History: Butchering Before Refrigeration

PLEASE HELP

I'm researching how butchers, cowboys and pioneers slaughtered and cooked cattle in the warm months from March through November before there was refrigeration.

In the East, cattle were often slaughtered during the warm summer months to celebrate holidays (July 4) and weddings (in June), to feed armies (especially during the Civil War), etc.

In the West, drovers and pioneers trailed cattle, which were often injured and put down.

My question is: How were cattle butchered and cooked?

BUTCHERED BEFORE OR AFTER RIGOR?

The weather was warm, so butchers, cowboys or pioneers had to act very quickly before the beef began to spoil.

Did they butcher and start cooking the meat before rigor started, which would be within about 6 hours after death?

Or did they wait until rigor resolved (usually after about 24 hours after death, depending on ambient temperature) to begin to butcher and start cooking?

USUALLY BOILED?

How did they cook the beef?  There would not have been enough firewood (or time) to cook entire sides of beef over a pit of coals.  Since the beef could not be aged, it would have been extremely tough.

Did they boil the tenderest cuts and leave the rest of the carcass the to rot?

MODERN TRIAL?

Have you ever cooked and/or tasted beef from cattle that was slaughtered and immediately butchered and cooked without refrigeration?

Or do you know of any blogs or articles by those who have?

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!

I'd appreciate your help in these matters.

CONCLUSION

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Twitter: @SteakPerfection Followers

PARTICIPATION IN TWITTER

@SteakPerfection participates actively in Twitter on a daily basis.  @SteakPerfection joins conversations, answers questions and exchanges information to those who follow @SteakPerfection.

THOSE WHO SHOULD FOLLOW US

Those who should follow @SteakPerfection include those interested in learning about steak.  Our tweets focus exclusively on steak-related topics, including the following steak, beef and cattle-related topics:

• History
• Breeds
• Sex (steer, bullock, bull, ox, heifer and cow)
• Diet
• Age at harvest
• Harvesting procedure
• USDA Inspection
• USDA Grades
• Marbling scores
• Aging methods and time
• Butchering
• Cuts
• Trimming and pre-cooking preparation
• Cooking methods
• Serving
• Online steak sellers
• Steakhouses and restaurants
• Science and Technology
• Palatability (taste, tenderness, texture and juiciness)

@SteakPerfection helps our followers select and cook (or order at a restaurant) the steak that most closely matches their ideal of steak perfection.  Since we limit our tweets solely to steak-related topics, we limit the topics of our tweets as follows:

• No non-steak tweets
• No idle chit-chat
• No jokes
• No non-steak recipes
• No politics
• No flames

In summary, we tweet about steak, and only about steak.  We learn about steak and help others to learn about steak.  We do not tweet about other topics.

@SteakPerfection knows that consumers have the right to know about their food. Steak consumers have the right to know as much about their steak as the ranchers, farmers, producers, processors, butchers and others who raised and sold the cattle, beef and steak. Such information must be available to consumers, so that they can make informed decisions about what steak they want to purchase.  All steak comes from cattle that is raised by hardworking, dedicated farmers and ranchers, and consumers have the right to choose among all types of steak, including conventional, natural, organic, grass-fed, branded, etc.

THOSE WHOM WE FOLLOW

@SteakPerfection limits the number of those whom it is following, so that we can read their tweets and process their information.

We will be pleased to follow you, and we invite you to notify us if you tweet regularly about any steak-related topics, including the following:

• Serving
• Online steak sellers
• Steakhouses and restaurants
• Science and Technology
• Palatability (taste, tenderness, texture and juiciness)
• Agriculture, farming and ranching
• History of Cattle, Beef and Steak
• Breeds, numbers and markets for beef cattle
• Grass- and grain-finished cattle ranchers
• How age, sex, feed, geography and other variables of beef cattle affect the look, taste and texture of steak
• Issues relating to the USDA, FDA, EPA and other agencies
• Marbling scores
• Butchering techniques and methods, including cuts of steak
• Aging methods and time
• Trimming and pre-cooking preparation
• Cooking methods at home and restaurants
• Serving steak, including accompanying
• Online steak sellers
• Steakhouses and restaurants
• Science
• Scientifically valid blind taste tests

Every week, @SteakPerfection uses the Tweepi cleanup tool to review and edit the list of those whom we are following.  We do not strive to inflate the numbers of our followers and therefore limit those whom we are following to those who provide information about steak and steak-related topics.

CONCLUSION

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Grading: Percent of Each Grade

GRADES

The USDA grades beef with one of eight possible grades:

• Prime
• Choice
• Select
• Standard
• Commercial
• Utility
• Cutter
• Canner

Of these, steak and beef consumers should be concerned only with the top three grades:  USDA Prime Grade, USDA Choice Grade and USDA Select Grade.  These are the grades that most steakhouses, butchers and markets sell to their consumers.

SUB-GRADES

Each of the top grades have sub-grades.  For example, the USDA divides the USDA Prime Grade into:

• Prime⁺  (called "Prime plus")
• Prime^o  (called "Prime zero")
• Prime^-  (called "Prime minus")

UNGRADED BEEF

USDA grading is not mandatory.  Beef processors must pay the USDA for the grading service.  As a result, processors do not ordinarily pay for the USDA to grade any beef  which is unlikely to achieve one of the top three grades.

Ungraded beef is sometimes called "No Roll", since the USDA inspector did not roll a grade stamp onto the beef carcass.

PERCENT OF EACH GRADE

The percent of each grade and ungraded beef is as follows:

Grades	Percent
USDA Prime+	0.1%
USDA Primeo	0.4%
USDA Prime-	1.3%
USDA Choice+	1.9%
USDA Choiceo	7.6%
USDA Choice-	28.5%
USDA Select	15.5%
Other USDA Grades	3.2%
Ungraded (No Roll)	41.5%
Total	100.0%

PRIME⁺

USDA Prime⁺ Grade is the highest official USDA sub-grade. In 2011, the United States processed 34.4 million cattle, an average of 662,000 per week.  Since only 0.1% of all cattle achieve the highest sub-grade of USDA Prime⁺, only an average of 661 cattle per week receive the highest grade.

Because USDA Prime⁺ Grade beef is so very rare, processors set this aside for only their very best customers (the "best of the best" steakhouses and butchers).  As a result, the vast majority of steakhouses, butches and markets do not have any USDA Prime⁺ Grade beef.

OTHER USDA GRADES

As the Table shows, the item labelled as "Other USDA Grades" equal 3.2% of all beef.  This item includes beef that is graded USDA Standard Grade or lower.  Processors who paid the USDA to grade this beef made a mistake.  They thought that the beef would grade higher, since otherwise they would not have paid the USDA for the grading service.

CONCLUSION

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Pre-Cooking: Salt and Freeze First?

WHEN SHOULD SALT BE ADDED TO A GREAT STEAK?

When should a cook add salt to a steak?

This debate has raged for years and years, with 'experts' on all sides claiming to know the answer.

WHAT ARE THE CLAIMS ABOUT SALTING?

There are four basic "sides" of the debate about salting a great steak:

• Salt the steak long before cooking
• Salt the steak just before cooking
• Salt the steak just after cooking
• Never salt the steak before serving

Let's look at each of these four alternatives.

(a) SALT LONG BEFORE COOKING

Food & Wine reports that David Tanis, of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, and San Francisco’s Judy Rodgers, of The Zuni Café, claim that a great steak should be salted long before cooking.

Cooks Country recommends that a great steak be seasoned with both salt and cornstarch 30 minutes before cooking, and then putting the steak, uncovered, into the freezer. The theory is that the dry humidity in the freezer will help the salt draw off the surface moisture, which will make the exterior 'crustier'.

