What is up with this?

[Kingfisher]

I was talking to an older fellow this evening about beef. He spoke at one point about the color of the fat in the marbling of a piece of beef. He spoke about the fat being either white or yellow. What causes/produces this difference in the " marbling?"

 

[funky 4-Her]

Ive heard this before. I think it has to do with what theyre fed. Grass vs corn fed??

 

[Jogeephus]

Yes, yellow fat is usually grass fed but I've seen white fat on labelled grassfed too but then again I've seen feeders in grassfed operations too so who knows. Always used to be a sign of grass feedingj before grassfed became an in thing.

 

[backhoeboogie]

It depends on the "grass" too.

Many things can affect this.

 

[1982vett]

Yes, yellow fat is usually grass fed but I've seen white fat on labelled grassfed too but then again I've seen feeders in grassfed operations too so who knows. Always used to be a sign of grass feedingj before grassfed became an in thing.

Probably more likely has to do with the integrity of the supplier.

 

[3waycross]

Everything I have been taught about fat color points to two things. Diet and age. In a young animal it is mostly diet but some heiferette beef i have seen has pretty yellow fat to it.

 

[Victoria]

http://www.extension.org/pages/39471/wh ... -to-feed-c

 

[vclavin]

I had heard Vitamin A was the culprit. Same as for deep yellow yolks in chicken eggs,right? wrong?
Valerie

 

[peg4x4]

Do know we butchered a bull calf whose dam was Jersey and sire was Angus -- Fat was yellow as butter. Butcher said that was the best calf that had ever came through his shop.. He was fed pears every day for at least a month before he was butchered and never weaned.. Big,fat and happy..

 

[brandonm_13]

Beta Carotene makes the fat yellow.

 

[TexasBred]

I had heard Vitamin A was the culprit. Same as for deep yellow yolks in chicken eggs,right? wrong?
Valerie

Yep....carotenoids which are high in Vitamin A. Naturally occuring in grass and bugs so you get the golden yokes more often in "free ranze" chickens....one very good source for commercial broilers and laying hens is corn gluten meal. It makes yellow yokes and yellow "Fat" on chickens. Bo Pilgrim of "Pilgrims Pride" always said he would never sell a fat yellow chicken and he didn't...they looked like they had been dead and embalmed for a week because he fed them cheap feed.

 

[vclavin]

I had heard Vitamin A was the culprit. Same as for deep yellow yolks in chicken eggs,right? wrong?
Valerie

Yep....carotenoids which are high in Vitamin A. Naturally occuring in grass and bugs so you get the golden yokes more often in "free ranze" chickens....one very good source for commercial broilers and laying hens is corn gluten meal. It makes yellow yokes and yellow "Fat" on chickens. Bo Pilgrim of "Pilgrims Pride" always said he would never sell a fat yellow chicken and he didn't...they looked like they had been dead and embalmed for a week because he fed them cheap feed.

Since the chickens are being fed the cows/calves feed, which contains 1/3 corn gluten, explains the deep yellow yolks. It evidently the percentage of corn gluten in this mix is not high enough to change the fat color in the butcher beef which remains white.
Thanks TB
Valerie

 

[TexasBred]

Val you're feeding "corn gluten feed"....I was talking about 'corn gluten meal". Two totally different products.

 

[vclavin]

Val you're feeding "corn gluten feed"....I was talking about 'corn gluten meal". Two totally different products.

Now that makes sense.. Corn gluten meal is the one they also use for weed control and it's very expensive.
Valerie