/ck/ - Food & Cooking

Usually it's fresher so it's hard to pin it down to the quality of life. My uncle gives us sausage every Christmas Eve that was oinking two or three days before, I take it home and cook it for breakfast Christmas morning. It's so much better than anything you'd get even from a butcher. His hogs aren't in a factory farm but I couldn't say he treats them any better or worse than a typical small outfit would.
We also had beef cattle growing up, at least in my area much of the stuff that was sold in stores was in fact local farmers' meat. Our cows were free-range or whatever, just on a regular old stereotypical farm.

>>17620960
Yeah my parents used to split a butchered local cow with our relatives. The meat always tasted like shit, no where near as good as the beef you get in a super market. Especially the ground beef.

>>17621314
>So much better than anything you'd get even from a butcher
>>17621377
>Meat always tasted like shit

How could your experiences be this different? When you say tastes like shit, what do you mean? I have a hard time believing that.

it's really noticeable in poultry
really cheap factory farmed poultry is very fatty and the fat has a gross taste to it
more humanely farmed animals move around a bit and eat a better diet so they're leaner and tastier

>>17621377
Same experiences here, we figured out the issue was that the people who sell beef like that a lot of the time are just trying to make money off of sick or elderly animal that just died. Tbh you shouldn't buy beef that way unless you know enough to evaluate the quality of the cattle yourself. The one time my dad actually consulted someone knowledgeable he wound up not buying any.

>>17620960
I've never had local meat but my local farmers market had some of the best produce I've ever had. Can't wait to go back in the spring when they do the open air market in the park

>>17621417
Anon's family probably got a sick or old cow. It works both ways, you can affect beef quality by factory farming and you can also affect it by giving it a poor diet, etc. even if it's fat and happy in a pasture. The USDA grades beef for a reason.

>>17621426
>dad actually consulted someone knowledgeable he wound up not buying any
Any protips?

>>17620960
my experience: shit cuts are worse, good cuts are better. artisan round and chuck are tougher than chewing shoe leather

>>17620960
wow look at all that FUCKING UNREFRIGERATED MEAT

>>17620960
It doesn't taste the same because its not mass produced corn fed factory farmed cows.

Put it this way, does your local red microbrew beer taste like bud light? Turns out in the case of a cow, most people like the bud light version.

I have gotten cow from a local farmer, and pig for that matter, and it tastes very good. Its just a different taste if its grass fed, etc. If you can get past this youre in the clear. Its probably healthier for you and you support local business.

>>17621425
My experience with poultry is a little different. My sister and her husband raised chickens and took good care of them. However, once while over at their house they served us bbq pulled chicken made from their chickens, and it was the worst tasting chicken I have ever had. There was nothing wrong with the dish, it was the chicken itself. Just tasted off. I couldnt even finish my portion on my plate.

>>17621469
It was years ago now, and I wasn't with him. The guy sounded very unimpressed by the age and health of the cow, that's about all I can recall.

When I visited in Minnesota I had fresh lamb and turkey slaughtered on a small farm run by a Hmong family and they were some of the best meats I've ever eaten. So actually they are

>>17621499
The real taste of chicken disgusts the Tyson farm tendies consumer.

>>17621377
probably a old dairy cow

>You ever had local farmers meat, and did it taste any different?
Yes, it tastes much, much better. The Amish do it best.

>>17621490
Should be fine if its just out for a few hours and they probably rotate it with meat in a cooler.

>>17621499
really depend what they feed the chickens
https://youtu.be/apVsH_XkO_s

>>17621499
>>17621525
Can you try to explain how exactly it tastes different?

>>17621600
High quality chicken will taste a lot richer and more "chickeny" than cheap chicken. There's less fat and the fat that is still there tastes much better.

You can also get roasting birds, which are a little older than what you can ever get at the store. Older birds are even richer tasting and the size means the whole things perfectly when you roast it. Perfectly moist breasts without undercooked thighs.

>>17621493
>its not mass produced corn fed factory farmed cows
I’ve never understood what people are referring to with “mass production factory” crap in the context of beef.
There are times it can make sense with pork and poultry, but not really beef.
A good number of my extended family raise cattle for a living, mostly smallish farms but a couple are quite sizable.
It’s not as if larger (beef) farms suddenly build massive complexes where cows are forced into cow-sized cubicles and fed through tubes like some of the giant pork/chicken ones.
And unless they’re doing it for the sake of some “boutique” or heritage certification (because bigass markup), nobody “chooses” to do grass fed. It’s just default. Because it’s free, aside from equipment/time to cut and bale it for the cold months. The corn is nutritionally better, but cost prohibitive for smaller farms that don’t have economy of scale. If there were no extra cost involved, they’d use corn/feed too.
Most of the pics I see online showing the “factory farming” of cattle are large dairies (which do often keep cows confined) or stockyards where it doesn’t matter that they’re packed in because next stop is the slaughterhouse.

>>17621600
>>17621624
by richer he means gamier
now with cows it's not the same story at least with grass fed vs grain fed

>>17621792
>I’ve never understood what people are referring to with “mass production factory” crap in the context of beef.
cattle concentration camps often were there is standing room only for the cattle and they go on for as long as the eye can see

>>17621499
they could have fucked up the slaughter if they're not familiar with the process
or served you an old laying hen? they're better suited to stewing

>>17621816
Wow, there must be at least 6 million cows in that photo

>>17621837
Seems a bit high don't you think? At MOST that is maybe 300000 cows!

>>17621802
Wrong.