(B) SALT JUST BEFORE COOKING

Food & Wine reports that New York City chef Tom Colicchio, of Craft and Top Chef fame, claims that a great steak should be salted and seasoned just before cooking.

(a) SALT JUST AFTER COOKING

Food & Wine reports that Daniel's Jean François Bruel claims that a great steak should be salted and seasoned only just after it has been seared or grilled.

(a) NEVER SALT BEFORE SERVING

A Chowhound blogger conducted a test that showed that a great steak should be salted only by the diner, because it made the steak "[w]onderfully tender, and for my taste buds, it had a much beefier flavor and the salt was more pleasing" than on pre-salted steaks.

ALL CLAIMS AND TESTS ARE INCONCLUSIVE

All these claims and tests are inconclusive.

These claims and tests cannot be validated unless they start with identical steaks. However, steaks from a butcher or supermarket (as well as steaks served in the vest best steakhouses) are _not_ identical, even if they have exactly the same USDA Prime Grade. Virtually all beef today, including steaks, are distributed in boxes of beef. Boxes of USDA Prime Grade beef are not from the same animal, or the same farm, or even the same breed of cattle.

When the major packing houses process cattle, the beef is graded and then sorted by grade, not by the cattle breed, age, sex, farm, diet, etc. For example, a single shipment of boxed beef may contain some steak from an 18-month old, Hereford steer (male), raised in Nebraska and fed a special diet, and other steak from a 21-month old, Holstein heifer (female), raised in California and fed a different diet. Even if the steaks have the same USDA grade, they will not taste the same, because different breeds taste different, and even the same breed tastes different if raised on a different diet.

It would be possible to conduct a series of valid blind taste tests to resolve the question, assuming that it can be resolved conclusively. Such tests would be very expensive and time-consuming, since valid tests would have to control for the cattle's age, breed, sex, terrain, diet, etc. A series of tests would be necessary to compare results of cattle with each of these different attributes (age, breed, etc.)

Until then, all claims and tests must be labelled as inconclusive.

RECOMMENDATION

How do I use salt? It depends.

If I am grilling a Santa Maria tri-tip over red oak lump charcoal, at a grill-level temperature of 750°F, I season it an hour before grilling with a very, very thick layer of coarse salt, coarse pepper and garlic powder.

On the other hand, if I am grilling a great steak (e.g. a 56-day dry-aged, fully trimmed, USDA Prime Grade, abundantly marbled, New York cut, from a 19-month old, Holstein steer, raised by rancher I know personally, on a ranch I visit regularly) over mesquite lump charcoal, at a grill-level temperature of 750°F, I do not add any salt, before or after grilling. Instead, I serve the steak with a side of high-quality, coarse sea salt (e.g. Sel de Guerande), which add a third layer of taste - to complement the beefy interior first layer and the crusty exterior second layer.

A FINAL WORD ON FREEZING BEFORE COOKING

Some authorities, such as Cooks Country, recommend that a great steak be salted and put into the freezer 30 minutes before cooking. The theory is that the dry humidity in the freezer will help the salt (and cornstarch) draw moisture from the outside layer of the steak, so the the drier exterior will produce a tastier crust.

As noted above, there have been no valid tests to prove or disprove this claim. However, there is an issue about temperature that should be considered.

If a steak is to be grilled at a high temperature (e.g. 750°F at grill level), then the cook must be very concerned about the steak's thickness, its internal temperature before cooking, and its desired doneness. These four variables, and time, are inter-related. For example, if a 1" thick steak has an internal temperature of 40°F, it is impossible to have both a rare interior and a crusty exterior.

The careful cook will take these variables into consideration and will order the steak thickness in proportion to the desired internal and external doneness. Thus, a 2" thick steak, chilled to an internal temperature of 40°F, will cook very rare on the inside and with a dark, crusty exterior (which is often called "black and blue"); that same steak, 2" thick and with an internal temperature of 70°F ("room temperature) will cook to very rare on the inside and with a deep-brown crust.

CONCLUSION

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Briquet Charcoal

BRIQUET CHARCOAL


This is an update of an article that I published years ago.Note that briquet and briquette are correct alternate spellings.This blog uses the former, since that is Kingsford's choice.

In the U.S., briquet charcoal is more commonly used than lump charcoal for grilling steak and other food.  Lump charcoal is 100% wood and is almost always hardwood, like hickory, mesquite and oak.  On the other hand, briquet charcoal is not 100% wood and is made usually with soft wood, so myths and confusion has arisen about the uses and ingredients of briquet charcoal.  This blog explains the basics of briquet charcoal.

Kingsford Brand Charcoal Briquets are the best selling briquets in the US, so Kingsford briquet charcoal will be explained.

KINGSFORD INGREDIENTS

According to a Kingsford form letter sent in August, 2000, Kingsford contains the following ingredients:

• wood char
• mineral char
• mineral carbon
• limestone
• starch
• sodium borate
• sodium nitrate
• sawdust

PURPOSE OF INGREDIENTS

There so many ingredients because the addition of each requires another to offset its negative affect.  For example, in order to make the briquets easier to light, sodium nitrate is added.  Then limestone is added so that, when the briquettes burn, they have the typical light-ash color.

The purpose of each ingredient is as follows:

• wood char:  for heat
• mineral char: for heat
• mineral carbon:  for heat
• limestone:   for the light-ash color
• starch:   for binding the ingredients
• sodium borate (borax):  for separating from briquet mold 
• sodium nitrate:  for speeding ignition 
• sawdust:  for speeding ignition 

NO HARDWOOD

Most briquets are made of scraps of soft wood that are byproducts from wood and paper processing.  They include scraps such as tree branches, tree bark, and sawdust.  The most commonly used woods are fir, cedar, alder and other soft woods that are plentiful in the regions where the briquets are manufactured.

Some newer briquet charcoal contains hardwood specks, such as hickory and mesquite.  However, these hardwood ingredients are in addition to the basic ingredients, including the soft woods, and are used to provide a hardwood aroma.

NO PETROLEUM PRODUCTS

Some claim that Kingsford briquets have an unpleasant odor, especially when they are first lit.  This has led many to conclude that the briquets may contain petroleum products.

However, an investigation has been determined that neither Kingsford nor any other known commercial brand contains any petroleum products.

USE OF BRIQUET AND LUMP CHARCOAL

Briquet and lump charcoal have different ingredients and different uses.

Briquet charcoal burns at a lower temperature than lump charcoal, and, if properly lit, it imparts no additional layer of flavor to grilled steak or other food.  Therefore, briquets should be used when no distinct smoky flavor is desired, so it is ideal for grilling hamburgers, hot dogs and similar food.

Lump charcoal burns at a higher temperature than briquet charcoal, and, if properly lit, it imparts a distinct smoky layer of flavor to grilled stead and other food.  Therefore, lump charcoal should be used when a distinct smoky flavor is desired, so it is ideal for grilling high-quality steak and other meats.    

No charcoal should be lit with liquid lighter fluid, since it may impart a strong petroleum smell which will ruin the taste of any grilled steak or other food.  Instead, charcoal should be lit with a chimney.

HISTORY OF BRIQUET CHARCOAL

Around 1915, Henry Ford was using large amounts of wood to manufacture automobiles.  Ford operated a sawmill in the forests around Iron Mountain, Michigan to make the wooden parts, so there were piles of wood scraps.

Ford learned of a process, which had been developed and patented by Orin F. Stafford, which involved chipping wood into small pieces, converting them into charcoal, grinding the charcoal into powder, adding a binder and compressing the mix into the now-familiar, pillow-shaped briquets.

