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Selection Tips

BEEF

The most critical factor in any selection of meat is trust. Trust in the person selling you the meat and trust in the farmer who grew it in the first place. We welcome questions from our customers about how our meat has been produced and about the people who grow it for us.

Breed:-There are over 40 breeds of cattle grown in Australia and only a few that most people would recognise. The most famous is the Angus breed which has been grown in Australia for over 100 years. A newer arrival which has made a big bang is the Wagyu breed orginating from Japan.

Feed:- Grass fed or grain fed or milk fed are the three major diets fed to beef. Grassfed beef has a stronger flavour than the others but tenderness can be impacted by droughts or long summers or cold winters.Beef can be grainfed from 60 to 450 days and the longer the beef is grainfed the more marbling and less grassfed flavour will be present. Milk is only fed to very young animals although "Vealers" up to 7-8 months old can often still have a proportion of their diet being milk.

Ageing:-Beef is like wine and it does improve with age. There are two ways to age beef the old fashioned way is called "dry aging" and carcases and cuts are held in a chiller exposed to the air. This can result in up to 25% of the orginal weight being lost to evaporation. The meat is both tenderised and has it's flavour enhanced during this process. The more prevalent and modern way of aging is in a cryovac package where all air is excluded and the beef can be kept for up to 10 weeks. This process tenderises the meat but does nothing to improve the flavour.

Meat Colour:- Beef varies from pale pink to in it's worst state a greenish black. The better beef will generally come in the range from a bright cherry red through to a dark brick red. The paler meat is a sign of a younger more tender beef and can also indicate grain feeding. Darker reds are signs of increased age (and flavour) as well as a gress fed animal.

Fat Colour :- Very white fat is generally an indication that the beef has been grain fed, cream or yellower colours are an indication of grass fed beef.

Fat Depth:- Beef that is extremely lean as a carcase can have problems in terms of consistency of tenderness. Best quality beef has a generous fat cover which can be trimmed before or after cooking.

Bones:- Meat on the bone has that extra special flavour whatever cooking method you choose. Bone in meat does not have the same shelf life as boneless product and should be frozen or consumed as soon as possible after purchase.

Marbling:- This is the flecks of fat contained within the meat of a steak. These melt in the cooking process but act to prevent drying out of the beef in the cooking process. In general apart from Wagyu beef levels of fat contained in marbling are quite low.

Sinew, silverskin and gristle :- if you are grilling or fast roasting beef these are the nasties of beef , chewy and tough they can ruin an otherwise enjoyable meal. If you plan on grilling or fast roasting it is best to trim these items off your beef. If however you are braising or slow roasting then apart from the sinew these items will go soft and gelatinous adding an extra aspect to any meal.

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