Disclaimer--I'm not one to look a gift anything in the mouth, and I'm not really complaining, but since the subject of bull meat has come up, I'll tell you my experience with it.
I've eaten some really good young bull meat that was among the best I've ever eaten, but this year, I was given some ground beef, a Tbone, and a tenderized round steak by a friend of mine, from a 14 month old that was without a doubt, the worst I've ever put a fork to. It wasn't that it tasted bad--it just had no taste, and was dry as an old stick. The guy that gave it to me told me outright that it wasn't very good --claimed it was a case of "I guess none of those red cows don't make as good as my white cows", but that wasn't the case imo, and I tried to tell him why that one processed and ate so badly. (He and I are friends and he was taking a friendly jab at my beefmasters being mostly red and trying to compare his Charlais to them--that cow is the only red one he has) He would have nothing of my explanation at all but that's ok.
Out of a good Char bull and hereford/red angus cross cow (her 3rd or 4th calf) and should have been good beef, but I saw the calf born and weaned, so I know the why of it. A good looking calf, and at weaning (6-7 months) looked proportioned well, but really light for it's age. There was not an ounce of fat or marbling in the Tbone, no fat in the ground beef, and very very little fat on the round steak--anywhere. Way beyond lean.
Why?
Calf was conceived fall of 2010--not sure exactly when. Carried thru the winter, and the cow had very little to eat that winter tho she always was a good hustler--no supplemental feeding was given-it was just a rough winter for her.. By the time the calf hit the ground, we were in deep deep drought--how that cow made any milk is beyond me. I watched her, and the rest of that herd and they were all struggling, and it reamined the same thru last winter (because his hay guy sold his hay agreement out from under him for a higher price,). Early summer, he hauled some to the sale barn, and I thought that bull calf went too, but he took it up by his house and pen fed it with his milk cow for about 60 days and then had it slaughtered. Genetics aside, it's always been my thought that marbling and fat is set up early in the calf's life, and this one didn't have enough to eat the whole time, and taking into a feed lot after nearly starving the rest of the time just won't make up the difference--but he's still adamant that well..ya know how it goes.
Some folks just don't like constructive criticism.
Anyway, bull is just as good as steer or anything else imo, but ya can't expect to work miracles in the last few weeks.