By 1921, a charcoal-making plant was in full operation.

According to the Kingsford website in 2000:

E. G. Kingsford, a lumberman who owned one of Ford's earliest automobile sales agencies and was distantly related, briefly served as manager of the briquette operation.  A company town was built nearby and named Kingsford.  In 1951, an investment group bought the plant, renamed the business the Kingsford Chemical Company, and took over operations.  Its successor, The Kingsford Products Company, was acquired by The Clorox Company of Oakland, California, in 1973.

Today, KINGSFORD charcoal is manufactured from wood charcoal, anthracite coal, mineral charcoal, starch, sodium nitrate, limestone, sawdust, and borax. The wood and other high-carbon materials are heated in special ovens with little or no air.  This process removes water, nitrogen and other elements, leaving almost pure carbon.

The briquettes do not contain petroleum or any petroleum by-products.  KINGSFORD charcoal briquettes with mesquite contain the same high-quality ingredients as KINGSFORD, but with the addition of real mesquite wood throughout.

Manufacturing briquettes begins with preparing the wood charcoal using one of the following methods:

Retort processing -- Waste wood is processed through a large furnace with multiple hearths (called a retort) in a controlled-oxygen atmosphere.  The wood is progressively charred as it drops from one hearth to the next.

Kiln processing -- The waste wood is cut into slabs and stacked in batches in a kiln that chars the wood in a controlled-oxygen atmosphere.

Once the wood charcoal is prepared, it is crushed and combined with the other ingredients, formed into pillow-shaped briquettes and dried. The advantage of using charcoal over wood is that charcoal burns hotter with less smoke. [Editor's note:  This last sentence is true only when briquets are compared with softwood, but briquets do not burn nearly as hot as lump charcoal.]

RELATED INFORMATION 

For related information, see:

• The Kingsford Products Company website
• The Virtual Weber Bulletin Board website

CONCLUSION

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Terminology: "Never Ever 3"

SUMMARY OF "NEVER EVER 3" STEAK?

In summary, "Never Ever 3" steak means a steak from cattle which:

• Have never received any antibiotics;
• Have never received any growth promotants; and
• Have never received any animal by-products.

DETAILS OF "NEVER EVER 3" STEAK

The details of the "Never Ever 3" program are regulated by the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, Audit Review and Compliance Branch, which are summarized here.

These requirements are much stricter than the USDA's "natural" definition. For example, a steak would qualify as natural if the cattle that produced it had been administered antibiotics for medical reasons, but that steak would not qualify for the NE3 program. A second example is that a steak would qualify as natural if the cattle that produced it had been administered non-hormone growth promotants, but that steak would not qualify for the NE3 program.

The USDA's website contains more information here. FSIS provides the following definition of the word "natural""

NATURAL vs. ORGANIC vs. NEVER EVER 3

Natural, Organic and Never Ever 3 have very different meanings. Click here for our blog on "Organic Steak". In addition, the Food and Marketing Institute has an excellent summary of the differences between the terms.

In summary, the three terms have very different meanings, with some steak qualifying for one or two but not all three, while some qualify for two but others qualify for none.

CONCLUSION
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Terminology: "Age-Verified"

This is an update of a blog first posted on January 22, 2011,
which is online at http://bit.ly/iiVPKD
AGE VERIFIED

The term "age verified" has a precise and important meaning in the beef cattle industry.  The term means that the age of the cattle has been tracked and verified.

This permits cattle purchasers to know the exact age of the cattle and beef purchasers to know the exact age when the cattle was processed.

IMPORTANCE OF AGE VERIFICATION

The term "age verified" became important in recent years, primarily because of the 1990's outbreak of "mad cow disease" (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE).  BSE is a cattle disease that affects only older cattle and is a major health risk for humans who eat infected meat.

To eliminate the human risk of BSE, several countries adopted regulations to prohibit trade in cattle older than 20 months and to require that all cattle be age verified.

SIMILAR TERMS

There are several similar terms that are used in the industry that have similar but very different meanings. These include the following:

• Source Verified
• Traceable
• Trackback
• Brand
• Vintage
• Provenance Verified or Proven

Some of these terms, like Source Verified, Traceable and Trackback, mean only that the beef can be traced back to each farm and processor where the cattle was raised and the beef processed.

Other terms, like Vintance and Provenance Verified, mean that the beef is sold with information about the ranch/farm(s) where the cattle was born and raised (including the ranch's terrain and weather), the cattle breed, sex (e.g. steer or heifer), diet, health and care (including medications, vaccines and antibiotics), the processing plant, the beef's USDA Grade, its marbling score, etc.

It is important to remember that age verification concerns only one factor:  the age of the animal.  Similarly, source verification concerns only one factor:  where the animal and meat were raised and processed.

CONCLUSION
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Terminology: "Source-Verified"

SOURCE VERIFIED

The term "source verified" has a precise and important meaning in the beef cattle industry. The term means that the farm(s) and/or ranch(es) where the cattle were raised have been tracked and verified by an independent organization.

This permits cattle purchasers to know the exact places where the cattle have been.

IMPORTANCE OF SOURCE VERIFICATION

The term "source verified" became important in recent years, primarily because of the 1990's outbreak of "mad cow disease" (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE). BSE is a cattle disease that affects only older cattle and is a major health risk for humans who eat infected meat.

To eliminate the human risk of BSE, several countries adopted regulations to prohibit trade in cattle that cannot be traced back to the farm(s) and ranch(es) where they were raised.

SIMILAR TERMS

There are several similar terms that are used in the industry that have similar but very different meanings. These include the following:

• Age Verified
• Traceable
• Trackback
• Brand
• Vintage
• Provenance Verified or Proven

Some of these terms, like Source Verified, Traceable and Trackback, mean only that the beef can be traced back to each farm and processor where the cattle was raised and the beef processed.

Other terms, like Vintage and Provenance Verified, mean that the beef is sold with information about the ranch/farm(s) where the cattle was born and raised (including the ranch's terrain and weather), the cattle breed, sex (e.g. steer or heifer), diet, health and care (including medications, vaccines and antibiotics), the age at slaughter, the processing plant, the beef's USDA Grade, its marbling score, etc.

It is important to remember that source verification concerns only one factor: the farm(s) and ranch(es) where the cattle were raised. Similarly, age verification concerns only one factor: the age of the cattle at slaughter.

CONCLUSION
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Terminology: "Natural"

SUMMARY OF "NATURAL" STEAK?

In summary, "natural" steak is a steak which:

• Contains no artificial ingredients;
• Contains no added color;
• Is minimally processed so as not to fundamentally alter the product; and
• Has a label which explains the meaning of the word "natural".

DETAILS OF "NATURAL" STEAK

In order for a steak to be labelled "organic", the steak must comply with the requirements of the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).  The FSIS maintains a glossary of meat and poultry labeling terms and is the agency responsible for ensuring the truthfulness and accuracy in labeling of steak (as well as all meat and poultry products).

FSIS provides the following definition of the word "natural""

"A product containing no artificial ingredient or added color and is only minimally processed.  Minimal processing means that the product was processed in a manner that does not fundamentally alter the product.  The label must include a statement explaining the meaning of the term natural (such as "no artificial ingredients; minimally processed")."

UN-NATURAL STEAK

The word "natural" has a fundamental flaw, when applied to "natural", because it implies that any steak which does not comply with the "natural" definition must therefore be "un-natural".

In fact, many steaks that are sold do not qualify for the natural label. These include, for example, any steak which:

• Has been tenderized with needles (e.g. a Jaccard) or other mechanical means;
• Has been tenderized with any un-natural, chemical means (see note, below); or
• Has been injected with saline or any other solution.

