Gelbvieh x ??? for Tenderness

[norriscathy]

We closed our Gelbvieh herd 10 years ago. We have licked the calving problems and TOP the Oklahoma City Stockyards sale everytime we go!!! Really Great ??? The only problem is; I can't hardly eat one of my own steers! Even T-Bones are tough! Does anyone have any thoughts on how we can get a better tasting product? Heard a lot recently about Devon. Does anyone have any experience? Tried Angus and they don't do well here. Gelbvieh cattle are extremely gentle and I don't want to lose that trait.

 

[dun]

I thouhgt I was the only one that had that problem. Our Gelbvieh angus crosses had the best flavor of any beef we've ever had. Tougher then wang leather. Ended up grinding them and made superb burger.

dun

 

[mitchwi]

I hope to read more of people's input on this!

 

[D.R. Cattle]

I butchered 2 steers back in Feb. They're about the best I ever had. Lean but tender at the same time. Grinds were outstanding even by my butchers specs. He ate it raw it looked so good to him. Surprisingly they were mutts, but they were the best looking of the bunch. Sire was Maine Angus. Dams were Brafords. I turned them out at the home pasture and brought them in for feed twice a day. Fed em pretty heavy so they would go light on the grass. But they were only yearlings.

 

[Brandonm2]

FAJITAS!!!!

Have you tried aging the carcass?
http://www.grillmeats.com/dry_aged_beef.htm

Other methods of improving tenderness include...
freezing, marinading, elecrical stimulation, feeding your calf till he is ridiculously fat, etc.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distributi ... J0856.html

Since you have straight Gelbviehs you might want to discuss this problem with your association field rep (or somebody you trust who is very knowledgable in Gelbvieh genetics) and find some Gelbviehs that are unusually tender.

 

[paul swisher]

MARC test rate Gelbvieh one of the more tough breeds. Wanting to keep their gentle nature you might consider crossing with Pinzgauer. Pinzguers rate right at the top of MARC tender shear testing and if anything they are calmer, more docile that gelbvieh both coming from small alpine farms

 

[DOC HARRIS]

FAJITAS!!!!

Have you tried aging the carcass?
http://www.grillmeats.com/dry_aged_beef.htm

Other methods of improving tenderness include...
freezing, marinading, elecrical stimulation, feeding your calf till he is ridiculously fat, etc.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distributi ... J0856.html

Since you have straight Gelbviehs you might want to discuss this problem with your association field rep (or somebody you trust who is very knowledgable in Gelbvieh genetics) and find some Gelbviehs that are unusually tender.

:shock: :roll: :?: :?: :roll: :shock: :???: The article on Tenderness is very informative. If I were slaughtering my own Beef, I would have two rooms; a Cool room (64 degrees) and a Freezer. I would hang about 75 -100 lbs on the 'bottom' end of the hung carcass, keep it in the cool room for about 8-10 hours, pounding on it occasionally with a rubber mallet to break down the connective tissue further before rolling it into the freezer, and age it for about a week at 38 degrees - then Deep Freeze it! Then - and only then - I would present it to my dear wife and say, "It is ready for your 'tender' care!" (Oh - - I forgot to take the 75-100 lbs. off of it! That would have been done between the 38 degrees and the Deep Freeze.) The weight would assist in the breaking-down of the connective tissue fibers and the separation of the "striped" muscles (voluntary) fasciculi prior to rigor mortis. The "rubber mallet" would serve the same purpose as the Japanese 'massaging' their beef to make it tender. I would market my steaks at about $50.00 /lb.! $25,000 per steer! If anyone wants to go partners with me - - with YOUR money and my brains - - we will be rich over night!!

DOC HARRIS

 

[Brandonm2]

FAJITAS!!!!

Have you tried aging the carcass?
http://www.grillmeats.com/dry_aged_beef.htm

Other methods of improving tenderness include...
freezing, marinading, elecrical stimulation, feeding your calf till he is ridiculously fat, etc.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distributi ... J0856.html

Since you have straight Gelbviehs you might want to discuss this problem with your association field rep (or somebody you trust who is very knowledgable in Gelbvieh genetics) and find some Gelbviehs that are unusually tender.

:shock: :roll: :?: :?: :roll: :shock: :???:

Well, Doc I was responding to Norriscathy's original post. His own personal steaks are tough. It is quite possible that processing his steer differently (aging them for example) will solve that problem or he could just serve them chopped up into fajitas or cubed. I had some steaks prepared by some dude in the Dakotas who had started his own breed ("Continentals", I think) who addressed the toughness problem by aging his carcasses wrapped in aluminum foil and some kind of salt-citrus mix. The cost was probably ridiculous; but he DID completely resolve the tenderness issue.

The other harder solution is genetics. We really have not yet, begun heavy selection for tenderness but it is LIKELY that SOMEBODY in the Gelbvieh breed has addressed this problem.

 

[DOC HARRIS]

Brandon - I accidentally posted the "faces" before I finished the post. Check out the rest of the post! I will be expecting your check in the mail soon! :lol: :lol:

DOC

 

[MoGal]

Use of 25-hydroxyvitamin D Iowa State University Animal Industry Report 2005. Use of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. 3. to Improve Tenderness of Beef. A.S. Leaflet R2005. K.M. Carnagey, graduate student. E.J. Huff-Lonergan, associate professor of animal science. R.L. ... the same mechanism that works to improve tenderness of. beef from cattle treated with vitamin D ...
http://www.ans.iastate.edu

oh darn it, the link didn't paste... well its a 4 page pdf file and I hope you can find it... talked about feeding vitamin D3 prior to slaughter.

 

[MoGal]

http://www.ag.auburn.edu/~ckerth/Resear ... steers.pdf


well after several attempts hopefully this link is right.... this is another pdf file from auburn univ using the vitamin d3 to increase tenderness.

 

[UG]

We put a Gelbvieh or Gelbvieh cross steer into the freezer every year and even sell some freezer beef. Of all the steers we have eaten there was only one that I would consider tougher than normal.

We even have a guy that buys all the calves that we have left at the end of the year after we have selected replacement heifers and breeding stock that we are going to sell. He sells all of them as freezer beef once they are fat and swears that his customers love the beef.

One practice that we do is having the beef hang in the cooler for two weeks following slaughter to help with the terderizing process.

I have been curious about South Devons myself based on the carcass information that I've read. If you aren't producing breeding stock, the Gelbviehs may cross well with the S.D.