Author Topic: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?  (Read 16714 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

me

  • Guest
pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« on: October 29, 2009, 10:56:30 pm »
hi!

if you have any pictures (or links to) of grass fed meat and/or fat, could you please post them here?

i would love to be able to learn how to judge meat quality for myself, without having to rely on the seller's word (they don't seem to have a clue about grass fed vs. grain fed here and i'm not sure what is more common in the stores). here, where i currently live (costa rica), the meat is not sold packaged, it's sold cut straight from the animal, so i have to go by appearance.

other tips regarding the difference in appearance between grass fed vs. grain fed meat are also very welcome!

thank you for any help on this subject  :)

Offline ys

  • Mammoth Hunter
  • ******
  • Posts: 1,323
    • View Profile
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2009, 11:06:48 pm »
I could not see any difference whatsoever except that grass-fed cuts are way leaner than grain-fed.

And I do not know if underfed grain-fed animal would be as lean as well fed grass-fed.

Offline robbie1687

  • Forager
  • *
  • Posts: 17
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #2 on: October 30, 2009, 12:58:29 am »
Here's a slice of a grass-fed beef chuck roast from US Wellness that I just ate for lunch.   I don't know whether it's low or high quality, but as you can see, this particular roast has a lot of fat in it. It tastes very mild and fresh.   Not much taste at all.

By the way, in case anybody interprets this post as an endorsement of US Wellness, I think their whole cuts (like this chuck roast) are okay but I strongly recommend that you stay away from their "suet" (which is actually miscellaneous soft fat), tallow, and ground beef.   (Their ground bison is fine, it's made by another company, Northstar.)


Offline robbie1687

  • Forager
  • *
  • Posts: 17
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #3 on: October 30, 2009, 01:38:57 am »
Now I'm wondering.  Do chuck roasts from Slankers have that much fat?

Offline goodsamaritan

  • Administrator
  • Mammoth Hunter
  • *****
  • Posts: 8,830
  • Gender: Male
  • Geek Healer Truth Seeker Pro-Natal Pro-Life
    • View Profile
    • Filipino Services Inc.
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #4 on: October 30, 2009, 02:09:10 am »
Here's the kind of grass fed beef I look for in the market.  Freshly killed at 12mn, hung for sale at 5am. Never refrigerated.  Never frozen.



The taste of the fat is unmistakably yummy.  Our Philippine grass fed beef has the same characteristic fatty taste as new zealand grass fed beef.

I've tasted australian grain fed and I didn't like it I stopped buying it.

The deep yellow color in the fat has the yummy flavor in it.
Linux Geek, Web Developer, Email Provider, Businessman, Engineer, REAL Free Healer, Pro-Life, Pro-Family, Truther, Ripple-XRP Fan

I'm the network administrator.
My business: Website Dev & Hosting and Email Server Provider,
My blogs: Cure Manual, My Health Blog, Eczema Cure & Psoriasis Cure

Offline TylerDurden

  • Global Moderator
  • Mammoth Hunter
  • *****
  • Posts: 17,016
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
    • Raw Paleolithic Diet
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #5 on: October 30, 2009, 02:58:24 am »
Personally, I find the deep yellow colour a sure sign of high quality(grassfed) fat.
"During the last campaign I knew what was happening. You know, they mocked me for my foreign policy and they laughed at my monetary policy. No more. No more.
" Ron Paul.

me

  • Guest
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #6 on: October 30, 2009, 04:17:00 am »
thank you for the comments and pictures.

i read that yellow fat is a sign of a grass fed animal and i really (by instinct?) love the picture of those meats from the phillippines! when i asked the salesperson in the shop about yellow fat he frowned and said "yellow fat is bad because it comes from old animals and you don't want to eat old animals because they taste bad". all young animals have white fat, he claimed, and also that the very best cuts are the ones with very dark color and white fat. my tastebuds disagree with that, sadly.

i guess the meat itself tastes better also when the fat has the right color (and tasty contents). because even the meat has some fat in it..

a lot of the cuts i see have very little fat "in them" but on the edge there is this thick part of fat, very hard and white. a typical grain fed animal is supposed to have a lot of fat "in" the cut as well making it look almost white, was something i read also. but maybe they can be grain fed with white fat and no intramuscular (?) fat?

i saw a heart though, and it had some yellow fat around it, so there is hope i think  :)

regarding taste: i tried a cut with white fat and a kind of a greyish color in the meat, and it (the meat and the fat) tasted like cheese! very weird even though i liked the taste (and smelled like cheese for hours it seemed). has anyone else experienced something similar?

