Lannie
Well-known member
Well, we finally got our meat back from the butcher. Little John, through a sequence of events (not his fault) ended up wandering our pasture for 5 years before we could get him in. His statistics were staggering (to me). Live weight was a bit over 2,600 pounds, hanging weight (after trimming 600 pounds of extra fat off the outside) was a bit over 1,600 pounds, and the meat is perfectly marbled and so far, fabulous. We had filet mignon the first night, and sirloins last night. I don't know how much finished weight came back to us, but he filled up two 14-cuft. chest freezers right to the top, plus a few packs in the other house freezers.
(The weights above are per the butcher. I just know he was a BIG BOY.)
Little John's daddy was an Angus, and his momma is half Angus, and one quarter each Hereford and Jersey. He never had a bite of grain in his life, and was raised on his momma until he was about 8 or 9 months, then weaned onto pasture, and good grass mix hay in the winter. He was a very nice boy, gentle and sweet like his momma, and besides nearly disassembling the chicken run (itchy butt, you know), never did anything wrong. He lived a good life and now he's feeding his family, and I suspect will continue feeding us for quite a few years, LOL! That is a LOT of meat out there in those freezers! I was quite fond of him, actually, and he was pleasant to have around, but now he has fulfilled his purpose. And boy, does he taste GOOD!
I took some pictures of the steaks, before and after cooking, but they're on an old fashioned camera and need to be downloaded. As soon as my hubby does that (he's the computer geek), I'll post them here. I have never had better beef in my life, except maybe for the last steer we butchered, but that was 10 years ago. I'd almost forgotten how good home-raised beef could be! Even those "tough ol' sirloins" off a 5 year old animal were tender and delicious! Of course, Little John was no athlete, he was more of a couch-potato steer.
(The weights above are per the butcher. I just know he was a BIG BOY.)
Little John's daddy was an Angus, and his momma is half Angus, and one quarter each Hereford and Jersey. He never had a bite of grain in his life, and was raised on his momma until he was about 8 or 9 months, then weaned onto pasture, and good grass mix hay in the winter. He was a very nice boy, gentle and sweet like his momma, and besides nearly disassembling the chicken run (itchy butt, you know), never did anything wrong. He lived a good life and now he's feeding his family, and I suspect will continue feeding us for quite a few years, LOL! That is a LOT of meat out there in those freezers! I was quite fond of him, actually, and he was pleasant to have around, but now he has fulfilled his purpose. And boy, does he taste GOOD!
I took some pictures of the steaks, before and after cooking, but they're on an old fashioned camera and need to be downloaded. As soon as my hubby does that (he's the computer geek), I'll post them here. I have never had better beef in my life, except maybe for the last steer we butchered, but that was 10 years ago. I'd almost forgotten how good home-raised beef could be! Even those "tough ol' sirloins" off a 5 year old animal were tender and delicious! Of course, Little John was no athlete, he was more of a couch-potato steer.