Note that tenderizing a steak with natural means (such as dry-aging) does not disqualify a steak from the being labelled as natural.

NATURAL vs. ORGANIC

Natural and Organic have very different meanings. Click here for our blog on "Organic Steak". In addition, the Food and Marketing Institute has an excellent summary of the differences between the terms.

In summary, the two terms have very different meanings, with some steak qualifying for one but not the other, some qualifying for both, and a small proportion qualifying for neither.

CONCLUSION
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Terminology: "Organic"

This is an update of a blog first posted on January 18, 2011,
which is online at http://bit.ly/gSxULZ

SUMMARY OF "ORGANIC" STEAK?

In summary, an "organic" steak means a steak from cattle that has been certified, by an independent agency, as meeting three requirements:

• The cattle were fed only 100% organic feed;
• The cattle were not treated with any routine antibiotics; and
• The cattle were not treated with any hormones.

DETAILS OF "ORGANIC" STEAK

In order for a steak to be labelled "organic", the steak must comply with a long list of specific requirements.

With regard to the diet of the cattle from which the steak is produced, none of the grasses or grains may be treated with any non-organic pesticide, any non-organic insecticide, any non-organic herbicide, and most non-organic fertilizers.

In addition, none of the cattle's diet may have been subject to chemical ripening, irradiation, genetically modified ingredients or processes, artificial sweeteners, artificial food colors and artificial flavoring.

With regard to the cattle themselves, they may not be treated with routine antibiotics. However, antibiotics may be used in order to treat a specific medical condition.

The cattle may not be given any artificial growth hormones.  However, cattle may be given artificial growth enhancements that are not hormones.

Because of the strict requirements, less than 1% of the steaks sold domestically qualify for the organic label.  Because the supply is so limited, and because there is considerable demand for organic steak, the price of an organic steak is much higher than the price of a comparable conventional steak.

NON-ORGANIC CATTLE

The common term used for non-organic cattle or steak is "conventional" cattle or steak.  In this sense, conventional refers to the method by which the great majority of domestic beef cattle are raised, from which the vast majority of steak is produced.

A more precise term for non-organic cattle or steak is "non-organic cattle or steak".

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

The word "organic" is defined by federal law.  The word is codified in the "Organic Food Production Act of 1990, 7 USC § 6501-22".  The Regulations are set forth in "7 CFR Part 205".  The program is regulated by the USDA's "National Organic Program".

There are approximately "90 certification agencies" which have been accredited (approved) by the USDA.

COMPARING ORGANIC WITH NON-ORGANIC STEAK

There is no difference in the palatability (i.e. the taste, texture or juiciness) between organic and non-organic steak.

Some claim that there are health and environmental benefits of organic steak compared with non-organic steak.  Some claim that there are no measurable differences, and some claim that there are health and environmental risks associated with organic steak.

As noted above, the price of a organic steak is higher than a comparable non-organic steak.

CONCLUSION
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Does Your Steak Cause Global Warming?

NO, YOUR STEAK DOES NOT CAUSE GLOBAL WARMING?

In the past year, claims that livestock produces significant greenhouses gasses have been discredited by new scientific evidence.

In fact, raising livestock for food accounts for about 3 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

In comparison, transportation creates 26 percent.

ANTI-MEAT EXTREMISTS

Those who promote the meat=heat misinformation are anti-meat extremists who use irrational, emotional arguments.

Many are hard-core vegetarians and vegans, whose goal is to eliminate all meat from everyone's diet.  Celebrities like Paul McCartney, an outspoken vegetarian, may be "well-intentioned", but they are ignorant about science and the complex relationships among human activity, animal digestion, food production and atmospheric chemistry.

Time and again their arguments are proven wrong.  What is their response?  Do they apologize for their errors and acknowledge the science?  No, of course not.  Like true-believers throughout history, when proven wrong, they deny any error, they attack the messenger, and they change their words but not their message.

For example, recent scientific evidence shows that average temperatures have declined.  So extremists deny that they erred, attack the science, and change their wording.  Thus, they no longer claim that your steak causes "global warming". Now they claim that your steak causes "climate change".

SCIENCE IS THE VICTIM

Why do anti-meat extremists ignore the science and continue to lie about the facts?  For more than two years, science proved that your steak and the cattle who produced it do not cause global warming.

Extremists are not concerned with science or truth.  They are driven by their emotions and beliefs.  Their goal is to eliminate meat from everyone's diet.  They do not care about facts.  They are true-believers who will intentionally lie to promote their goal.

They will continue to use unfounded claims to attack steak lovers and the beef cattle ranchers and farmers who produce the best steak in the world.

One of the worst results of the anti-meat extremists is the confusion they cause among those who do not know the science.  Extremists claim that science supports their claim that your steak causes global warming, even though they know that their claim is wrong and that science shows the opposite.  Science, along with the cattle industry, has become the victim of the anti-meat extremists.

For extremists:
Earth is their god.
Mankind is their devil.
Veganism is their religion.

CONCLUSION
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SteakPerfection Followers and Following

THOSE WHO FOLLOW US

Those who should follow @SteakPerfection on Twitter include those interested in learning about steak. Our tweets focus exclusively on steak-related topics, including the following:

• Breeds of beef cattle
  
• Feed for beef cattle
  
• Sex for beef cattle
  
• Age of beef cattle at harvest
  
• USDA Inspection, including health and safety issues
  
• USDA Grades for beef
  
• Marbling scores
  
• Cuts of steak
  
• Aging methods and time
  
• Trimming and pre-cooking preparation
  
• Cooking methods at home and restaurants
  
• Online steak sellers
  
• Steakhouses and restaurants
  
• Science
  
• Scientifically valid blind taste tests

Every steak cooked at home or ordered in a restaurant cannot always be the most expensive available.  However, our goal is to help our followers learn how to cook and order an inexpensive steak that is as close as possible to steak perfection.  Since we limit our tweets solely to steak-related topics, we limit the topics of our tweets as follows:

• No non-steak tweets
  
• No idle chit-chat
  
• No jokes
  
• No non-steak recipes
  
• No politics
  
• No flames

In summary, we tweet about steak, and only about steak. We learn about steak and help others to learn about steak. We do not tweet about other topics. Our philosophy at @SteakPerfection is that consumers should know as much as about their steak as the rancher who raised the cattle, so that consumers can make informed decisions. In the case of steaks at steakhouses and restaurants, we focus on the steak rather than on other entrees, side dishes, service, ambiance, prices, etc.

THOSE WHOM WE FOLLOW

@SteakPerfection on Twitter limits the number of those whom it follows, so that we can read their tweets and process their information. We will be pleased to follow you, and we invite you to notify us if you tweet regularly about any steak-related topics, including the following:

• Agriculture, farming and ranching
  
• Breeds, numbers and markets for beef cattle
  
• Grass-fed and grain-finished cattle ranchers
  
• How age, sex, feed, geography and other variables of beef cattle affect the look, taste and texture of steak
  
• USDA Inspection, including health and safety issues
  
• USDA Grade issues
  
• Marbling scores
  
• Cuts of steak
  
• Aging methods and time
  
• Trimming and pre-cooking preparation
  
• Cooking methods at home and restaurants
  
• Online steak sellers
  
• Steakhouses and restaurants
  
• Science
  
• Scientifically valid blind taste tests

Every week @SteakPerfection uses the Tweepi cleanup tool to review and edit the list of those whom we are following.  We do not strive to inflate the numbers of our followers and therefore limit those whom we are following to those who provide information about steak and steak-related topics.


