Cutting year old bull - Taste of beef

[Arkieman]

Will cutting a bull this late in the game affect the taste of the beef if butchered? I'm sure it will take some recovery time, plus the time to finish. Any experiences?

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Some people up in mo. that i know finish all there bulls calves out and sell the meat they never cut them. Said nobody ever knew the diffrence.

 

[alabama]

I butcher bulls that for one reason or another as yearlings don't turn out to be breeders. I like it. When you cut a bull that old you stand a chance of infection or excessive bleeding. I leave them in tact.

 

[TexasBred]

Posted earlier on another thread that we butchered a 1300 lb. holstein bull that was working cattle heavy. The building and lean-to he was standing under had a short in the wiring and he was electrocuted. We bled him out and hauled him and hauled him to the locker plant. They hung him for about 2 weeks and then processed him. The meat was out of this world. He was going thru the barn with the cattle every day and getting his 30 lbs. of grain per day so that probably helped. We did finally cook a big roast that had a little bit of a strong taste but the rest was great.

 

[andybob]

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=22942&p=232043&hilit=Short+scrotum+bulls#p232043

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=29433&p=313769&hilit=Short+scrotum+bulls#p313769

Two links to past discussions on this subject.

 

[Susie David]

Eighteen month old...ate better than alot of steers.
If he hasn't been running behind the cows for a few months you should have some good eating.
Seems like a yearling will be a little small...but then I haven't seen the animal.
Good luck...DMc

 

[BAGTIC]

I believe that in Europe and elsewhere it is not customary to cut bulls. Do we have someone on this board from countries where it is NOT the custom who would comment. I have eaten bull meat in other countries and found it quite flavorful.

 

[KNERSIE]

I believe that in Europe and elsewhere it is not customary to cut bulls. Do we have someone on this board from countries where it is NOT the custom who would comment. I have eaten bull meat in other countries and found it quite flavorful.

In SA we do cut or band at young age, but I have spent some time in the UK where much of the beef comes from suckler herds. They would typically use herefordXfriesian cows or angusxfriesian cows and use a limousin or charolais bull on them. The calves are heavily creep fed and weaned at around 10 months from where they directly go to the butcher. No heifers are retained and all bulls are left intact in most of these herds. At this age no-one would distinguish from bull or steer meat.

From my experience bull meat are typically leaner and more flavourfull. Can't say the same for ram or boar though.

 

[dun]

From my experience bull meat are typically leaner and more flavourfull. Can't say the same for ram or boar though.

I prefer bull meat myslef. Boar and ram are more flavorfull, it's just not a flavor anyone but a coyote would eat.