Terrible tasting/ smelling beef

[BarbG]

I'm hoping someone can tell me I'm not the only person to ever deal with this issue. Back in September we had a bull processed. After a mix up with the butcher we finally got out meat and oh my God. It is the worst smelling and tasting meat I've ever dealt with. The last cow we had butchered turned out fine. The cow we traded our neighbor, for the one we're dealing with, turned out fine. I knew something was off the first time I thawed some out and smelled it but I wasn't sure what was going on. Short back story. Took bull in butcher said two weeks. Two weeks later we call enquiring she gets nasty with my husband says she'll call when it's ready. A week later I call. She asks me was it the one with a broken leg, no mine was fine when I brought him in, she asks the name, I tell her she says oh yeah it's ready. (??) We go pick up meat. Says she tried contacting us but couldn't get us due to wrong number. Well we called twice and the meat was suddenly ready on week three after the second phone call. What happened to my beef? Did we not feed it out long enough (4mos), was he really stressed? Didn't seem to be. Skittish? Yes. Freak out and run off when getting fed? No. Stressed at the butcher? I'm almost positive. We've been told so many different things about this bull and we have no idea what happened. We have to soak the meat for up to 4 days to get rid of some of the bad taste/smell and even that doesn't completely solve the issue. Anyone have any idea what could have happened for this one to be so wrong when we've never had this issue before or should I just toss it up to bad luck?

 

[Bright Raven]

Don't overlook the possibility that the meat you got was not from the animal you took to the butcher. I was raised on a farm. We raised our own beef. Dad killed it, hoisted it up, bled it out, skinned it, quartered it and then took the quarters to a butcher. Our meat was fantastic. But I would never use a butcher that I did not thoroughly investigate. Too many are crooked.

 

[CG1]

I agree with Bright Raven. I had definitely received stuff that didn't come from our animals. But, on another note i have also had beef turn out to be repulsive. One time we bought a few yearlings from the mountains, crazy wild things. We had a buyer that wanted grass fed, i bought them for him and i followed the feeding guide given to me and my god, it was disgusting. Smelt and tasted incredibly gamey (according to the neighbour). We fed it all to the dogs

 

[BarbG]

Those are two of the things we've been told. Beware of the butcher and if it had to much grass it would taste extra gamy. I can see the gamy taste coming in, but the smell? What could cause that? My husband doesn't want to eat it. I don't either but what do I do with it? One thing I forgot to mention was we did ask for a little extra fat to be added (dryness) but surely that wouldn't effect the steaks and such. How do you add fat to a steak?

 

[BarbG]

Don't overlook the possibility that the meat you got was not from the animal you took to the butcher. I was raised on a farm. We raised our own beef. Dad killed it, hoisted it up, bled it out, skinned it, quartered it and then took the quarters to a butcher. Our meat was fantastic. But I would never use a butcher that I did not thoroughly investigate. Too many are crooked.

I'm convinced that's what happened just based on the timeline and how it all went down. To go from being rude "I said I'd call you" (that's what she told my husband when he called) to "yeah your meats ready" in a week. Then the wrong number issue. She did have the wrong number but we called twice. The broken leg part is what sticks out in my mind though. My bull did not have a broken anything unless it got broken after we dropped him off.

 

[Bright Raven]

Those are two of the things we've been told. Beware of the butcher and if it had to much grass it would taste extra gamy. I can see the gamy taste coming in, but the smell? What could cause that? My husband doesn't want to eat it. I don't either but what do I do with it? One thing I forgot to mention was we did ask for a little extra fat to be added (dryness) but surely that wouldn't effect the steaks and such. How do you add fat to a steak?

Depending on the forage, that can create some awful meat. That is why we put ours up and fed clean hay and corn back in the day.

What a mammal eats; flavors the meat. When I was living in Wyoming, I shot several Pronghorn Antelopes every year. The range they were on determined their palatability. If they were on sage grass prairie, it was like cooking a skunk. If they were on a rancher`s alfalfa (Wyoming has beautiful irrigated alfalfa), it was excellent.

 

[alisonb]

How old was the bull? Is the meat light, normal or dark?