Offline ys

  • Mammoth Hunter
  • ******
  • Posts: 1,323
    • View Profile

Offline robbie1687

  • Forager
  • *
  • Posts: 17
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #8 on: October 30, 2009, 05:20:16 am »
It's white in real life too.  It wasn't just the camera.


Offline yon yonson

  • Global Moderator
  • Chief
  • *****
  • Posts: 560
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #10 on: October 30, 2009, 08:18:04 am »
i've read that costar rican beef is almost always grass fed due to convenience. i think it's just too much of a hassle for small time farmers to buy grain and stuff.

me

  • Guest
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #11 on: October 31, 2009, 12:47:37 pm »
has anyone noticed any difference in looks between free range chicken and conventional? color differences, fat amount, size, etc. ? seems even harder to tell than with beef. all the salmon (frozen) here seems to be imported from chile (farmed, is my guess) or from the atlantic (wild?) so to learn how to recognize a nice piece of wild salmon is also on my list as it's the only tasty fish i like so far.

Offline DeadRamones

  • Bear Hunter
  • ****
  • Posts: 193
  • Gender: Male
  • My boy eating!
    • View Profile
    • Acumen Athletics
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #12 on: October 31, 2009, 08:20:31 pm »
I've been seeing alot of New Zealand meats by me. Does anyone know if they are grass-fed/finished? The one I had a while ago had a gamey taste. Not so much with the most recent one I experienced though. I've also heard that Argentinian & Brazilian beef are predominantly grass fed.

Offline livingthelife

  • Bear Hunter
  • ****
  • Posts: 156
    • View Profile
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #13 on: October 31, 2009, 09:32:45 pm »
how to recognize a nice piece of wild salmon

Should be firm, will "shred," meaning the muscle fibers stay intact when squeezed

Avoid soft fish that breaks down into a grainy texture when handled

Best is to buy from a reliable source because there are many ways of creating nice looking fish, such as adding dyes


me

  • Guest
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #14 on: November 02, 2009, 10:16:08 am »
are there similar dyes used in coloring meat as well? do they affect the taste/body effect in your opinion?

Offline invisible

  • Elder
  • ****
  • Posts: 355
    • View Profile
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #15 on: November 03, 2009, 10:17:21 am »
the fat on gass fed meat can be white or yellow. Older animals tend to have yellower fat. Grass fed suet is pretty much always white in my experience.

Offline PaleoPhil

  • Mammoth Hunter
  • ******
  • Posts: 6,198
  • Gender: Male
  • Mad scientist (not into blind Paleo re-enactment)
    • View Profile
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #16 on: November 03, 2009, 10:30:10 am »
Grassfed suet is more yellow than grainfed in my experience. Lex has also noted this. If you melt it you can see the yellow more easily. Grassfed also has less connective-type material (it's like sticky netting) and more pure fat.
>"When some one eats an Epi paleo Rx template and follows the rules of circadian biology they get plenty of starches when they are available three out of the four seasons." -Jack Kruse, MD
>"I recommend 20 percent of calories from carbs, depending on the size of the person" -Ron Rosedale, MD (in other words, NOT zero carbs) http://preview.tinyurl.com/6ogtan
>Finding a diet you can tolerate is not the same as fixing what's wrong. -Tim Steele
Beware of problems from chronic Very Low Carb

alphagruis

  • Guest
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #17 on: November 03, 2009, 06:41:09 pm »
Grassfed suet is more yellow than grainfed in my experience. Lex has also noted this. If you melt it you can see the yellow more easily. Grassfed also has less connective-type material (it's like sticky netting) and more pure fat.

The color seems to be related to the presence of more or less yellow pigments from carotenoids and might well depend on the season as the color of butter. The liposoluble carotenoids stem from green grass and leafy plant matter but are essentially absent in grains.

Offline PaleoPhil

  • Mammoth Hunter
  • ******
  • Posts: 6,198
  • Gender: Male
  • Mad scientist (not into blind Paleo re-enactment)
    • View Profile
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #18 on: November 04, 2009, 07:52:10 am »
Yes, the color varies depending on what the cattle ate, which varies by season. In general, grassfed suet will tend to be more yellow than grainfed.
>"When some one eats an Epi paleo Rx template and follows the rules of circadian biology they get plenty of starches when they are available three out of the four seasons." -Jack Kruse, MD
>"I recommend 20 percent of calories from carbs, depending on the size of the person" -Ron Rosedale, MD (in other words, NOT zero carbs) http://preview.tinyurl.com/6ogtan
>Finding a diet you can tolerate is not the same as fixing what's wrong. -Tim Steele
Beware of problems from chronic Very Low Carb

Offline livingthelife

  • Bear Hunter
  • ****
  • Posts: 156
    • View Profile
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #19 on: November 04, 2009, 08:52:45 am »
are there similar dyes used in coloring meat as well? do they affect the taste/body effect in your opinion?

