Tips For Cooking Grass Fed Meats

 

• Your biggest culprit for grass fed beef is overcooking. This beef is made for rare to medium rare cooking. If you like well done beef, then cook your beef at very low temperatures in sauce to add moisture.
• Since grass fed beef is extremely low in fat, coat with virgin olive oil, truffle oil, or a favorite light oil for flavor enhancement and easy browning. The oil will also prevent drying and sticking.
• We recommend marinating your beef before cooking especially lean cuts like NY Strip or Sirloin. Choose a recipe that doesn't mask the delicate flavor or grass fed beef but enhances the moisture content. A favorite marinade using lemon, vinegar, wine, beer or bourbon can be used. Some people use their favorite Italian salad dressing. If you choose to use bourbon, beer or wine remember grass fed beef cooks quicker so the liquor or vinegar won't have as much time to cook off. for safe handling always marinate in the refrigerator.
• If you don't have time to marinate just coat your thawed steak with your favorite rub, place on a solid surface cover with plastic and pound your steak a few times to breakdown the connective tissue. As an added benefit your favorite rub will be pushed into your beef. Don't go overboard and flatten your beef unless your recipe calls for it. If you don't have a meat mallet, use a rolling pin or whatever is safe and convenient.
• Stove Top cooking is great for any type of steak, including grass fed. You have more control over the temperature than on the grill. You can use butter in the final minutes when the heat is low to carry the taste of fresh garlic through the meat just like steak chefs.
• Grass fed beef has high protein and low fat levels, the beef will usually require 30% less cooking time and will continue to cook when removed from heat. For this reason remove the beef from your heat source 10 degrees before it reaches the desired temperature.
• Use a thermometer to test for doneness and watch the thermometer carefully. Since grass fed beef cooks so quickly, your beef can go from perfectly cooked to overcooked in less than a minute.
• Let the beef sit covered and in a warm place for 8 to 10 minutes after removing from heat to let the juices redistribute.
• Never use a fork to turn your beef. Precious juices will be lost. Use tongs.
• Reduce the temperature of your beef recipes by 50 degrees I.E. 275 degrees for roasting or at lowest heat setting in a crock pot. The cooking time will be the same or slightly shorter even at the lower temperature. Watch your meat thermometer and don't overcook your meat. Use moisture from sauces to add to the tenderness when cooking your roast.
• Never use a microwave to thaw your grass fed beef. Either thaw your beef in the refrigerator or for quick thawing place your vacuum sealed package in water for a few minutes.
• Bring your grass fed meat to room temperature before cooking..do not cook it cold straight from refrigerator.
• When grilling sear the meat quickly over a high heat on each side to seal in the natural juices and then reduce the heat to a medium or low to finish the cooking process. Also baste to add moisture throughout the grilling process. Don't forget grass fed beef requires 30% less cooking time so watch your thermometer and don't leave your steaks unattended.
• When roasting sear the beef first to lock in the juices and then place in a pre-heated oven. Save your leftovers..roasted grass fed beef slices make great healthy luncheon meats with no additives/preservatives.
• When preparing hamburgers on the grill, use caramelized onions, olives or roasted peppers to add fat moisture to the meat while cooking. Our burgers-they are very lean-..So some moisture is needed to compensate for the lack of fat. Make sure you do not overcook your burgers, 30% less cooking time is required.