CONCLUSION

SteakPerfection welcomes your comments.  Please share them below.  SteakPerfection is a complex process that involves every detail, from pasture to plate.

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101 Factors Affect Steak Quality

FACTORS THAT AFFECT STEAK QUALITY

We at SteakPerfection have been asked to list the most important factors which affect steak quality. After substantial analysis, we prepared the following list of the 101 major factors that affect the quality of a steak.

The following factors are not the only data that is necessary for the cattle database. Instead, these are the factors that should be available to every consumer. For example, the following does not include price, yield or safety data, which are necessary for suppliers. The following lists the factors that affect a steak's taste, texture and juiciness. Note that some of these factors are not applicable in every case. For example, grass-finished cattle is not transported to or fed in a feedlot.

7 FACTORS ABOUT COW-CALF RANCH OR FARM-OF-ORIGIN

1. Name - including address, website, number of ranchers, etc.
2. Cattle density - i.e. number of cattle per area, which relates to herd and cattle stress
3. Soil - type of soil will affect cattle directly and, more importantly, indirectly, since it changes the taste of the cattle feed
4. Climate - temperature, wind, snow and rain -- the terroir includes the terrain and the soil, water and weather which affects the taste of the steak because they affect the taste of the fodder that the cattle eat and the way that they grow, and it also includes how the cattle is treated by the farmer
5. Terrain - hills, trees, meadows, streams, altitude, air quality and other terrain factors that affect how much or little the cattle use and develop their muscles, quality of life, etc.
6. Care - details of stress mitigation and other care
7. Special notes - any other factors that may affect the steak quality

4 FACTORS ABOUT TRANSPORT FROM FARM-OF-ORIGIN

8. Method - how are calves moved to the stocker/backgrounder (e.g. cattle drive, truck, etc.)
9. Name of transport company - including address, website, type of equipment, etc
10. Care - details of stress mitigation and other care during transport
11. Special notes - any other factors that may affect the steak quality

7 FACTORS ABOUT SALE-BARN/STOCKER/BACKGROUNDER/OTHER RANCH

12. Name - including address, website, number of ranchers, etc.
13. Cattle density - i.e. number of cattle per area, which relates to herd and cattle stress
14. Soil - type of soil will affect cattle directly and, more importantly, indirectly, since it changes the taste of the cattle feed
15. Climate - temperature, wind, snow and rain -- the terroir includes the terrain and the soil, water and climate which affects the taste of the steak because they affect the taste of the fodder that the cattle eat and the way that they grow, and it also includes how the cattle is treated by the farmer
16. Terrain - hills, trees, meadows, streams, altitude, air quality and other terrain factors that affect how much or little the cattle use and develop their muscles, quality of life, etc.
17. Care - details of stress mitigation and other care
18. Special notes - any other factors that may affect the steak quality

4 FACTORS ABOUT TRANSPORT FROM RANCH

19. Method - how are calves moved to the feedlot (e.g. cattle drive, truck, etc.)
20. Name of transport company - including address, website, type of equipment, etc
21. Care - details of stress mitigation and other care during transport
22. Special notes - any other factors that may affect the steak quality

7 FACTORS ABOUT FEEDLOT

23. Name - including address, website, number of ranchers, etc.
24. Cattle density - i.e. number of cattle per area, which relates to herd and cattle stress
25. Soil - type of soil will affect cattle directly and, more importantly, indirectly, since it changes the taste of the cattle feed
26. Climate - temperature, wind, snow and rain -- the terroir includes the terrain and the soil, water and climate which affects the taste of the steak because they affect the taste of the fodder that the cattle eat and the way that they grow, and it also includes how the cattle is treated by the farmer
27. Terrain - hills, trees, meadows, streams, altitude, air quality and other terrain factors that affect how much or little the cattle use and develop their muscles, quality of life, etc.
28. Care - details of stress mitigation and other care
29. Special notes - any other factors that may affect the steak quality

18 FACTORS ABOUT EACH HEAD OF BEEF CATTLE

30. ID number - the RFID or other unique ID that stays with the animal from birth to slaughter and then to the retail consumer’s steak
31. Sire ID - with which the consumer can trace the sire’s sire, dam, date of birth, etc.
32. Dam ID - with which the consumer can trace the sire’s sire, dam, date of birth, etc.
33. Date of birth
34. Place of birth
35. Breed
36. Sex - male or female at birth
37. Weaning age
38. Weaning method (important as measure of stress)
39. Castration age - (note: castration at birth results in more marbling but lower yield)
40. Castration method - (important as measure of stress)
41. Diet as pre-weaned calf - including details and proportion of cow-fed milk, bottle fed milk, free choice alfalfa, water, etc.
42. Diet as weaned calf - including details and proportions of feed, including grasses, forage, mixes, water, etc.
43. Diet on pasture - including details and proportions of feed, including grasses, forage, mixes, water, etc.
44. Diet in feedlot - including details and proportions of grains, mixes, supplements, water, etc. (note: the amount and quality of water is as important as the quality of feed)
45. Medications and supplements - including dates and details of each vaccine, antibiotic, vitamin and mineral supplements, growth promotant (e.g. hormones), etc
46. Brand - i.e. details about any brand, PVP or similar program in which the animal is enrolled (e.g. CAB, grass-finished, etc.)
47. Special notes - any other factors that may affect the steak quality

11 FACTORS ABOUT ABATTOIR

48. Name - including address, website, number of cattle processed per day, etc.
49. Slaughter date - from which the exact age can be determined by reference to the date of birth
50. Slaughter method - important as measure of stress
51. Hot carcass treatment - i.e. spray with chilled water, shrouded, etc.
52. Days in cooler
53. Date of USDA Inspection
54. Marbling quality - texture, color etc
55. Marbling amount - IMF%
56. Date of USDA Grading
57. USDA Grade - includes more info than just marbling
58. Special notes - any other factors that may affect the steak quality

9 FACTORS ABOUT AGING

59. Name of facility(s) - including address, website, etc.
60. Cut - the name and IMPS/NAMP number
61. Temperature - note that this and the other aging room factors must be reported for each cut and not simply at the facility’s website, since these factors are very important for steak quality and since they can vary from day-to-day and week-to-week
62. Humidity
63. Air-flow
64. Bacterial control
65. Method - dry, wet, hybrid
66. Time - note: all beef is aged at least 2 days in the hot carcass cooler, and almost all beef is wet aged at least during shipment to retailer
67. Special notes - any other factors that may affect the steak quality

5 FACTORS ABOUT BUTCHERY OF CARCASS

68. Name - including address, website, etc.
69. Date of butchering - from carcass to primal
70. Cut - the name and IMPS/NAMP number
71. Method of packaging - e.g. cryovac
72. Special notes - any other factors that may affect the steak quality

5 FACTORS ABOUT BUTCHERY OF PRIMAL CUT

73. Name - including address, website, etc.
74. Date of butchering - from primal to subprimal
75. Cut - the name and IMPS/NAMP number
76. Method of packaging - e.g. cryovac
77. Special notes - any other factors that may affect the steak quality

6 FACTORS ABOUT BUTCHERY OF SUBPRIMAL CUT

78. Name - including address, website, etc.
79. Date of butchering - from subprimal to individual steak
80. Cut - the name and IMPS/NAMP number
81. Thickness of steak
82. Method of packaging - e.g. cryovac if portion-cut to be shipped to steakhouse or retailer
83. Special notes - any other factors that may affect the steak quality

