Ever seen one of these ?

[DNelson]

I just found it interesting.
I never even knew there was such a thing as taking a cattle nose print.
But in Japan they take their cattle very seriously..... And why wouldn't they, when you can sell A5 Jap wagyu for $100 a pound. View attachment 26028

$100/lb for extra fat? I want the red to be dominant.

 

[Ebenezer]

With all of the created breeds in the US, it amazes me that no one has started the Angu, Hergu, Simgu, Corgu... breeds to bring in 25% or 3/8 Wagyu and make the high end cuts without the extreme fat. Get some of them black hided to qualify for CAB and such to add to the promotional efforts or whatever other premium markets exist.

 

[Ebenezer]

Yes A5 Japanese Wagyu is not for me. However the Japanese don't eat steak like Americans do. They cut thin small pieces and sear it only.
Years ago before we started Wagyu I started buying full blood Wagyu steaks online from all over the USA.
My wife and I would invite friends over and try out steaks.
The results were not good. 3 out of 4 very large ranches we're no better than good prime. I even called 1 ranch after we had eaten them and asked if it was full blood or a cross. They got offended. I sent them pictures of the steaks I've received.
All Wagyu is not the same. It varies a tremendous amount. Especially the crosses. Some people don't do enough research and end up with very little marbling but hugh tough ribeyes etc.

"However the Japanese don't eat steak like Americans do. They cut thin small pieces and sear it only."
Asian fajitas?

 

[Mountaintown Creek Ranch]

With all of the created breeds in the US, it amazes me that no one has started the Angu, Hergu, Simgu, Corgu... breeds to bring in 25% or 3/8 Wagyu and make the high end cuts without the extreme fat. Get some of them black hided to qualify for CAB and such to add to the promotional efforts or whatever other premium markets exist.

Well yes that is happening and has been happening for a while... but as far as I know they're not renaming any new breeds.
There are many misconceptions about Wagyu.
The biggest misconception is Wagyu is not a breed.
The second is not all Wagyu is extremely marbled.

Our last F2 was a high marbling Japanese black that was crossed with a Lowline Angus. That was some of the best steak I've ever eaten.

Our Wagyu sells for $10 a pound which I feel is reasonable for excellent beef that is two grades above prime. Other than buying your breed stock our input cost to raise wagyu is basically the same as most ranchers.

The American Wagyu Association is in process of developing a certified program.

Realistically we cannot raise enough Wagyu. There is a huge demand. We have a waiting list.
My buddy Tom that has a large operation cannot keep up with requests.
You can even sell the wagyu tallow to all the fancy chefs they'll pay $25 a pound for it.

 

[Travlr]

With all of the created breeds in the US, it amazes me that no one has started the Angu, Hergu, Simgu, Corgu... breeds to bring in 25% or 3/8 Wagyu and make the high end cuts without the extreme fat. Get some of them black hided to qualify for CAB and such to add to the promotional efforts or whatever other premium markets exist.

LOL... I'd like to see Wag crosses come up with a "certified" program using red hides... or anything except black. Give the angus guys a little taste of their own medicine.

It'll never happen, it's too easy to follow the herd.

 

[Ky hills]

From what I've heard about the maternal ability and lack of milk in the Wagyu types I'm not hankerin to see that trend take off to the mainstream cowherds.
There's plenty enough marbling in Angus and anything else that's fed out properly that we don't need to sacrifice anymore maternal quality for the sake of marbling.
Our beef customers would be pretty upset if the meat they got looked like that. They tend to want leaner looking beef.

 

[simme]

With all of the created breeds in the US, it amazes me that no one has started the Angu, Hergu, Simgu, Corgu...

Good idea. Sort of like all those designer dog crosses - 'doodles. Might get rich with some of those if they end up less than 30" tall and can fit in an SUV beside the potbelly pig. Craigslist opportunity maybe. Thinking that Corgu might be the winner.

 

[Mountaintown Creek Ranch]

From what I've heard about the maternal ability and lack of milk in the Wagyu types I'm not hankerin to see that trend take off to the mainstream cowherds.
There's plenty enough marbling in Angus and anything else that's fed out properly that we don't need to sacrifice anymore maternal quality for the sake of marbling.
Our beef customers would be pretty upset if the meat they got looked like that. They tend to want leaner looking beef.

It's not just about the marbling it's about the actual fat profile also I'm not a cattle breed expert but I do believe that the fat profile of Wagyu is unique. As far as I know....SCD, or Stearoyl CoA Desaturase, is a gene family that distinguishes the healthy fat marbling in Wagyu beef from other beef.

 

[mwj]

The consumer decides how much premium is in a niche market.

