correct, there is a difference in gustation, for sure. But what I'k really interested in is whether it's nutritionally any different. And the story gets a little fishy here. You lot know how nutritionists are always recommending fish? Well, that'due south considering many fish are rich in heart-salubrious omega-3 fatty acids.
And where do the fish get these omega-3s? They swallow it. (Well, generally, the tiniest ocean creatures swallow algae, and information technology moves up the food chain to bigger fish.) With grass-fed cows, it's a like story. Omega-3s are in their meat-- because they're eating grasses and clover rich in these heart-good for you fatty acids.
A recent analysis from the Wedlock of Concerned Scientists plant that grass-fed steak has about twice every bit many omega-3s as a typical grain-fed steak. Some other study published in March in Nutrition Journal backed upwardly those numbers.
All the same, with 35 milligrams of heart-salubrious fats per serving, grass-fed steak tin't compete with a salmon dinner, which has virtually 1,100 milligrams. But it's a significant departure in omega-3s betwixt grass-fed and corn-fed beefiness. (Y'all tin can calculate the fatty/protein or micronutrients of any nutrient in your nutrition with this USDA tool.)
And since grass-fed cattle are typically bacteria, almost all cuts of grass-fed beef accept less total fat than beefiness from corn-raised cattle. Of course, the breed of cattle leads to variation, besides.
The Price
In that location's a lot of variation in price on both sides of the aisle — and grass-fed will unremarkably cost more than. Farmers have to pay for all that pasture. A random price bank check establish Whole Foods selling a pound of grass-fed sirloin for $9.99; Safeway was selling its corn-fed sirloin for $7.99 a pound. (On the twenty-four hour period nosotros checked, Safeway had the sirloin on sale for $v.99 a pound.)
My decision? On the whole, grass-fed beefiness is amend for you lot than corn-fed. Only it may non give you that melt-in-your-mouth awareness yous grew up on, and information technology's going to cost y'all a more than. So are these differences worth the price? That'due south upwards to you.
Produced by Vikki Valentine and Maggie Starbard
Grass-fed cows nigh always take less full 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 fatty in their meat than corn-fed cows.
Zac Visco for NPR
America's Test Kitchen: Pan-Seared Sirloin Steak
Tiny Desk Kitchen doesn't accept a stove, and so we used an indoor grill. In the video, nosotros only cook the steak for 3 minutes, because both sides are seared at once. If you lot're doing this at dwelling house on a stove, follow this recipe from America's Test Kitchen:
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
two boneless shell sirloin steaks (top barrel) or whole flap meat steaks, each nigh 1 pound and ane ane/four inches thick
Instructions
1. Heat oil in heavy-bottomed 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until smoking. Meanwhile, season both sides of steaks with salt and pepper. Place steaks in skillet; melt, without moving steaks, until well browned, about 2 minutes. Using tongs, flip steaks; reduce heat to medium. Cook until well browned on 2nd side and internal temperature registers 125 degrees on instant-read thermometer for medium-rare (about 5 minutes) or 130 degrees for medium (about 6 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.
3. Using precipitous knife, slice steak nigh one/4 inch thick against grain on bias, arrange on platter or on private plates, and spoon sauce (if using) over steak; serve immediately.
Copyright America'south Examination Kitchen
Source: https://www.npr.org/2010/04/08/125722082/the-truth-about-grass-fed-beef
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