Yes, I know that dyes are sometimes used in beef. Sometimes beef is injected with CO2 so that it doesn't turn brown (oxidize) as well. I don't know much about this other than what shows up in the news. I haven't bought any "supermarket" beef in years.

Offline invisible

  • Elder
  • ****
  • Posts: 355
    • View Profile
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #20 on: November 04, 2009, 04:20:11 pm »
Grassfed suet is more yellow than grainfed in my experience. Lex has also noted this. If you melt it you can see the yellow more easily. Grassfed also has less connective-type material (it's like sticky netting) and more pure fat.

I get grassfed fat and it has some of that sticky netting. I think that depends on the location where the fat comes from.

Offline PaleoPhil

  • Mammoth Hunter
  • ******
  • Posts: 6,198
  • Gender: Male
  • Mad scientist (not into blind Paleo re-enactment)
    • View Profile
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #21 on: November 05, 2009, 07:15:00 am »
My grassfed fat has some of it too, but less overall.
>"When some one eats an Epi paleo Rx template and follows the rules of circadian biology they get plenty of starches when they are available three out of the four seasons." -Jack Kruse, MD
>"I recommend 20 percent of calories from carbs, depending on the size of the person" -Ron Rosedale, MD (in other words, NOT zero carbs) http://preview.tinyurl.com/6ogtan
>Finding a diet you can tolerate is not the same as fixing what's wrong. -Tim Steele
Beware of problems from chronic Very Low Carb

me

  • Guest
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #22 on: November 05, 2009, 11:11:03 am »
i feel when i eat meat with white fat here, it sticks to my teeth in a way that yellow fat does not. the yellow fat just melts in my mouth and disappears whereas the white fat, often grainy in consistency, clings to the knife and plate and makes me want to spit it out. to me it feels more "natural" with soft and easily dissolved fat. however.. the meat with white fat tastes so much more here, compared to the meat with yellow fat. it's almost tasteless whereas the white fat meat tastes bloody and rich! i notice the color of the white fat meat is often more red and vibrant with the other meat being very dark looking. oh, you can't always have it all, so i guess i'll buy the yellow fat and eat the white fat meat :)

Offline Rawdietforhealth

  • Egg Thief
  • **
  • Posts: 48
    • View Profile
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #23 on: April 18, 2011, 05:35:17 pm »
Just found the first company really marketing organic grass fed beef in the Philippines at http://www.downtoearth.ph/

I understand the real grass fed beef that they offer is quite a bit thinner than some of the other really fat beef you find in the market.  I guess that is a sign that the cattle is really grass fed and not fed a mixture of grass and grains and other things to fatten them up.  I even heard some stories of force-feeding the cows molasses to make sure they get fattened in some farms in the countryside.  I assume that changes the composition and quality of the meat quite a bit.

Offline donrad

  • Bear Hunter
  • ****
  • Posts: 187
  • Gender: Male
  • Raw Omnivore
    • View Profile
Re: pictures of grass fed meat and fat?
« Reply #24 on: April 20, 2011, 05:47:00 am »
There is grass fed-beef and then there is grass-fed grass-finished beef. If a rancher is attempting to build a customer base and reputation he/she will finish the cattle on prime agricultural land during certain times of the year when the grass is lush and nutritious with a high energy content that will be converted to marbeling (fat) in the muscles. It is more costly to finish cattle this way compared to sending them to feed lots.

The New Zealand beef industry is predominately grass-fed. They have developed breeds of cattle that grow and fatten well on grass. Same with Brazil. The international agribusiness corporations have not taken over all the food production there yet.

Cows on winter hay will have white milk and fat. In the spring and early summer it will turn yellow as the start to eat the fresh grass. Omega3.

Recently in the news they are finding more than half of grocery store beef contains drug resistant staf bacteria. The bacteria is coming from the cows themselves. This is because the feed lots have to pump the cows full of antibiotics to keep them alive in confinement eating food they were not designed to eat.

« Last Edit: May 05, 2011, 02:32:08 am by TylerDurden »
Naturally, Don

 

SMF spam blocked by CleanTalk