My first steaks ever!

[GANGGREEN]

I just got my first beef cattle in December of '07 and just had my first two animals butchered. We picked up the meat today and threw some NY strips on the grill. I very lightly seasoned them with Montreal Steak Seasoning and cooked them medium. As you can all imagine, I was scared to death that they'd be horrible when I took that first bite. All I could think of was the time, money and effort that I already had in the animals and the 4 friends who had bought halves or quarters from me.

With trepidation, I took my first bite. IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!! A little background is probably in order. They were purebred Highland bulls (long story why they weren't castrated), probably 750 and 900 pounds respectively. For many of you, that will sound horribly small but Highlands don't get as big as many breeds and one of them in particular was on a very small frame. For what it's worth, they finished off really well. I posted pictures of one of them a few weeks ago and got some compliments on how he looked.

According to the butcher, the carcasses looked quite nice for Highlands but didn't have a ton of carcass fat so they chose to hang them for only 8 days before butchering. One thing that was surprising (and quite a nice surprise) was that they only had 29% and 31% cutting losses, those are great numbers, right? The steaks and roasts are noticeably lean and I was a bit worried that they'd be tough. Well, I wouldn't say it was the most tender steak I've ever eaten but it was far from tough and it was absolutely delicious. I'm quite pleased and very much looking forward to trying all the other cuts.

Here are the steaks waiting for some lovin'.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

They do look tasty don't they .

Congrats on your first home-raised-beef experience. Glad it went well for you.

Katherine

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Being bulls made the meat leaner. Leaner dosen't mean tougher, just less fat so you can eat more.

 

[donnaIL]

Congrats...nothing better than home grown beef, enjoy...sometimes folks make it sound complicated, but its not ;-) best of luck, donna

 

[Jogeephus]

Congrats! It makes it all worthwhile don't it!

 

[shorty]

The best thing about raising your own beef is that you know what it was fed and how it was raised . When you buy meat in a store you don't know what your getting . Where are you at in nc Pa. I have a hunting camp in potter co. , I was wondering if you were near there.

 

[grannysoo]

Send me a few and I'll give you a second opinion!

 

[dieselbeef]

lotta satisfaction in what youve done...and every time you sit down to eat some homegrown youll relish in it...i know i do and it makes every bite just that much better. its really quite an accomplishment to grow a decent piece of beef and enjoy it while the majority of people never give a thought to what theyre eatin

 

[GANGGREEN]

shorty, I'm in Potter County as well. Nice country, ay?

 

[gg4rebels]

I plan on putting one of my boys in the freezer next year....my friends (and my husband) don't think I will be able to put a fork into little Spade or Bermuda! We are going to take one to the butcher and a guy I work with is going to buy the other. They think that since I bottle fed I will not be able to do it. Well someone is going to eat them! Why not me since I know EXACTLY what they have eaten! I told them at the card table at lunch yesterday that there would be no more talk about me killing my pets. It was a done deal and to leave it alone! I am going to think positive!!!

 

[GANGGREEN]

gg, that's exactly the attitude I had/have. A lot of my friends and family told me that I'd never be able to eat them, that I shouldn't name them, that I didn't want to get "close" to them, etc. and I've maintained all along that it wouldn't be a problem for me. Well, it wasn't. I have exactly ZERO guilt about eating an animal that I actually enjoyed watching, feeding and being around, that was why I got the animals in the first place. Admittedly, I'm a lifelong hunter and, though I'm not a farmer, I'm not that far removed from the farm. I'm very proud to admit that even my two sons, ages 12 and 10, had no real problem with it so either I did a good job instilling in them that these animals had a purpose or they simply have no heart. :lol:

 

[gg4rebels]

I have exactly ZERO guilt about eating an animal that I actually enjoyed watching, feeding and being around, that was why I got the animals in the first place. Admittedly, I'm a lifelong hunter and, though I'm not a farmer, I'm not that far removed from the farm. I'm very proud to admit that even my two sons, ages 12 and 10, had no real problem with it so either I did a good job instilling in them that these animals had a purpose or they simply have no heart.

I hope that I can continue with the current thought process. It only makes sense. They are going to be butchered by someone. What other purpose would they serve....they are steers! I too am a life long hunter. We kill enough does (there are too many of them on our hunting land) to have enough burger, tenderized steaks and smoked sausage until next hunting season. We kill bucks that will hang on the wall. I have to admit that I will not shoot a doe during bow season if I see fawns with her or might have one or two hiding.

BTW - My bet is that your boys do have hearts! Thanks, Gale

 

[chippie]

Excellent! There is nothing better than home grown beef.

Were you able to get his head and horns?

 

[GANGGREEN]

Yes, I kept the horns. A friend is making me a powder horn out of one of them and using another to make inlays into a flintlock stock with.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

My daughter would get attached to them and refuse to eat them, for about a week then she would cave in. Gave her a bottle calf to raise a couple years ago grandson was three he named the calf Hamburger.

 

[Wewild]

My daughter would get attached to them and refuse to eat them, for about a week then she would cave in. Gave her a bottle calf to raise a couple years ago grandson was three he named the calf Hamburger.

Charlie was first. Inky, Spot and Saturday next. Dad kept Saturday even though he shouldn't have. She got lock jaw. He never was good on putting them down so it always seemed to fall to me several years later.

My kids raised Sunshine. She would still be with us if I hadn't shipped her by accident.

Thanks for the posts.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

It was really pretty funny with my daughter, my wife would cook dinner she would eat all around the meat and claim she was going to be a veggie people for about two weeks. Then you would catch her eating meat.

 

[shorty]

shorty, I'm in Potter County as well. Nice country, ay?[/qu