5 FACTORS ABOUT PREPARATION BEFORE COOKING

84. Trim - i.e. removal of fat
85. Temperature - of steak before cooking
86. Drying - details about drying the steak
87. Pre-seasoning - salt, pepper, marinating, applying a rub or oil, etc.
88. Special notes - any other factors that may affect the steak quality

6 FACTORS ABOUT COOKING

89. Appliance - grill, pan, oven, etc., including utensils (e.g. tongs) for flipping
90. Fuel - (e.g. natural gas grill, propane gas grill, gas broiler (e.g. Montague), infrared broiler, hickory lump charcoal, etc.)
91. Temperature - cooking temperature at meat level
92. Environment - ambient temperature, humidity, airflow, altitude etc.
93. Time - for cooking, including number of flips
94. Special notes - any other factors that may affect the steak quality

6 FACTORS ABOUT SERVING

95. Resting - time and details (e.g. covered and rested 5 minutes on a rack in a 200F oven)
96. Seasoning - details of seasonings, butter, etc.
97. Slicing - details about the direction and thickness of slices, type of knife (e.g. ceramic), etc.
98. Plating - e.g. served on a pre-warmed but not hot plate to retain the steak heat
99. Serving - i.e. garnishes, side dishes, etc. (e.g. serve with separate bowls of coarse sea salts)
100. Special notes - any other factors that may affect the steak quality

(and perhaps the single most important factor) TASTING

101. The steak lover should learn how to taste a great steak (e.g. small bites, chew slowly, detect and appreciate the complex layers of taste, texture and juiciness, etc.).

CONCLUSION

SteakPerfection welcomes your comments.  Please share them below.  SteakPerfection is a complex process that involves every detail, from pasture to plate.

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Grilled Fruit

Grilled fruit adds a surprising and tasty twist to backyard grilling. Here are some examples, starting first with our own SteakPerfection Grilled Fruit Kabob Recipe.

SteakPerfection GRILLED FRUIT KABOB RECIPE

This is our SteakPerfection Grilled Fruit Recipe. We credit the recipes shown below and have taken many of their ideas to develop our own unique recipe, which makes 6 servings.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed firmly
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 lb of beef tenderloin, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 3 firm nectarines, pitted and cut into 4 slices each
• 3 firm pears, pitted and cut into 4 slices each
• 3 firm peaches, pitted and cut into 4 slices each
• 3 firm plums, pitted and cut into 4 slices each
• 6 apricots, halved
• 12 bamboo skewers (12" each)
• 3 tablespoons honey or light corn syrup, warmed

Directions

• Soak bamboo skewers in water until ready to use.
• Start a mesquite lump charcoal grill for 750 at grill level.
• Put the bourbon into a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring it to a boil.
• Boil for 1 minute to burn off the alcohol.
• Add the butter, brown sugar, lemon juice, and water.
• Bring to a boil whisking until all the sugar is dissolved.
• Simmer for 5 minutes.
• Let cool to thicken for 10 minutes.
• Trim pork tenderloins and cut into 1" pieces.
• Remove pits from fruit and cut each piece of fruit as noted.
• Into a large bowl, place the fruit and glaze, and toss to coat.
• Beginning and ending with fruit, thread the bamboo skewers with the fruit and tenderloin pieces, alternating with the meat and a different fruit.
• Place the skewers on the grill, and grill uncovered for 8-10 minutes, until the tenderloin is rare or medium rare.
• Turn the skewers every two minutes.
• Remove from grill, place on a rack and let rest 5 minutes.
• Move to a platter and serve.

GRILLED FRUIT KABOB RECIPE

Here's a Grilled Fruit Kabobs Recipe, which yields 6 servings.

Ingredients

• 1/2 fresh pineapple, trimmed and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 3 medium nectarines, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 3 medium pears, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 3 medium peaches, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 3 to 4 medium plums, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 10 apricots, halved
• 3 tablespoons honey or light corn syrup, warmed

Directions

• Thread fruit alternately onto metal or soaked wooden skewers.
• Grill, uncovered, over medium-hot heat until fruit is heated through, about 6 minutes, turning often.
• Brush with honey or corn syrup during the last minute of grilling time.

ANOTHER GRILLED FRUIT KABOB RECIPE

Here's Another Grilled Fruit Kabobs Recipe, which yields 12 skewers.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 fresh peaches, pitted and quartered
• 3 fresh plums, pitted and quartered
• 3 bananas, cut into 4 pieces each
• 12 strawberries, hulled
• 12 skewers

Directions

• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat and place a large sheet of foil onto the grate.
• Melt the margarine and honey together in a small saucepan over medium heat.
• Reduce heat to low and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Do not let the sauce boil.
• Thread a peach quarter, a plum quarter, a banana piece, and a strawberry onto each skewer.
• Place the skewers onto the foil on the preheated grill; spoon margarine-honey mixture over each skewer.
• Grill until the fruit is softened and the sauce has thickened and cooked onto the fruit, about 5 minutes.
• Flip the skewers, spoon more margarine-honey sauce over each, and grill for about 5 more minutes on the other side.

OTHER GRILLED FRUIT KABOB RECIPES

Here is Sandra Lee's recipe for Grilled Fruit Kabobs.

Another recipe features Grilled Fruit Kabobs on Sugar-Cane Skewers.

Paula Deen has a recipe for Grilled Fruit with a Bourbon Glaze.

Pauls Deen also has a recipe that combines chunks of Grilled Pork Tenderloin and Fruit Kabobs.

GRILLED FRUIT SALAD

Here's a recipe for Grilled Fruit Salad with Honey-Yogurt Dressing, which yields 4 servings.


Ingredients

• 1 pineapple, cored and sliced into 8 rings
• 2 plums, cored and each cut into 8 wedges
• Vegetable oil, for brushing fruit
• 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped mint leaves
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

Directions

• Preheat grill to medium.
• Lightly brush fruit with oil and place on the grill.
• Cook until pineapple and plums are nicely caramelized, turning once, about 8 to 10 minutes.
• Remove to a plate.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl whisk together yogurt, honey and mint.
• Place 2 rings and 4 wedges on each plate and drizzle with dressing.
• Garnish with pine nuts

ANOTHER GRILLED FRUIT SALAD RECIPE

Here's another Grilled Fruit Salad Recipe, which yields 4 servings.


CONCLUSION
SteakPerfection welcomes your comments.  Please share them below.  SteakPerfection is a complex process that involves every detail, from pasture to plate.

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Terminology: "Age Verified"

AGE VERIFIED

The term "age verified" has a precise and important meaning in the beef cattle industry. The term means that the age of the cattle has been tracked and verified.

This permits cattle purchasers to know the exact age of the cattle and beef purchasers to know the exact age when the cattle was processed.

IMPORTANCE OF AGE VERIFICATION

The term "age verified" became important in recent years, primarily because of the 1990's outbreak of "mad cow disease" (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE). BSE is a cattle disease that affects only older cattle and is a major health risk for humans who eat infected meat.

To eliminate the human risk of BSE, several countries adopted regulations to prohibit trade in cattle older than 20 months and to require that all cattle be age verified.

SIMILAR TERMS

There are several similar terms that are used in the industry that have similar but very different meanings. These include the following:

• Source Verified
• Traceable
• Trackback
• Brand
• Vintage
• Provenance Verified or Proven

Some of these terms, like Source Verified, Traceable and Trackback, mean only that the beef can be traced back to each farm and processor where the cattle was raised and the beef processed.

Other terms, like Vintance and Provenance Verified, mean that the beef is sold with information about the ranch/farm(s) where the cattle was born and raised (including the ranch's terrain and weather), the cattle breed, sex (e.g. steer or heifer), diet, health and care (including medications, vaccines and antibiotics), the processing plant, the beef's USDA Grade, its marbling score, etc.

