I guess I need to explain a little more in depth in case I've confused
anyone about the penning issue.  But, first, please notice in my original
post (excerpted below by Rachel and responded to) that I said range beef
"can be," not "is" tough.

Now, to explain by first taking a bit of a long way around.  Penning does
not necessarily equal graining.  The terms are not mutually inclusive,
though they may be used as such in casual discussion of factory farming
methods.  There is nothing inherently non-paleo about penning as far as I
can determine since beef on a farmstead can be, and usually is, fed hay
while penned.  It does not have to be grained.  Perhaps we (Rachel and I)
have differing ideas about what a "pen" is. "Corral" or small pasture is
more what I have in mind.  The animals (or animal, since no one I know puts
more than one beef into the freezer at a time) can still freely move around
if they're not densely crowded.  They just can't roam as far or wide.  Thus,
"penned" is not synonymous with either a "stall" or being excessively
confined.

Now, directly to the point.  I stand by my assertion that beef *can be*
mighty tough if it's not penned for a while before slaughter.  This isn't to
say, however, that beef that's not penned is tough, as Rachel's experience
clearly shows it's not.  And my experience bears this out as well.  But
allow me to illustrate the main point of what I mean by *can be tough* by
way of an example that everybody can relate to.  Think *Exercise* and what
it does to muscles--any muscles, whether they be yours or a cow's.   "Taut"
and "beefy" musculature look good on a person.  :-)  They look good on a
cow, too.  But "taut" *can* mean overly tough when we speak cow and eat
beef.

The acreage required for free-range/grass-fed beef varies in different parts
of the country based primarily on rainfall.  For example, a single cow in
West Texas can easily require 40 (that's 1/4 mi. x 1/4 mi. square) or more
acres.  Yes, that's for one cow.  And *more* (indeed, much more) is by far
the norm in certain counties.  Because vegetation is sparse, the cow has to
graze a rather sizeable portion of that entire area to support one day's
nutritional needs.  That makes for a lot of walking.  Contrast that to an
area, such as where I live, where a single cow needs only 3-4 acres to
graze, and only has to cover a fraction of that total to support a day's
needs. (And if they are supplemented with hay while also on pasture, they
require even less area.)  That makes for a lot less walking.  The day-to-day
effects of walking/exercise are cumulative.  The more you do it, the
stronger and tougher you get.  --And so does the cow.  We have an option to
exercise or avoid it altogether, whereas a cow does not.  No walk, no eat.
It's that simple.   Excluding any variable of age (since older can be
tougher), guess which beef would be the tenderest, even after hanging/aging?
I'm not speaking in subjective terms here, but upon sound principles based
on animal science exercise physiology (which is not at all far removed from
the same principles guiding human exercise physiology) and the effects on
muscles.  Cows that have to roam a lot to eat their fill generally have
lower amounts of body fat and less marbling in the muscle. This should come
as no surprise.  Exercise burns calories.  Require cows to work hard enough
for their daily grass and for the most part they look exactly the way you'd
expect and how they've historically been described--"rangy."   No doubt
derived from "range."   As in "Home on....."

As for personal observance, in 22 years of country living we've put a few
moo-cows in the freezer and in our tummies and had at least a year of meals
either to look forward to......or dread.  We've had dogs that were well-fed
on beef we couldn't chew.  They didn't seem to mind at all.  LOL.

Think, too, to standard commercial meat from the grocery store.  Uniformity
in graining, slaughtering, processing, and hanging/aging  would seemingly
produce products that are one from the other indistinguishable.  However, it
doesn't really work out that way.  The same cuts of meat from two different
carcasses aren't entirely identical when it comes to tenderness, even when
the last few weeks of the animals' lives are identical under controlled
feedlot conditions.  How many times have you bought a tender T-Bone and
later bought another one that was tough?  It's happened to all of us.  As I
mentioned, the age of the cow at slaughter can make a difference (and I
suppose variations among individuals even within breeds can make a big
difference), but the amount of exercise an animal gets (independent of how
long the meat is hung/aged) has a carry-over effect to the dinner table--and
just how sharp your knife needs to be and how strong your jaws. Cows in
giant feedlots typically arrive at their final destination from many
different states (and from different areas within states whose
micro-climates can be vastly different), from places where they've either
had to walk a little or walk a lot.

"Penning" (i.e., corraling or confining to small pasture) for a farmstead
beef isn't ever required or even always necessary when it is done,  but
doing so doesn't make the act in and of itself necessarily bad.  Choosing
whether or not to pen is just somewhat dependent on the particular situation
and environment the cow has been living in, and how much chewiness you the
consumer are willing to accept from or give to the task of eating.  After
all, pleasure and not just the pursuit of calories should be part of the
dining experience.  Meals should be memorable for good reasons.  LOL.  Thus
it *may be* desirable to put a cow up for a while--that is, limit its
exercise--before slaughter.  And it can be completely Paleo and nutritious
if the beef is fed good hay and no grain.

Anyhoo, that's all I know about it.  I'm not an expert, but I don't think
too many experts out there would take me to task.  I think I've presented it
pretty factually.  I'd much rather say--and, hey, this is great!--tomorrow I
get to eat rainbow trout that the hunters in my family caught today.   Hope
everyone's Memorial Day will be just as good.

Theola


  ----- Original Message -----
From: "matesz" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2002 12:38 PM
Subject: Re: finding grass fed beef


> Theola Walden Baker <[log in to unmask]> said:
> >> You can't imagine how tough and nearly inedible beef can be unless it's
> >>penned before slaughter and hung
> afterwards. You might as well try to chew a boot.)
>
> My reply:
> Although some people may call their animals/meat pasture raised, and still
> feed them grain, there are farmers who mean "100% pasture raised" when
they
> say it.There are farmers who are commited to pasture raising, without the
> use of grain. They don't confine the animals or fatten them on grain. They
> know how to age the meat so that it is not tough. I have purchased such
meat
> right from the farmer for several years.  It's delicious.  Like wild game,
> it has a grassier taste, which many people are unfamiliar with.  You can
get
> used to the taste. As for the texture, it is not hard to chew as long as
you
> don't overcook it.  Since it is so much leaner than conventional grain
> fattened meat, it lacks the insulation, and therefore cooks faster.
>
> It is rare to find 100% pasture raised meat in stores.  You generally have
> to buy it right from the farmer.  You save money by cutting out the middle
> man and you'll know where you meat is coming from if you buy it from a
local
> source.  Besides. the meat you buy, if you buy half or a quarter of a
steer
> at at ime, comes from one animal, not a conglomeration of anonymous beef.
>
> I find pasture raised poultry is so delicious and so much more satisfying
> than confined poultry. The bones are stronger; the flesh is firmer; and
the
> meat has character.  It far suprasses "hormone and antiobitic-free" but
> confined poultry.
>
> If you'd like to learn more about the practices of true pasture farmers, I
> suggest that you visit <www.eatwild.com>  Jo has a great book on the
subject
> which you can order from your web site.
>
> My husband has written several articles, which have appeared in national
> magazines, on pasture raised meats and the grassfed movement.  There was
an
> article by Jo Robinson in MOTHER EARTH NEWS this past summer that I'll bet
> you can find on line or by contacting the magazine.
>
> In health,
>
> Rachel Albert-Matesz
>