 

[WFfarm]

With all of the created breeds in the US, it amazes me that no one has started the Angu, Hergu, Simgu, Corgu... breeds to bring in 25% or 3/8 Wagyu and make the high end cuts without the extreme fat. Get some of them black hided to qualify for CAB and such to add to the promotional efforts or whatever other premium markets exist.

Probably look a lot like Beef-on-Dairy phenotype.

 

[Son of Butch]

With all of the created breeds in the US, it amazes me that no one has started the Angu, Hergu, Simgu, Corgu... breeds to bring in 25% or 3/8 Wagyu

They do, but Wagyu is highlighted for marketing purposes, 3/8 minimum is required by law to put Wagyu on the label.
Wagyu x f1 wagyu = 3/4
3/4 Wagyu sire = 3/8 Wagyu calves when crossbreeding

 

[greybeard]

Yes A5 Japanese Wagyu is not for me. However the Japanese don't eat steak like Americans do. They cut thin small pieces and sear it only.
Years ago before we started Wagyu I started buying full blood Wagyu steaks online from all over the USA.
My wife and I would invite friends over and try out steaks.
The results were not good. 3 out of 4 very large ranches we're no better than good prime. I even called 1 ranch after we had eaten them and asked if it was full blood or a cross. They got offended. I sent them pictures of the steaks I've received.
All Wagyu is not the same. It varies a tremendous amount. Especially the crosses. Some people don't do enough research and end up with very little marbling but hugh tough ribeyes etc.

The same holds true for any other beef (as well as any other type ag product)
I've had some 'Certified USDA Prime (and Choice)' that was no better than the regional (H-E-B) 'economy' packaged Select beef. And I suspect we've all done it ourselves. I had 2 Beefmaster calves processed 2 1/2 years apart, out of the same cow and same sire and same grass and finishing ration and both done at the same place down in Highlands. Both hung 21 days. One was great, one was mediocre. The lesser quality one was good but not great. I can't explain why there was the difference.

IMO, one of the things that is missing from today's beef (probably somewhat across all breeds and ways of growing them) is the real taste of beef. Every one of us knows the difference between store bought tomatoes and heirlooms. Miles apart. Same with beef. Most of the homegrowns I had butchered tasted way different than what you get in a grocery store no matter what grade the store sold. Same with most restaurants/'steak houses. Meaning different=better.

I'll always remember some burger and 2 Tbones one of my neighbors brought to me one year (maybe 2012?) off a pretty plain looking Char/Simm cross bull calf. His cows often looked like they were gonna drop dead any day, had lots of inbreds, (I know for fact, he kept the same bull for over 11 years and never bought replacement heifers) but every year he had one processed there in Liberty County, over at Plum Grove. The 2 steaks could have used a little more improvement in tenderness, but the taste was so good I didn't want to swallow it..wanted that beef taste to linger awhile. Same with the burger. It's what I remember beef tasting like back in the 60s when my dad was raising his own Hereford cross breds with some ear.


Around 1965 maybe '66 my ag/FFA class went up to TAMU for a beef judging thingie. As soon as we walked into that chill room where they had all the beef cuts laid out, you could smell BEEF! The local store when I was young, their meat section back in the back where they cut it up, was the same way. Nowadays, I open a pack of store bought ribeyes, burger or sirloin, you barely smell anything, and the taste just isn't there anymore. Chasing marbling, ribeye diameter etc, we've lost something.
(personally, I prefer sirloin and flatirons for taste, over all other cuts and price has nothing to do with it)

Otherwise, I find this thread almost ironically comical. Saw it in other places on-line too. The Angus folks swear they would never have or eat the Wagyu type beef, but when you look for blind taste tests, the Wagyu usually wins hands down. I won't live long enough to see Wagyu make a significant incursion into the Angus marketing monopoly but it sure looks like it's coming.

 

[greybeard]

With all of the created breeds in the US, it amazes me that no one has started the Angu, Hergu, Simgu, Corgu... breeds to bring in 25% or 3/8 Wagyu and make the high end cuts without the extreme fat. Get some of them black hided to qualify for CAB and such to add to the promotional efforts or whatever other premium markets exist.

Oh, it's coming. There's no way in hades that AAA is gonna let another breed horn in on their dominance. They spent too much $$$$$ and too much time on that marketing to let actual taste and tenderness be an over riding factor with the American consumer.

 

[Ky hills]

The same holds true for any other beef (as well as any other type ag product)
I've had some 'Certified USDA Prime (and Choice)' that was no better than the regional (H-E-B) 'economy' packaged Select beef. And I suspect we've all done it ourselves. I had 2 Beefmaster calves processed 2 1/2 years apart, out of the same cow and same sire and same grass and finishing ration and both done at the same place down in Highlands. Both hung 21 days. One was great, one was mediocre. The lesser quality one was good but not great. I can't explain why there was the difference.