It is important to remember that age verification concerns only one factor: the age of the animal. Similarly, source verification concerns only one factor: where the animal and meat were raised and processed.

CONCLUSION

SteakPerfection welcomes your comments.  Please share them below.  SteakPerfection is a complex process that involves every detail, from pasture to plate.

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Two Buck Chuck and Your $50 Steak

You know more about a bottle of Two Buck Chuck than you know about your $50 Steak.

TWO BUCK CHUCK

"Two Buck Chuck" means the bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon wine, which is sold at Trader Joe's for $1.99 ("Two Bucks") and which is produced by the Charles Shaw vineyard ("Chuck") .

The wine label tells the story of the wine:

• The vineyard is Charles Shaw, and the grapes are grown, fermented, aged and bottled in California;
• The wine in produced from the Cabernet Sauvignon grape; and
• The wine was produced from grapes grown in a specified year and aged for a specified amount of time.

In summary, when you purchase a bottle of "Two Buck Chuck", you not only know all the details of the wine but you can be certain that, if you purchase a second bottle, it will taste exactly like the first, because it too was grown at the same vineyard from the same grape and in the same year.

YOUR $50 STEAK

You might buy a $50 steak at Morton's, Flemings, Ruth's Cris or other steakhouse or restaurant, and you might purchase an expensive steak from your local buther or supermarket.

When you do:

• You won't know the name of the ranch, the terrain, the weather or the feed where the cattle was raised;
• You won't know the breed of the cattle; and
• You won't know the age of the cattle or steak.

In short, when you purchase a steak, you know none of the details about where your steak came from.

COMPARISON

You know much more about a bottle of Two Buck Chuck than your $50 steak.

• ORIGIN: Even a cheap bottle of wine gives the name, location, terrain and weather where the grapes are grown, but steak from cattle raised on many different ranches, locations, terrain, weather and feed are mixed and packaged together;
• BREED: Even the cheapest bottle of wine names the variety of grape that was used to make it, but steak from many different breeds are mixed and packaged together; and
• AGE: Wine labels disclose the year of production, which is very important for a consumer to find the same wine taste, but steak from different years are mixed and packaged together.

DUPLICATE THE TASTE

When you purchase even a cheap wine like Two Buck Chuck, you know all the details about the wine. As a result, if you like that particular wine, you can purchase an identical bottle (the same vineyard, grape, location and year), and you will experience the identical taste. Different bottles of the same wine will taste exactly the same.

However, when you purchase a steak at a steakhouse or butcher, you know none of the details about the steak. As a result, if you like that particular steak, you can never duplicate the taste of that steak, since you don't know any of the details about the steak (the ranch, breed, year etc.). Different steaks at the same steakhouse or butcher do not taste the same, because they come from a single box in which steaks from different ranches, breeds and years are mixed together.

CONCLUSION

Consumers should demand to know as much about their steak as they know about their wine. Consumers have a right to know as much about their steak as the rancher who raised the cattle, including the geography, terrain, weather, cattle breed, sex, feed, age, health and care of the cattle.

SteakPerfection welcomes your comments.  Please share them below.  SteakPerfection is a complex process that involves every detail, from pasture to plate.

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Steak Myth #1: Searing Seals in Juices

Steak Myth #1: Searing Seals in Juices

A prevalent myth in grilling steaks is that "searing a steak seals in its juices."

Fact: Searing Does Not Seal in Juices

Searing a steak creates no “seal” or barrier that prevents juices from escaping from the inside.

Steaks do not have pores. Pores exist only in the skin (epidermis) of an animal. Searing the outside of a steak does not close any pores or create any other seal or barrier. In fact, rather than sealing in the juices, searing the meat does almost the opposite: it dries out and removes juices (moisture) near the steak's surface, so searing causes a loss of moisture rather than protecting against it.

Searing Is Important!

There is an important reason to sear a steak, but it is not to "seal in" the juices. Instead, the reason to sear a steak is to caramelize (i.e., in scientific terms, to use the Maillard and browning reactions) to create a flavorful exterior crust.

When a steak is grilled in the heat and smoke of a wood fire, the result produces several desirable contrasts:

• Taste: the caramelized exterior versus the beefy interior;
• Texture: the crunchy exterior versus the soft interior;
• Juiciness: the dry exterior versus the juicy interior;
• Appearance: the dark-brown exterior versus the pinkish-red interior.

In short, searing a steak creates a contrasting exterior taste, texture, juiciness and appearance.

Harold McGee

Harold McGee, the esteemed author and food scientist, explains, in "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen", p. 112:

SEARING IN JUICENESS AND FLAVOR

There is one misconception about meat cookery that still enjoys great popularity, even though it has long since been discredited. Does the gist of this description of cooking sound familiar?

"Thus as the exterior pores contract, the moisture contained in the object cannot escape any more, but is imprisoned there when the pores close."

This quotation comes not from a blurb for convection ovens, but from Aristotle's treatise on meteorology (Book 4). The theory has changed little except for the terminology -- today we would say that the food's juices are "sealed in" by high temperatures, keeping it moist and tender.

McGee then traces the history of this theory through the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries, including the mid-19th Century explanation of the "science" for the "sealed in" theory by the German chemist, Justus von Liebig in his "Researches on the Chemistry of Food. McGee continues:

We know today that most of [Liebig's science] is simply not true. . . . Any crust formed around the surface of the meat is not waterproof. . . . But in its day, Liebig's account answered the unspoken need for some rational, systematic approach to cookery. . . . But even after Liebig's rationale for the early-searing method had been disproven, the method itself lived on under various guises, often rather eccentric. . . . [T]he grounds of the argument have shifted since Liebig's time. The issue is no longer nutritional value or juiciness, but taste. And here we are on firmer ground. We do know for a fact that whether done early or late, searing does not seal, but it does brown: it won't prevent flavor from escaping, but it creates flavor via the complex browning reactions. . . . So there is a good reason to sear meat, but it has nothing to do with nutrition or juiciness. The many recipes and ads that perpetuate Liebig's theory probably do so because the image it evokes is vivid and appealing.

CONCLUSION

Perhaps it is understandable that laymen and amateurs wax poetic about how high heat "sears in" their steaks' flavor and juiciness. However, expert steakmasters should dispel this prevalent myth and explain to others the science of SteakPerfection.

For more information about this Steak Myth #1 and other myths, click here for our Steak Perfection website.

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This updates an earlier blog at http://bit.ly/apACTJ

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Sous Vide

Sous vide is a cooking method that is becoming more popular. Sous vide is French, pronounced "sue VEED" (accent the second syllable), and means "under vaccuum".

In this method, food (meat or vegetables) is sealed in a plastic bag. The plastic bag is put into hot (but not boiling) water, heated to around 140°F. The bood in the plastic bag cooks for a very long period of time, often over 24 hours. The food is done when the interior temperature of the food reaches the temperature of the water.

In the case of steak, the sous vide method has the benefit of preventing evaporation while it tenderizes the meat.

Professional kitchens have the equipment and chefs to cook a great steak with the sous vide method. Those who want to try sous vide at home must be very careful and use the correct equipment and technique, because a major danger of sous vide is botulism poisoning. Botulism is a grave danger with sous vide.

In this video, Erik Williams, executive chef of MK Restaurant in Chicago, uses the sous vide method for a tenderloin.



This video is on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKdDfunjYio.

Again, be very careful, when using the sous vide method, to avoid botulism poisoning.

SteakPerfection is a complex process that involves every detail, from pasture to plate.

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Question: Which Breed Tastes Best?

