Kirkland Lean Ground Beef

[Jake]

4 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

What happened to the link?

Works for me.....

[longway]

On 8/28/2022 at 9:19 AM, JJReyes said:

Most American ranchers sell their steers (young, castrated males) to feed lots.  They are raised and fattened on grain, mostly corn, until achieving a certain weight.  They are then sold for slaughter.  Increasingly, supermarkets advertise "grass fed" ground beef at a premium price.  I guess this is in response to public demand.

I watched a TV show not long ago abt Grass fed beef vrs Grain fed. A rancher talked a high end restaurant into adding Grass fed on his menu and to try it for 30 days. The reataurant owner then interviewed the diners who ate the Grass fed and who had also eaten the Grain fed. Conclusion was the Grain fed was much tastier and more tender. Grass fed beef came off the menu.

[Mike J]

Grass fed beef is being lumped in with free range chickens and organic fruit/vegetables.   You can make a reasoned argument that it is a healthier alternative to grain finished beef because it has less fat.  But it is the fat that adds flavor and tenderness to beef.  Marketing 101 says the way to sell someone beef that it tougher and has less flavor is to advertise the hell out of it as being "more natural" while implying that grain finished beef is somehow bad for you and/or the environment.  And then charge a higher price because their customers expect to pay more for beef that is tough and doesn't taste as good.  

[Tommy T.]

I spent several years in and out of Australia. The local butcher I befriended near Brisbane informed me that the premium beef was shipped overseas to USA, Japan and elsewhere. He told me that the local beef was generally inferior except that provided to restaurants and resorts. He did provide some decent beef to me, as a friend, but only occasionally upon request.

I have found that NZ beef at S & R and sometimes Aussie beef there to be good. The local SM, G-Mall, seem to sell low quality local or cheap imported beef - i.e. tough as shoe leather... even the so-called ribeye. And the "T-bones" only ever have the sirloin side, never the fillet side... except at S & R...

 

Edited November 22, 2022 by Tommy T.

[Dave Hounddriver]

2 hours ago, longway said:

The reataurant owner then interviewed the diners who ate the Grass fed and who had also eaten the Grain fed. Conclusion was the Grain fed was much tastier and more tender.

Coming from a rural background, it used to be called Grain "finishing"  All the steers were fed grass until a few months before going to the butcher.  Then they were kept in stalls where increasing amounts of grain were added to the feed.  The concept is that the beef will be more tender with more marbling when done this way.  IMHO it is the reason Philippine beef tastes like crap, even when they use good Aussie stock.  The Filipinos do not grain finish.

[Possum]

6 hours ago, Mike J said:

Grass fed beef is being lumped in with free range chickens and organic fruit/vegetables.   You can make a reasoned argument that it is a healthier alternative to grain finished beef because it has less fat.  But it is the fat that adds flavor and tenderness to beef. 

This grass fed scam has been going on for decades and originated with the cattle industry. When I had a few cows 40 years ago the price of beef was low and it was hard to make money from feed lot cattle. Feed is expensive ! So the various cattleman's associations started marketing grass fed or finished on grass beef as being more healthy. Normal finished beef is kept in confinement  for 60 days minimum [the longer the better] and exclusively fed a corn, soybean other grain mixture. The finished on grass were kept pastured with additional feed, the grass fed got no additional feed. The marketing campaign worked and was a boon to the cattle industry. Now people even pay extra for grass fed beef which is the cheapest to raise !

I laugh every time I go to a US market and see vegetables labeled "organic" as I have never seen an inorganic vegetable. There is a classification called "certified organic" but the average consumer can't afford to eat them. Supposedly they have never been treated with pesticides but the certification process is suspect. Personally I've never worried much about pesticides as farmers use only if needed and then the minimum as pesticides are expensive.

Free range chickens are another matter. I grew up eating yard birds and find them much tastier. They are readily available in the Philippines and stay fresh right up until the day you remove their noggin.

[OnMyWay]

9 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Coming from a rural background, it used to be called Grain "finishing"  All the steers were fed grass until a few months before going to the butcher.  Then they were kept in stalls where increasing amounts of grain were added to the feed.  The concept is that the beef will be more tender with more marbling when done this way.  IMHO it is the reason Philippine beef tastes like crap, even when they use good Aussie stock.  The Filipinos do not grain finish.

I had a couple of steaks this week, both purchased at Royal Duty Free.  They have a large selection of imported beef from US, AU, NZ and recently, CA.  I have tried them all but the Canada, until now.

I think the AU and NZ are grass fed, with the lack of fat and taste that I like.  I will get them if there is an excellent price.

First time trying one of the Canadian steaks.  The price was relatively good and it was very marbled.  It was a cut of chuck.  It did not have any thick pieces of fat, which I am not a fan of, but great marbling all over.  I cooked it in the pan and it was very good!  I'm getting good at the "cold sear" method of cooking a steak in the pan.  BBQ is better but time consuming.

The other one was USDA that says Omaha on it, but I don't think it is the famous Omaha brand in the U.S. that ships steaks.  It was a thick sirloin.  It was good but I thought the Canadian chuck was much better.  It had some super thick outer sections of fat that I cut off after cooking and gave to the dog.

Some of the imported beef there is ridiculously priced and there is no way I will pay that much.  I spend some time looking for some good prices and good looking cuts.  I will start with the Canadian next time.

Side note, S&R Angeles, has not had any of the U.S. patties or ground beef that I like for a few months now.

[Kingpin]

12 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

 IMHO it is the reason Philippine beef tastes like crap, even when they use good Aussie stock.  The Filipinos do not grain finish.

You must like Filipino pork, they've never seen grass in their life.

Also New Zealand and much of Australia doesn't 'grain finish' their beef either. 

I never eat

7 hours ago, Greglm said:

soybean other grain mixture.

And I don't want my food to eat it either. It's not just 'you are what you eat', it's 'you are what you eat, eats'.

Quote

The diet of the animals we eat has a bearing on the nutritional quality, and healthfulness, of the food itself, whether it is meat or milk or eggs…some of our food animals, such as cows and sheep, are ruminants that evolved to eat grass; if they eat too many seeds they become sick, which is why grain-fed cattle have to be given antibiotics. Even animals that do well on grain, such as chickens and pigs, are much healthier when they have access to green plants, and so, it turns out, are their meat and eggs. For most of our food animals, a diet of grass means much healthier fats (more omega-3s and conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA; fewer omega-6s) in their meat, milk and eggs, as well as appreciably higher levels of vitamins and antioxidants. - https://www.pbs.org/food/features/in-defense-of-food-transcript/

 

[JJReyes]

I had a craving for steak yesterday, and we walked into a steakhouse.  Immediately left after opening the menu.  The price for a premium grade porterhouse was in the P6,000 plus price range!  That's bull.  No wonder the place was empty.  We will try again after doing online research.

At the family farm in Tanay, my father had range chickens from US stocks.  I believe the breed originated from Rhode Island.  They would follow the farm tractor plowing to eat the worms and grubs as the soil was turned over.  To get them back, a bell was rung, and corn scattered inside the pens.  Some refuse to return and my job was to hunt the feral chickens with a shotgun.  My father had a Jewish chicken soup recipe and the hens made for a delicious soup.  The meat was firmer possibly from the exercise.

[Mike J]

1 hour ago, JJReyes said:

The price for a premium grade porterhouse was in the P6,000 plus price range!

Maybe dry aged and imported from either USA or Australia?   If not a dry aged prime cut, definitely a rip off.