Store Bought vs Organic

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:) I dont buy many organic vegetables but I try more to get the least tampered with chicken and meats.Im lucky enough to have alot of bison and whitetail in my freezer.One thing I do buy organic is milk it tastes alot better and the skim milk made by Horizon tastes richer wont spoil quickly{ultra pasteurized }since I dont drink it everyday.
 
Great!

jpmcgrew said:
:) I dont buy many organic vegetables but I try more to get the least tampered with chicken and meats.Im lucky enough to have alot of bison and whitetail in my freezer.One thing I do buy organic is milk it tastes alot better and the skim milk made by Horizon tastes richer wont spoil quickly{ultra pasteurized }since I dont drink it everyday.

Have to excuse me, what is whitetail? Where do you buy your bison? Don't you agree that the flavor of bison seems so much better than ground beef? Was at the Whole Foods yesterday and people were buying most of the fish. They have also installed a whole case of different olives for $9.99 lb for each one. I never knew there were so many different olives. Just olives is all that was in that case. Even red ones.

The Horizon does taste so much better. My family is drinking more soy now. I really have doubts about soy vs. milk. Some say it is better than milk for you. I hope they go back to drinking milk again I myself prefer it. I don't have to shake the milk like I do the soy.

Some lady buying all the chicken livers, gizzards, plus different rolls of what was labeled dog food. I was too curious and asked what kind of dogs she had? She WAS buying for the dogs and had nothing else in her basket but for her dogs! I am worried myself about my dogs as I was alternating the dry with the canned and now I feel guilty as I wouldn't give them anything else until they finished the canned. I am hoping and praying that I am not the one who has caused them any future problems. I am returning the canned food. My only thought is I made them eat the canned. They probably knew something wasn't right with it. How dumb can a person be? I am sure sorry. This lady only made me feel inadequate as a owner of my dogs. I bet her dogs are sure healthy.
 
:) Its whitetail deer much better tasting than the mule deer they are kinda on the small side and can be found all over Texas and the east coast.I love Bison Im ashamed to say but we dont hafto to buy Bison its basically free for us.We live on a ranch that has alot of Bison and DH is a hunting guide as well as a non commishioned fish and game officer.When we get someone who wants to hunt Bison alot of the time they dont want all of the meat so we end with a 1/2 Bison.Our only cost is to get the meat proccessed.Same for the White Tail I bring it home from Texas from my 2 month job there its already processed and that is free for me because they by law hafto cull a certain amount of deer.My bosses have it all processed [they can afford it}and the give it to all their guests and friends.
 
I do believe you are what you eat, but I think I differ from a lot of people when I say I prefer my food to be non-organic. With produce I can't tell much of a difference in flavor, but organic produce seems to go out quicker. Because it stays fresher longer, I'll always buy the "store-bought" produce, unless I can get it a farmer's market. That's my only exception.

Now when it comes to meat, fish and poulty, I prefer store-bought hands down. It tastes better, stays fresher, has better texture, and even looks better. I also know that alot of that is due to the fact that those animals are injected with steroids and lots of other fun chemicals, and I'm fine with that. I have several stories I could share with you about this, but this one I think will illustrate it best.

I worked on a horse farm for a woman who raised cattle as a side-business. It was only her and her son living on the farm, and to save money, she would always have one of the that she sent to the butcher sent back to her instead of to the marketplace. Unlike the meat that is sold in stores, the meat sent back to the woman was cut to her specifications, and then each cut was wrapped in plastic and paper and individually frozen. The cow was dead for maybe 12 hours before the meat was frozen. She had all kinds of cuts; roasts, steaks, stew meat, you name it.

There came a time shortly after she had her cows butchered when she had to leave the country for a short time, and I agreed to watch her son while she was gone. Rather than buying food for us, I used the steaks that came from her own farm. When cooked, the meat would tighten up, and eating it was like trying to eat a big lump of silverskin; absolutely the toughest meat I have ever eaten in my life. And not only that, but it cooked to a sickly grey color, didn't look good at all. The flavor of the beef felt diluted compared to what I got in the store. Even when I cooked the steaks rare, they were tough! And they were dry as well. The boy had never eaten any other beef in his life and went on about how this is the best beef you could find. So I bought a NY from the market, and cooked that up along with a NY from his freezer, and had him try them both. He loved the other steak. He was amazed at the tenderness and the flavor as well.