IMO, one of the things that is missing from today's beef (probably somewhat across all breeds and ways of growing them) is the real taste of beef. Every one of us knows the difference between store bought tomatoes and heirlooms. Miles apart. Same with beef. Most of the homegrowns I had butchered tasted way different than what you get in a grocery store no matter what grade the store sold. Same with most restaurants/'steak houses. Meaning different=better.

I'll always remember some burger and 2 Tbones one of my neighbors brought to me one year (maybe 2012?) off a pretty plain looking Char/Simm cross bull calf. His cows often looked like they were gonna drop dead any day, had lots of inbreds, (I know for fact, he kept the same bull for over 11 years and never bought replacement heifers) but every year he had one processed there in Liberty County, over at Plum Grove. The 2 steaks could have used a little more improvement in tenderness, but the taste was so good I didn't want to swallow it..wanted that beef taste to linger awhile. Same with the burger. It's what I remember beef tasting like back in the 60s when my dad was raising his own Hereford cross breds with some ear.


Around 1965 maybe '66 my ag/FFA class went up to TAMU for a beef judging thingie. As soon as we walked into that chill room where they had all the beef cuts laid out, you could smell BEEF! The local store when I was young, their meat section back in the back where they cut it up, was the same way. Nowadays, I open a pack of store bought ribeyes, burger or sirloin, you barely smell anything, and the taste just isn't there anymore. Chasing marbling, ribeye diameter etc, we've lost something.
(personally, I prefer sirloin and flatirons for taste, over all other cuts and price has nothing to do with it)

Otherwise, I find this thread almost ironically comical. Saw it in other places on-line too. The Angus folks swear they would never have or eat the Wagyu type beef, but when you look for blind taste tests, the Wagyu usually wins hands down. I won't live long enough to see Wagyu make a significant incursion into the Angus marketing monopoly but it sure looks like it's coming.

I believe you are right on all of this, taste is missing same thing with commercial bred hogs.
I agree it'll be a while a comin but Wagyu is getting enough momentum that people are learning that there is another name for cattle other than Angus. Saw Arbys advertising a Wagyu burger a while back.
Friends from church ordered some Wagyu steaks for their family for Christmas.

 

[Travlr]

The same holds true for any other beef (as well as any other type ag product)
I've had some 'Certified USDA Prime (and Choice)' that was no better than the regional (H-E-B) 'economy' packaged Select beef. And I suspect we've all done it ourselves. I had 2 Beefmaster calves processed 2 1/2 years apart, out of the same cow and same sire and same grass and finishing ration and both done at the same place down in Highlands. Both hung 21 days. One was great, one was mediocre. The lesser quality one was good but not great. I can't explain why there was the difference.

IMO, one of the things that is missing from today's beef (probably somewhat across all breeds and ways of growing them) is the real taste of beef. Every one of us knows the difference between store bought tomatoes and heirlooms. Miles apart. Same with beef. Most of the homegrowns I had butchered tasted way different than what you get in a grocery store no matter what grade the store sold. Same with most restaurants/'steak houses. Meaning different=better.

I'll always remember some burger and 2 Tbones one of my neighbors brought to me one year (maybe 2012?) off a pretty plain looking Char/Simm cross bull calf. His cows often looked like they were gonna drop dead any day, had lots of inbreds, (I know for fact, he kept the same bull for over 11 years and never bought replacement heifers) but every year he had one processed there in Liberty County, over at Plum Grove. The 2 steaks could have used a little more improvement in tenderness, but the taste was so good I didn't want to swallow it..wanted that beef taste to linger awhile. Same with the burger. It's what I remember beef tasting like back in the 60s when my dad was raising his own Hereford cross breds with some ear.


Around 1965 maybe '66 my ag/FFA class went up to TAMU for a beef judging thingie. As soon as we walked into that chill room where they had all the beef cuts laid out, you could smell BEEF! The local store when I was young, their meat section back in the back where they cut it up, was the same way. Nowadays, I open a pack of store bought ribeyes, burger or sirloin, you barely smell anything, and the taste just isn't there anymore. Chasing marbling, ribeye diameter etc, we've lost something.
(personally, I prefer sirloin and flatirons for taste, over all other cuts and price has nothing to do with it)

Otherwise, I find this thread almost ironically comical. Saw it in other places on-line too. The Angus folks swear they would never have or eat the Wagyu type beef, but when you look for blind taste tests, the Wagyu usually wins hands down. I won't live long enough to see Wagyu make a significant incursion into the Angus marketing monopoly but it sure looks like it's coming.

