A Lesson in Grass-fed Beef at Carman Ranch
Posted Monday, July 19th, 2010, By: Martha
Grilled tri-tip: our blind tasting revealed some surprises
Last month, I saw a fascinating side of the beef industry…namely, SIDES of beef, lots of them, hanging in a butcher’s walk-in. I was part of a small group of chefs (I was the token non-chef) invited by Cory Carman to visit Carman Ranch, her grass-fed beef operation in the Wallowas in eastern Oregon. She and food-writer/beef-guru Lynne Curry organized an awesome butchery demo by Kevin Silveira at Valley Meat Services, who custom-cuts her meats.
The chefs — Cathy Whims of Nostrana, Dolan Lane of ClarkLewis, James Green and Mark Harris, both from Bon Appetit Management Co. — were mesmerized by Kevin’s skill, and all the chefs left with a deeper understanding of meat-cutting and beef quality.
Kevin Silveira shows how to custom-cut
After the demo, Carman used us as a focus group. We did side-by-side blind tastings to test dry-aging vs. wet-aging and fresh vs. frozen beef. The results? 1) The group generally had the same preferences, so the differences truly were discernible, 2) we preferred the dry-aged meat (which is Carman’s standard practice), and 3) we preferred the texture of previously frozen meat…that was a surprise.
But it’s knowledge that may help Carman provide meat year-round, and is of interest to other ranchers, too. Later in the month I spoke with rancher Ken Jaffe of New York’s Slope Farms Beef, who was fascinated with Carman’s findings. He’s experimenting with dry-aging the split cows first, then wet-aging the primals (big sections of meat) for another few weeks, to develop even more tenderness and flavor. I was gratified to learn about all the decisions that go into creating delicious, sustainably raised meat.
Carman burgers and rabbit sausages
We ended the weekend with a cookout, of course, with burgers made from beef that we custom-ground during our butcher session. How’s this for a mix: miscellaneous trim from all the cuts, plus 3 chuck roasts, and about 10 pounds of lusciously fatty short ribs…who needs kobe burgers when you’ve got grass-fed succulence like this?
