Grind into burger

[504RP]

At what age is a beef when you should consider having the whole thing ground into burger ?

 

[Little Joe]

At what age is a beef when you should consider having the whole thing ground into burger ?

I have a friend that keeps longhorn steers til they're 5 before he butchers and swears they're the best steaks. I don't want one to get over 24 months.

 

[farmerjan]

You can eat the filets and often the NY strips up to most any age if the animal is in good shape.... But I usually figure 4-5 for most cuts... but then I get stew meat as well as the few cuts before I grind into hamburger... and we also have the alternative here of a shop that makes hot dogs and bologna and snack sticks and chipped beef and all sorts of stuff... so I just get big chunks and get them to make that other stuff.... it costs, but it sure is better than the store bought stuff and I know what goes into it...

 

[smokey road cattle]

by rule over three should all be boneless [ mad cow from the marrow], we do 20 t0 24 months as we like bone in, we have done over three with roast, brisket ,loins and stew meat boneless and grind everything else. The older the cow the coarser and grainier the loins become.

 

[Hpacres440p]

by rule over three should all be boneless [ mad cow from the marrow], we do 20 t0 24 months as we like bone in, we have done over three with roast, brisket ,loins and stew meat boneless and grind everything else. The older the cow the coarser and grainier the loins become.

I thought mad cow was only a spinal cord issue, not marrow...

 

[M.Magis]

I thought mad cow was only a spinal cord issue, not marrow...

You are correct. The parts they suggest avoiding are the brain, tonsils, eyes, spinal cord, certain parts of the nervous system, and part of the small intestine.

 

[Ky hills]

We had a 7 year old Braford cow processed. Had fed her out just as I would a young steer. We originally had planned to do just ground beef, but the processor thought with the finish she had on her that we should get some steaks and roasts. We did get the filets and a few roasts. The roasts are real good, but we cook them in a crockpot for several hours. The steaks have good flavor but are a bit chewier than should be from a younger animal.

 

[annmariemz23]

We had a cow show up from the mountains who jumped into the neighbor's bull pasture and lived there entertaining the bulls for 2 months before we could go get her. She was a pain to get, and it took three people to finally incarcerate her. She chose the wrong day to pull that stunt given that she didn't appear to be doing anything but entertain bulls. The butcher was coming the next day, and my son asked if he had room for one more. Given her age (8 or 9) we were going to grind her, but the person cutting the meat talked us into some steaks as well. They were actually very good, but this is given the fact that grass-fed meat needs to be cooked slowly at a lower temperature.

 

[lighthorse69]

Helps to age the meat, but older cows will always taste better than calves. Tenderness is a cal es only advantage. Hard to find a place to properly age beef properly is the biggest problem.

 

[ClinchValley86]

I kept filets from 13 year old. Gave her corn the last month. Ground the rest. Best flavored filets I've ever eaten. They get fresh grass every day in the growing season. Don't know how that affects the meat.

Think im gonna keep ribeyes too the next old cow.

 

[M.Magis]

I cut some steaks from an old cow one year, the rest went to burger. On top of normal grass, she was also fed corn every day. They were completely without fat (dry), and tough as leather. That was the last time I experimented with steaks from an old cow.