TODAY'S STEAKPERFECTION QUESTION

"what is the best type of cow for Ribeye steaks,
Simmental or Angus?"

SUMMARY

There are no scientifically valid studies that rank the taste of high-quality steak from Simmental, Angus or other breeds.  Much more research is required on the relationship between taste scores and cattle breeds. 

However, a few studies by some researchers tends to show that abundantly marbled steak from the following eight beef cattle breeds would rank for taste in the following order:

• Brahman
• Gelbvieh
• Limousin
• Charolais
• Hereford
• Simmental
• Angus
• Red Angus

Until further research is conducted, the accuracy of this and other rankings cannot be verified.

ASSUMPTIONS

SteakPerfection strives for precise accuracy.  Because the question above contains several ambiguities, we assume, for purposes of this answer, that the question is directed to the following ribeye steak:

• Steer not a cow (the highest quality steaks come from steers, which are male cattle that are castrated when young, and not from cows, which are female cattle that have given birth at least once);
• Purebred (which means that the cattle are not hybrid);
• Well-raised (which means that the cattle are raised in a healthy, low-stress environment);
• Best quality (which means here that the steak is either graded as USDA Prime Grade or is its equivalent in terms of the cattle's age and its marbling quality, and that it is dry-aged for a substantial period of time);  and
• Equivalently and properly cooked (which means that the steak from each breed is cooked in exactly the same manner and is cooked properly).

THE STUDIES

There are a very few scientifically reliable studies which compare cattle breed with taste.  We rely on the following three studies:

• J.D. Tatum et al.  2008.  Producing Flavorful Beef.  Online (last retrieved on 3/30/11).
• Wheeler, T. L., L. V. Cundiff, S. D. Shackelford, and M. Koohmaraie.  2001.  Characterization of biological types of cattle (Cycle V):  carcass traits and longissimus palatability.  J. Anim. Sci. 79:1209-1222.
• Wheeler, T. L., L.V. Cundiff, S. D. Shackelford, and M. Koohmaraie.  2005. Characterization of biological types of cattle (Cycle VII):  Carcass, yield, and longissimus palatability traits.  J. Anim. Sci. 83:196-207.

APPARENT RANKINGS

As shown in Tatum's study in Figure 6 at Page 18, the relationship between marbling scores and taste scores for eight beef cattle breeds is shown.

Caution: before analyzing the following taste scores,
note that the ranking below is unreliable,
for the reasons discussed in the next section.

Figure 6 shows that the following beef cattle breeds, marbling scores and taste scores, ranked by thier taste scores, from highests to lowest:

• Red Angus (590, 4.94)
• Angus (585, 4.93)
• Hereford (529, 4.90)
• Gelbvieh (506, 4.87)
• Charolais (518, 4.86)
• Simmental (529, 4.84)
• Limousin (504, 4.83)
• Brahman (473, 4.82)

As cautioned above, the foregoing ranking is very misleading.  The taste scores were awarded for steak from different breeds that were not controlled for their marbling scores.  In other words, the study compared the taste of steaks which had different marbling scores, which is like comparing apples with oranges.  For example, the steak from the Brahman had a marbling score of only 470, but it achieved a taste score that was almost as high as the steak from the Limousin, which had a much higher marbling score (504).

Thus, we adjusted the rankings in order to account for the differences in marbling.

ADJUSTED RANKINGS

For the reasons explained above, the Apparent Rankings in Figure 6 were adjusted to account for the differences in marbling.  In order to make this adjustment, we applied a linear regressional analysis.  We calculated the expected flavor score for each breed, based upon a marbling score of 900.

A marbling score of 900 equates to
an abundant marbling score of AB-00 and
to an intramuscular fat percentage (IMF%) of 11%.

The adjusted rankings for each breed are set forth below, ranked in order of their adjusted taste scores, from highests to lowest, and with their assumed marbling scores and adjusted taste scores:

• Brahman (900, 9.17)
• Gelbvieh (900, 8.66)
• Limousin (900, 8.63)
• Charolais (900, 8.44)
• Hereford (900, 8.34)
• Simmental (900, 8.23)
• Angus (900, 7.58)
• Red Angus (900, 7.54)

We ascribe little confidence to this ranking and are aware that a 900 marbling score for a Brahman steer is extremely rare.  However, these Adjusted Rankings tend to suggest that a steak from a Brahman steer with a 900 marbling score may achieve a significantly higher taste score than a similar steak from a Red Angus steer. 

Actual taste tests and research are necessary to verify these Adjusted Rankings.

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH

Based upon the foregoing, we cannot and do not conclude that these Adjusted Rankings are accurate.  Instead, we conclude only that the Apparent Rankings are inaccurate.  Moreover, we conclude that additional research is required to measure the taste scores of steak from different breeds but with the same, high marbling scores.

CONCLUSION

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2011 Quest for the Holy Grail SteakPerfection

2011 QUEST

Last year, we asked where can we find the Holy Grail of Steak. This year, we begin our quest anew and ask:

Assuming that price is absolutely no object, where can we purchase a USDA Prime Grade (or equivalent), top loin (New York strip) steak, with the following 16 pieces of information about the individual cattle which produced the steak:

1. Farm(s):  What is the name and address of each farm (the cow-calf, backgrounder and feedlot operator) where the cattle was raised?
2. Breed:  What is the breed (or hybrid) of the cattle?
3. Sex:  What is the sex (e.g. steer) of the cattle?
4. Sire:  What are the name and breed of the cattle's sire?
5. Dam:  What are the name and breed of the cattle's dam?
6. Date of Birth:  What is the date of birth of the calf?
7. Weight History:  What is the birth weight of the calf, its monthly weight throughout its live, and its live weight for slaughter?
8. Health History:  What is the name and date of each vaccine, worming, antibiotic, hormone and other medication and health procedure?
9. Castration:  If the calf is a steer, what is the date and method of castration?
10. Weaning Date:  What is the date when the calf was weaned?
11. Feeding History:  What is the name, date and exact type of each feed (e.g. the exact species of grass, foliage, and grain mixture) eaten by the cattle over its lifetime?
12. Trucking History:  What is the date and trucker for each movement of the cattle from one location to another?
13. USDA Grade:  What is the USDA grade, if applicable?
14. Date of Slaughter: What is the date of the cattle's slaughter?
15. Marbling Score:  What is beef's marbling score (or IMF%) at Rib 12/13?

Note: USDA Prime Grade or equivalent means that, if a carcass is not USDA Graded, it has the same marbling and aging characteristics as a USDA Prime Grade steak would have.

We call this background information the "provenance" of the steak, and this is our 2011 Quest for the Holy Grail of SteakPerfection.

PLEASE HELP

Is our quest doomed to failure?

We know that all the major conventional producers and processors keep detailed records about every individual animal they process and that they can trace each steak back to the animal that it came from.  But we also suspect that no producer or processor makes this information available to its customers, although we believe that we consumers have a right to know everything about our steak that the producers and processors know.

We also know that the non-conventional producers and processors (such as grass-fed and organic cattle producers) also keep detailed recoreds about every individual animal they process and that they too can trace each steak back to the animal that it came from.  The major problem for them is marbling score and age of their cattle, which is usually lean and older than conventional cattle.

Can we purchase an abundantly marbled, top loin (New York strip) steak from a young steer, with all the information listed above?  Please post your comments/feedback. Thanks in advance.

CONCLUSION

SteakPerfection welcomes your comments.  Please share them below.  SteakPerfection is a complex process that involves every detail, from pasture to plate.

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The foregoing is based upon a blog posted by SteakPerfection to CattleToday.com on 122810@2136

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