Tough ground beef.

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kenny thomas

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In the past i have recommended salvaging a bull or cow by using it all for ground beef.
3 weeks ago a friend had an older 1800 or so lb bull break a leg while fighting a neighbors bull. He took him to the local custom slaughterhouse. I figured it would be good so i bought 150 lb of ground beef. Flavor is ok but it is very tough. Any ideas why or how ground beef can be tough enough its hard to cut with a fork even?
 
We just ground our 4yr old bull. If it's the same, slow cooking on a lower heat. Lots of spaghetti sauces, chili etc.
Wife just made goulash from him. Absolutely awesome!
If it's a burger, go all the way!
We like the blackened blue cheese and bacon burger....alot!
 
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kenny thomas said:
It is very lean. Could it need to be ground again?
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A lot of older animals benefit from adding a little fat from a younger animal. Every processor I've ever used has kidney fat saved so they can mix it with lean and/or older animals. Might see if they will part with some and remix and grind it in.
 
Silver said:
Was it put through twice? Animals like that generally need to be run through a couple of times. First time coarse then finer. And lots of fat added as mentioned.
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Im betting not. The bulls owner picked it up and delivered it to us so i never been there. But delivered it for $3 a lb so guess i can live with it.
 
I agree, too lean and not ground through with some added fat... and on top of that, the adrenaline from the leg being broken, goes through the meat and that will make it tough... that sort of situation calls for the animal to be hung for at least 14-21 days too.... so probably a combination of things. If you thaw out a bigger portion, get some fat and grind it through a finer grind with the added fat...
Or like they say, lots of slow cooker type dishes... MOIST HEAT.... will help.
 
kenny thomas said:
Kinda hard to do now that its frozen. But i think that's it.
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That's crazy.

Took a bull once that the dogs couldn't even chew on very well. The ground was great. Maybe double or triple ground. It was lean as well.

Being that ground is already ground up. I just dont understand how it could possibly be tough. It'd pre chewed on. Lol.
 
Was it processed soon after the injury.
Could be like a dark cutter and have had adrenaline or whatever it is that causes that affect?
I would expect the meat from a mature bull to be lean, but not necessarily tough in ground beef.
 
Ky hills said:
Was it processed soon after the injury.
Could be like a dark cutter and have had adrenaline or whatever it is that causes that affect?
I would expect the meat from a mature bull to be lean, but not necessarily tough in ground beef.
Click to expand...

Just sitting here typing the same thing. I have found stressed or injured animals tend to be a whole lot tougher. I did a Hereford bull once that had to cook everything in the crockpot.
 
SmokinM said:
Just sitting here typing the same thing. I have found stressed or injured animals tend to be a whole lot tougher. I did a Hereford bull once that had to cook everything in the crockpot.
Click to expand...
Yeah years ago had a around 5-6 month old Charolais bull calf fall over an embankment and break a leg. Neighbor heard about it and told a buddy of his.
The guy said he wanted the calf for beef so we let him take it. Wasn’t long till the guy was furious and wanted me to reimburse him for the processing cost, as he said it wasn’t eatable.
I didn’t oblige him being as how it was free with no guarantee.
 

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