I suspect most grocery store beef is Holstein or poor quality animals from beef breeds. The good stuff goes to restaurants. I don't know the percentages of animals that grade in each category, but I'd bet that there aren't enough grading prime to have many filter down to grocery stores. And I'd bet most "choice" is a diminished quality for sales purposes to an ignorant public. If what I see in stores is any example it certainly isn't the same choice as there was when I was beginning in this business.

 

[Ebenezer]

I suspect most grocery store beef is Holstein or poor quality animals from beef breeds. The good stuff goes to restaurants. I don't know the percentages of animals that grade in each category, but I'd bet that there aren't enough grading prime to have many filter down to grocery stores. And I'd bet most "choice" is a diminished quality for sales purposes to an ignorant public. If what I see in stores is any example it certainly isn't the same choice as there was when I was beginning in this business.

"The good stuff goes to restaurants."
Don't bet on that. Say "meat tenderizer" or "mechanical tenderizer". They are trying to make money and it is not by buying the good stuff except in exclusive settings.

 

[greybeard]

The good stuff goes to restaurants.

That USED to be true and you hardly ever saw prime in the big quantity stores. Not true anymore.
There's a chain of stores in Tx called Brookshire Bros and about 5 years ago they had a bunch of steak packages marked 'select'. I asked the butcher if they had any choice and he said "those are choice, a low choice, but we sell them as select so we can keep the price down some" then, he went back and brought me the big box they came in and it was indeed marked choice. Now tho, I see a LOT of prime as well as good choice.

 

[Silver]

I'd sure like to try those steaks as pictured in the OP, but I would want it to be prepared as intended in its original market. I would bet most of that fat melts out and makes for some great flavour

 

[mwj]

The same holds true for any other beef (as well as any other type ag product)
I've had some 'Certified USDA Prime (and Choice)' that was no better than the regional (H-E-B) 'economy' packaged Select beef. And I suspect we've all done it ourselves. I had 2 Beefmaster calves processed 2 1/2 years apart, out of the same cow and same sire and same grass and finishing ration and both done at the same place down in Highlands. Both hung 21 days. One was great, one was mediocre. The lesser quality one was good but not great. I can't explain why there was the difference.

IMO, one of the things that is missing from today's beef (probably somewhat across all breeds and ways of growing them) is the real taste of beef. Every one of us knows the difference between store bought tomatoes and heirlooms. Miles apart. Same with beef. Most of the homegrowns I had butchered tasted way different than what you get in a grocery store no matter what grade the store sold. Same with most restaurants/'steak houses. Meaning different=better.

I'll always remember some burger and 2 Tbones one of my neighbors brought to me one year (maybe 2012?) off a pretty plain looking Char/Simm cross bull calf. His cows often looked like they were gonna drop dead any day, had lots of inbreds, (I know for fact, he kept the same bull for over 11 years and never bought replacement heifers) but every year he had one processed there in Liberty County, over at Plum Grove. The 2 steaks could have used a little more improvement in tenderness, but the taste was so good I didn't want to swallow it..wanted that beef taste to linger awhile. Same with the burger. It's what I remember beef tasting like back in the 60s when my dad was raising his own Hereford cross breds with some ear.


Around 1965 maybe '66 my ag/FFA class went up to TAMU for a beef judging thingie. As soon as we walked into that chill room where they had all the beef cuts laid out, you could smell BEEF! The local store when I was young, their meat section back in the back where they cut it up, was the same way. Nowadays, I open a pack of store bought ribeyes, burger or sirloin, you barely smell anything, and the taste just isn't there anymore. Chasing marbling, ribeye diameter etc, we've lost something.
(personally, I prefer sirloin and flatirons for taste, over all other cuts and price has nothing to do with it)

Otherwise, I find this thread almost ironically comical. Saw it in other places on-line too. The Angus folks swear they would never have or eat the Wagyu type beef, but when you look for blind taste tests, the Wagyu usually wins hands down. I won't live long enough to see Wagyu make a significant incursion into the Angus marketing monopoly but it sure looks like it's coming.

The big thing in the missing beef flavor is the lack of dry aging. Take a beef to the locker and have them age half as vacuum packed primal s and then compare them to the dry aged half.

 

[Travlr]

"The good stuff goes to restaurants."
Don't bet on that. Say "meat tenderizer" or "mechanical tenderizer". They are trying to make money and it is not by buying the good stuff except in exclusive settings.

Sure... that happens. But there are enough real restaurants to take all the commercially fed prime.

I did a quick check and found a statistic that I have a hard time believing.

"Choice beef is very tender and juicy. It is the most widely available grade of beef, and about 50 percent of beef is graded choice by the USDA."

This is after I checked earlier and got something I can no longer find which claimed 70%. Either way I don't see how the average animal could grade that high, regardless of feed or management. I know that the average animal nowadays would not grade choice in the past.