I bought some grass fed beef on sale from Target today. The expiration date was today. It looked fine, and smelled fine. I know that grass fed beef has a different scent and flavor than corn fed beef. My husband walked in the door and wondered what I was making. I told him tacos. He walked over to the stove and said the meat smelled funny. I explained that it was grass fed beef. He took one bite of it and wouldn't eat it. He thinks it was off because today was the expiration date. I tasted it and thought it tasted normal for grass fed beef. Does everyone else think that there is a distinct difference in flavor between corn fed and grass fed beef?
Thanks for your responses! If it was spoiled or close, it didn't make me or the kids sick. I still think it tasted like other grass-fed beef I've had. I've been really afraid of buying ground beef ever since watching Food Inc.
I buy grassfed beef and it doesn't taste all that different to me. I buy it from a local farm, not a store. It's leaner, and and less gummy. The flavor (and this may be, because I use spices and herbs) is pretty much the same.
If meat tastes "off," that typically means it IS off.
We eat exclusively grass fed beef at home, but sometimes I'll get a burger or steak in a restaurant and I can tell a slight difference. But neither grass or corn fed beef has ever tasted "off" to me. I think if your husband thought it was weird tasting, then it was probably spoiled, or close.
Huh, my family has a beef catttle business. All of our animals are grass fed, with some molasses on the side. I think if the beef smelled funny, then it was probably off already.
I grew up with both and as a result, I do notice a difference in flavor. Grass fed always seems more tender and juicy. Less tough and more melty. That's if we're talking steak.
If we're talking ground beef, I don't really notice a difference. I replaced ground beef with ground turkey many, many years ago and have long preferred it over the beef.
It's a moot point now since I'm a recently returned vegetarian. When I buy for the rest of my family, my choices reflect choosing from the local farms and have reputations for being humane. It's a "side benefit" that they're grass fed. And you know they're grass fed because I drive by the cows all the time. :-)
Hmm, I've purchased grass fed and I've never noticed a different taste. I agree, Food Inc was stomach turning.
Unless you seek it out, most Americans have never tasted grass fed beef.
Grass fed beef smell/ taste can vary from summer to winter (less grass, more hay).
It can be gamey.
Try to find local grass fed at eat wild.com
hm. grass fed does taste significantly different from corn-fed, and there's a bit of a learning curve involved in making the switch. good for you for doing it! i now find that corn-fed beef has kind of a fakey sweetish flavor to it.
so it's hard to say whether your husband was reacting to the difference, or if it really had gone off. expiration dates tend to be very conservative so it's unlikely that the meat was bad, especially if it tasted okay to you.
your husband may just need a slow intro to grass fed.
khairete
S.
We are all veggie in this house except hubby who eats a bit of meat. He won't eat the grassfed, says it tastes weird. I know it's better for him and the environment but on the rare occasion I cook him a steak I buy the natural but corn fed (no antibiotics etc.)
I'm interested to hear the answers as maybe it was just the brand I bought. When did he know it was bought on the expiration date? Sometimes if I know something is questionable I think I just imagine it being bad. I'd love to try the grassfed for him again but don't want to waste $$$ and ruin his dinner!
I buy grass fed beef from Whole Foods and have not noticed it tasting any different from what I used to get from Costco which I'm guessing is conventionally grown. I'm pretty picky about gamey smells, too, and have never managed to cook deer or elk without getting grossed out. I try to cook meats as soon as possible, at least a couple days before the sell by date. Occassionally I'll get meet that smells bad even before the date so those sell by dates are not guarentees that the meat if fresh.
Good for you for buying grass-fed beef ! Most of the corn in the US is genetically engineered. Plus, cows are not supposed to eat all that corn. But, it fattens them up quickly and, in turn, they get sick. Then, the factory farms have to treat them for being ill. Plus, mad cow disease is very scary ! So sad !
I bought grass fed beef last week and it tasted awful! Two wks prior to that, I bought it and it tasted wonderful. And it didn't taste any different from the beef claimed to be "natural."
I am wondering the same thing. I will be curious to read the answers you receive !
The "expiration" date is actually the last date it can be sold. The meat is still good for several days afterwards.
Grass fed beef often has a gamey taste or, worse, fishy!!! If I want a fishy taste, I'll buy bad fish, thank you very much! :) I think it can also depend on what kind of grass the cow has fed on.
I think there are cooking methods to help with the taste, but I'm not sure what they are. I buy organic beef from a local farmer and they use grain to "finish" their beef. Thankfully, they use organic, non GMO grain. It's more expensive, but less expensive than buying grass fed and having my family hate it and need to throw it away. That has happened to us before, it's awful, isn't it?
One of the great benefits of grassfed beef is the high content of Omega 3 fatty acids, which is actually higher than salmon! It's so very good for you, which makes it so sad that it tastes so funky.
Last year we bought a 1/2 cow from www.themeatgoat.com (found them from an ad on this website). When they dropped off the meat they told us it would taste different than conventional beef and cook differently. We had no issues with the ground beef, but the steaks had to be cooked to a lower temp (med rare vs. medium) and were more flavorful and a little less tender. I noticed the different smell but others did not.