>>17621816
>cattle concentration camps
based

>>17621914
how so?

>>17621792

>>17621960
Gamey isn't necessarily a bad thing(red grouse, wood pidgeon, duck, etc), but high quality chicken is not gamey at all. It's like if you made chicken broth with 1 carcass vs. 3 carcasses.

>>17621816
that's a feed lot, this is a pick of the same ranch. a lot of industrial food conspiracies are funny because they are more costly and would have to be done out of spite. not grazing cattle is one.

>>17620960
All of the factors that effect beef taste:
>cow age
The older it is the tougher the meat but the more flavorful. The reverse of veal. Industrial farms want to sell the cow as soon as it's big enough, not optimizing for flavor.
>Slaughter conditions
The longer it takes to kill the cow the more lactic acid builds up in their muscles, making it tough and dry. Factory cows are trucked to the slaughterhouse, then it could take a day or two moving them along cramped corridors before they die. Ideally you want the animal to die like this, not kosher.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VOYusr7EcA&t=42s
>grain fed v. grass fed
Feeding them GMO soybeans puts on weight faster giving them more marbling.
>wet aging
Supermarkets get their beef in cryovac packages, which is left in the bag for two weeks before selling so the protease enzymes have time to tenderize, or "wet age." If you bought it from a farmer I wouldn't assume it was wet aged. You can do it yourself, it's not an inherent quality of supermarket beef, just something to be aware of. Costco doesn't age it which is why it's all blade tenderized. It can also be accelerated by putting it in a water bath for an hour at 103 degrees then an hour at 120.

>>17620960
We buy from our farmer’s market meat stand. They should be able to answer: (1) where are the animals located, exactly (2) how many cows, pigs, etc (our suppliers are cow/pig only) (3) what do you feed them or why buy this over Safeway?

They should relish the opportunity to tell you exact details. If they don’t, walk away. If, however, they do, and you like the product, just become a regular and get deals on good shit.

>>17621431
If (you) don't use those greens I will hunt you down, and not in Mincraft.

>>17622064
Good post, thanks. Is there a way to tell the age and slaughter conditions by looking at meat in supermarket before buying?

>>17622508
Here's a paragraph if you're curious about the why
>
But, of course, we can’t bring a pH meter to the supermarket when we buy pork. Fortunately, there is a simple way to tell the pH of the meat, and that is by its color. The pigment that colors all red meat is a protein called myoglobin. It is found in all muscle cells and is there to store the oxygen that muscles need for action. Hemoglobin, another red-colored protein, is found in the blood, where it transports oxygen from the lungs to the muscle cells. Hemoglobin is actually composed of four myoglobin molecules linked together. But hemoglobin is too large to enter muscle cells. In order to transport the oxygen into the cells, each hemoglobin molecule must dissociate into four myoglobin molecules, which then ferry the oxygen into the muscle cells. The intensity of the red color of myoglobin is dependent on the pH. The higher the pH, the redder the myoglobin. Thus we can simply look at the pork and gauge its pH. Darker red–colored meat means higher pH. The darker red color means the pork will be more tender, moist, and flavorful. Unfortunately, consumers who shun dark, firm, and dry (DFD) pork because they think it is not fresh are rejecting the best cuts of pork. So next time you are in the supermarket, look for cuts of pork that are dark and well marbled with fat and that contain no free water in the package. Pass up those pale, mushy-looking cuts because they will be tough, flavorless, and dry.

>>17622508
>Is there a way to tell the age and slaughter conditions by looking at meat in supermarket before buying?
working in the industry for many years aside from that the meat should red not brown but not vibrantly red because that's sign it's been died

>>17620960
I farm pigs and had one butchered recently.

It tastes like store bought more or less, the butcher place was cover with awards on every wall space. While my farm doesn't cage the pigs they live on cement slats and not dirt so there's that to consider.

I just need to find someone who raises cows and will trade one for a few pigs and I'll be set.

>>17623486
>cement slats
cozy

>>17623499
At least they only have to sleep on them for about 4 months. Then they're bacon.

>>17623502
Do you ever get connected to any of them or sad about putting them down

>>17623502
penis

>>17623601
There's ones that stick out like that one, some of them are cool. I don't really get attached that much since I know what will happen, plus my herd is about 12000 pigs. I reuse a lot of the same names. Like all red/brown ones I'll just call cinnamon. I never notice any of the plain ones because they all look alike.

>>17623630
lol

I just ate gyros
feelsgoodman

>>17622073
I had no idea you can use the tops of carrots. But i did make a great salad out of the chard, carrots, jalapeno, and a red onion

>>17623942
Chard is excellent in soups also.

>>17623942
Jalapeno in salads is criminally underrated.
Good on ya m8.

>>17623942
You can eat carrot greens but, since few people do, farmers don't mind spraying gallons of cancerous glycoside, microplastics, soy estrogen, PUFAs, E. coli and AIDS all over that part.

>>17620960
My dad is retired and has a small farm as a hobby. The beef, pork, eggs, and chicken from there tastes a hundred times better than what you get at the store. But he also spoils all his animals, he definitely still loses money overall.

But fuck me the steaks are good.

>>17621314
>aged meat
>hang it in the barn for a week and cut off the mold
Best fucking meat ever you God damn city retards.

>>17620960
>local farmers meat
There's a joke on canibalism in there somewhere

>>17620960
Fresh ribeye steak. It looked and smelled normal raw, but it was by far the worse steak I have ever eaten, and it gave me terrible food poisoning as well.
I would not eat steak for years after because of it.