Local Meat: Grassfed Beef and Lamb

After having subscribed to a CSA vegetable program for 4 years, and more recently, a fruit CSA, I was ready to source more of my food locally. Meat seemed to be the next step, and with encouraging endorsements from the chicken email list I follow, I tracked down two local ranchers offering locally and sustainably raised meat.

Morris Grassfed Beef

Morris Grass Fed Beef

Farmed in San Juan Batista, Morris Grass Fed harvests their cattle in the spring and summer, and provides the option of a split half, or a CSA-style split half, with deliveries three times a year. My split half worked out to be about 90 pounds, including 35 pounds of ground beef, which I shared with three other friends. I ended up with about 45 pounds total, which I think is very do-able for my family. And with the price at $6.30/lb, very reasonable too.

The meat arrived sealed and ready for the freezer and comes in several cuts including steaks, roasts, and braises. I managed to squirrel away the beef ribs, beef shanks (Osso Bucco for Christmas!), and a couple rib eyes. We have already cooked a package of rib eyes (great), New York steaks (not awesome, operator error), beef ribs, and a package of ground beef made into hamburgers.

Grassfed Ribeye

Grassfed hamburger

Since grass-fed beef is leaner, it requires different cooking styles, which is why our NY steaks did not turn out as well as the rib eyes. According to the Morris Grass Fed website, there are three tips to proper cooking of grass fed beef:

1. Use a thermometer – the fat on grass fed beef cooks faster at a lower temperature
2. Cook the beef to rare or medium rare. Well-done is not a good option for grass fed, it will leave the meat tough and tasteless
3. Different cuts of meat require different cooking styles.

Rancher Joe Morris

Rich Morris

Sierra Farms Lamb

At the end of the month, I am hosting an 80th birthday party for a friend who loves lamb. After my success with purchasing beef, I decided to look into local lamb and was pleased to find a recommendation from the chicken group for Sierra Farms Lamb. As it happened, they were delivering in my area last week, so I arranged to purchase a whole lamb, about 30 pounds.

Again, the meat came wrapped and ready for the freezer, but unlike the beef, it was not already frozen. This quantity easily fit in my remaining standalone freezer (now called the Meat Locker), although I am planning to share my haul with a few others. In addition to two bone-in legs, there were also chops of several varieties, as well as shanks, ribs and steaks. Unlike the beef, however, nothing is labeled, so I have to use my best guess to figure out the cuts.

Our first tasting was arm chops (I think. Could have also been sirloin steaks.) and we grilled them with a little S&P and olive oil. Very tasty. Since that first experience, we have reached for lamb several more times when grilling. Great product, and as a bonus, the rancher offers lamb year round, so we can restock whenever we need.

Lamb Chops

Lamb Chops from Sierra Farms Lamb

The best part of this whole experience? Meeting the ranchers who raised the beef in person. I find it comforting and orderly to know where my food comes from and meet the folks in charge. Wonder which local food item I will focus on next? Any suggestions?