Yes I agree with a lot of that.
I think your right, slaughtering and hanging for long enough is an issue. Surely the regions where these Continental cattle originated liked the taste. French are quite particular about their food.
Couldnt agree more about wanting natural births etc but even a jersey calf can have a leg back or be stuck in the birth sack etc . I dont think money comes into it , you look after the stock regardless of its worth, its a life! I might "live" with the cows at calving but other times of the year i might spend less than five minutes a day glancing at them so over a year the hours spent wouldnt be much. The stockman in me thinks the likes of these dairy herds shooting bull calves etc is criminal whether thats at a day old or 8 weeks, worthless or not. All the standards these milk firms place on the dairy farmer are meaningless when they allow that and do not promote a better type of dairy cow that can produce a better worthwhile beef calf and a healthier image. Once you devalue an animal so much your on a slippery slope to not caring whether they live or die and thats not farming imo
We’ve had some of our own slaughtered and the meat is much more tender and darker coloured. Supermarket beef is bright red I think it’s reducing cost of hanging and outlay and what’s not sold can be minced or diced
I don’t agree with that, two local butchers who only buy the best heifers only hang their beef for 2 weeks. I’ve had steaks from them and they are no better if not worse than steaks from Morrison’s. Most butchers buy these double muscled things with little cover or IMF.
They won’t be able to hang those double muscled cattle any longer as they are so lean. Town butchers mainly serve town housewives with supermarket tastes but money to burn. I assume you mean Higgins and Co.?
I’m not going to name any butchers but he wasn’t who I was thinking of…my point is supermarket beef is no different to butchers beef imo. I have noticed that buyers are now wanting the cattle a lot thicker and a lot fatter than they used to. Never could get my head around buying lean ones but I guess the housewife didn’t want fat then moaned the beef was tasteless
I would agree with Morrisons steaks . OH very rarely goes to Morrisons but she does pick up a few of their steaks when she does go cos they are usually decent ones .
This is true. You'll never eliminate all the issues. It's all about balance.
Hanging for a decent length of time is how the job should be done. But, as said, you need a decent fat cover to do it. The extra trim and hanging/chill space are both things the supermarkets want to avoid.
When the butchers changed down the village they started stocking “best Angus beef” it was like trying too eat boot leather. Proper shite. The old butcher only ever had limmy bull beef, many a time he stocked ours as his supplier bought a lot of our bulls. Never had bad beef from him! It’s all how it’s treated. He’d have a body of beef in the chiller for a month many a time before cutting it up. Proper beef
Bought a jersey cow with a jersey steer at foot 5 yrs ago for £475.
I was told that Longhorn was one of the first breeds bred specifically for beef and eating quality? Should be good!Bought a jersey cow with a jersey steer at foot 5 yrs ago for £475.
She was a great foster mother and reared up 8 calves before eventually drying up and was then sent in the cull....she came to £475 before stoppages!!
The stear went in the freezer at 22 mths and was the tastiest beef I've ever had . He killed out at 284 kilos so it was a good job .
Got a Longhorn hanging in the abattoir at the moment. Bought it in Hfd for £200 quid 18 mths ago at 5 mths old .....see what that tastes like when I get it back
Noticed that in one of the primestock show and sales at Darlington. The butcher who bought the champion had a post shared by DFAM stating the beef would be available over their counter in the next 10 days. there wasn't much maturing on the hook there. Also agree, going by videos, that these market topping cattle down your way look extreme types and pretty lean. I would say the local butchers in our local marts would buy beasts with more cover but we don't get the headline trade like Darlington,etc