It could be that I've just had bad luck with organic foods, but I definitely don't want to be any part of it. Give me my chemically-enhanced genetically-altered food any day!
 
Range Beef

My brother explained to me that cows should be feed corn and alfalfa in order to make the beef tender. Feeding cows only grass produces the kind of beef you experienced. My cousin gave me all the beef she had because it was tough like you explained. When i got it home I had to tenderize it myself in order to eat it. You are right in saying it isn't good. I didn't like it neither. However, the meat I buy from the store that is 'organic' is way different. I agree with you about being tough but that is because of not feeding the right food, only grass. Has to be alternated in order for the meat to be broken down. Hope I explained it right.

I bought some like that from a farm and never went back again. When I told them the roast was tough they said they never had anyone tell them that it wasn't good. I am not about to tell someone how to feed their cows.
 
That's sort of funny-

the cows were grain-fed, though only the ones that were going to butcher that year, not all their lives. For about 9 months before they met their end they were grain-fed. And the field the lived in was a timothy-alfalfa mix. I dunno.. I imagine a lot things could influence the taste of beef besides diet. I know that they were not Angus beef, for instance, which is all I ever buy in the stores.
 
Surprise

college_cook said:
That's sort of funny-

the cows were grain-fed, though only the ones that were going to butcher that year, not all their lives. For about 9 months before they met their end they were grain-fed. And the field the lived in was a timothy-alfalfa mix. I dunno.. I imagine a lot things could influence the taste of beef besides diet. I know that they were not Angus beef, for instance, which is all I ever buy in the stores.

It is funny! This is sure going to get my brother going. I will have to get back to you about this. I wonder what he will think. Everything he has read is wrong? In fact, he was farming for a while and the cows he had all were good, food wise. In fact, he is perfectionist and studies something before he gets into it. Seems my brothers have all tried everything once. To question his information will get him stirred up. Thanks for sharing. This educates my brother and me too. Nothing better then real life.
 
I started wondering if perhaps climate can affect the flavor of beef, and about how bitter cold the winters can get here sometimes, and I remembered that during the cold months and the spring months the cows were usually fed free-choice hay from a bale because there was little hay growing in their own field. As soon as some would start to grow they would munch it down. Those bales were actualy made up of timothy hay. For those who don't know, timothy is pretty tough stuff, very similar to straw in texture in color, but nutritious like hay. It seems to make sense to me that if a cow lives on mostly tough hay, it will yield tough meat.

I guess i thought a 9 month diet change would be enough to soften that meat but perhaps not. Does anyone happen to know the requirements for being allowed to label your beef as grain-fed? Does it mean they are grain-fed all their lives? If that's the case I can't imagine how cattle farmers manage to stay in business... I know how much a cow eats, and I know how much grain costs, and it just seems like a losing proposition to me.
 
Most beef type cattle spend the first 12 to 18 months of their lives raised in pastures eating available grasses. In winter months their diets are supplemented with various type of hay products and sometimes some mixed feeds. The next 3 months they are usually in "feed lots" where they are fed a feed made up of mostly corn. It is during this time that the full rich flavor and tenderness that we have come to expect is accomplished. These are grain fed cattle.

Grass fed beef is of course animals that are just that..grass fed. Currently the USDA is in the process of determining guidelines for "grass fed beef" for consumer labeling. Some advoacte at least 80% of the feed in the animals life be grass, others are advocating higher percentages. There is a growing demand in some areas for this type of beef. It is touted as "healthier" due to the fact that is a leaner product. There is a distinct flavor difference also that some people prefer.

Then there is organic grown beef which is a small nitch in the total market. But does enjoy a following.

Beef..It whats for dinner

Enjoy!
 
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