Stress will play a huge role in quality of meat. Perhaps your meat was swopped intentionally/unintentionally with that of the animal with a broken leg...if so the meat will most probably be dark & soft and taste & smell awful. A 'dark cutter' has usually undergone stress for awhile. Light meat can also an indication of stress...stress over a shorter period though.

 

[BarbG]

This is a rump roast. It appears ok but its got that smell to it, although I will say it doesn't seem as strong as some of the other pieces of meat. The bull was a yr old. He ate the same grass our other ones eat and we fed him the same pellets as the others pre-processing so I'm not quite sure what happened. I do know I'm going to have to get creative of we don't want to waste a freezer full of meat.

 

[greggy]

Don't overlook the possibility that the meat you got was not from the animal you took to the butcher.

That was my initial thoughts.

 

[Ebenezer]

I'd say it spoiled while hanging regardless if it is you beef or someone elses. That is a terrible smell like you described.

 

[BarbG]

So do y'all think we should just scrap this meat and try again later? The calf we swapped for this one was processed shortly after ours and that meat was delicious. Just like our last one. So be it stress, wrong cow or any other problem that could have arisen I'm not sure I want to deal with a year of "soaking and hoping" in order to be able to have dinner. I mean we do like chicken, so there's that.

 

[kenny thomas]

Any chance you fed a high % of gluten in the feed?

 

[farmerjan]

First off, if it was eating the same feed and all, and only a year old, then the meat should not have been bad or gamey. I only "grass finish my animals" , they get about 2 lbs grain a day for the last month at most, but are still on the same pasture the whole time. If the animal was terribly stressed when killed, the adrenaline will cause a gamey/off flavor. But NOT "BAD" smell. If the animal that you got was not your own, then anything can have happened. If it had a "broken leg" then it was stressed; but if an animal came in with a broken leg, not yours: how long was it broken before they got it to the butcher.... lots of questions.
I really think you did not get back your own animal. That meat has more marbling than I have ever seen on an animal that is just a year, and just on grass, and some pellets. I think you got "taken". I personally would not eat it as I would be afraid of what if it had an infection from the "broken leg" and it was all through the meat.

I also would find another butcher......I would never go back to someone who acted like that...EVER...

 

[dieselbeef]

hard to really say...but I only grass finish. And that looks like a big roast for a yrlg on grass...saying that..any yrlg on grass is garbage..thats likely yer meat but he was killed way to young for grass. I know exactly the smell and the taste you mean...he was too young at a yr...24 mos on grass....ive done at least 40 steers on grass only....only time it was like that was when I did one at a yr and one at 16 mos trying to speed up the process..nohing gets killed here before 20 mos...and they gotta be above avg in size for that

 

[BarbG]

Any chance you fed a high % of gluten in the feed?

Not sure. I'd have to check. It's a standard finishing pellet we get from the local feed store. It's the same stuff we've always used unless they (makers) changed it up and we didn't notice

 

[Nesikep]

hard to really say...but I only grass finish. And that looks like a big roast for a yrlg on grass...saying that..any yrlg on grass is garbage..thats likely yer meat but he was killed way to young for grass. I know exactly the smell and the taste you mean...he was too young at a yr...24 mos on grass....ive done at least 40 steers on grass only....only time it was like that was when I did one at a yr and one at 16 mos trying to speed up the process..nohing gets killed here before 20 mos...and they gotta be above avg in size for that

Mine are usually 28 months doing grass-only.

 

[Redgully]

hard to really say...but I only grass finish. And that looks like a big roast for a yrlg on grass...saying that..any yrlg on grass is garbage..thats likely yer meat but he was killed way to young for grass. I know exactly the smell and the taste you mean...he was too young at a yr...24 mos on grass....ive done at least 40 steers on grass only....only time it was like that was when I did one at a yr and one at 16 mos trying to speed up the process..nohing gets killed here before 20 mos...and they gotta be above avg in size for that

Mine are usually 28 months doing grass-only.

We always did ours at 10-12 months on grass only and they were always fine.

 

[Chevy]

Good time to go vegetarian!

 

[BarbG]

Believe me that's been a topic of late

 

[darcelina4]

I would not eat meat with a bad smell. Dog food or trash can. It must be spoiled to smell bad. Ask the butcher if they had a freeze problem? Maybe the meat wasn't cold enough while hanging? I wouldn't use them again. I would definitely call them and tell them the problem.