Cooking tips and recipes

Grass Fed Beef Tips:

1.  Grass fed beef is much leaner than corn fed beef.  Given less fat, overcooking is the biggest reason for tough beef. Grass fed beef is best when cooked rare to medium rare.  If your prefer your beef well done, you need to cook at very low temperatures and in some type of  sauce to keep it moist.  Remember that grass fed beef has low fat levels and is high in protein so it requires approximately 30% less cooking time than corn fed beef.

2.  Another good way to cook your favorite cut of grass fed beef is by using an olive oil coating (which prevents drying and sticking with pan cooking) or use your favorite marinade which works really well with especially lean cuts such as the NY strip and Sirloin.

3.  If there is no time to marinate, you can tenderize your meat by rubbing with your favorite seasonings, covering with plastic wrap, and pounding with a meat tenderizer.  This helps to break down the connective tissue in your meat making it much more tender.

4.  It is helpful to use a meat thermometer to test for doneness.  Since grass fed beef cooks so quickly, you need to watch the thermometer closely to avoid over cooking. After meat is cooked, it should be covered and allowed to sit in a warm place for about 10 minutes to allow redistribution of the juices throughout the meat.

5. When grilling, always sear the meat quickly on each side over high heat to seal in the juices then reduce the temperature to medium or low to finish cooking.  Never turn your steaks with a fork, always use tongs or you will lose precious juices that keep the meat tender.

6.  When grilling burgers, remember that they require 30% less cooking time because they have so much less fat. If you like your burgers well done, brushing them with a little olive oil while cooking will help prevent dried out burgers.

7.  It is recommended that grass fed beef is thawed out in the refrigerator or in warm water (while sealed in the vacuum package) and that you always reduce the temperature of your corn fed beef recipes by approximately 50 degrees.

One exception to this may be slow cooking your roasts in a crock pot.  I always take them out of the freezer before I go to bed and put them in the crock pot on low while frozen solid. Because they are slow cooking and stay bathed in their own juices, my roasts always turn out tender and juicy.

Grass Fed Beef Recipes: 

Being somewhat new to the grass fed way of life ourselves, I have had a lot of trial and error in cooking our beef without killing it.  Given our 5 children, I also have to be very creative with ground beef since that is what we eat the most of and it can get hard to come up with new recipes.  

Included below are recipes I have found on the internet and some that family and friends have given me as well as some of my own.  Hopefully, these will help you as well with adding a little variety to your meal time!

Crock pot Pizza:

1 bag/box of your favorite kind of pasta noodles (I use rigatoni or shells usually) You can vary this quantity based on personal taste.

3 14 oz jars of pizza sauce 

1 8 oz block of mozzarella cheese shredded 

1 4oz package of sliced pepperoni (you can also add onions, mushrooms and any other vegetables that you guys like on your pizza but my kids won't eat it with anything but pepperoni) 

2 pounds ground beef browned and drained 

Brown and drain ground beef. Cook and drain pasta. Add pasta noodles, ground beef, sauce, cheese, pepperoni and any other vegetables you wish to include to crock pot and heat on LOW for 2 to 3 hours.  (I have left it in there heating for up to 5 hours before with no ill effects.  They key is to use the low setting or you will dry out the pasta.) 

Cheeseburger Casserole:

2 pounds ground beef 

2 boxes of stuffing mix 

1 pound of bacon (cooked and crumbled) (optional) 

1 8 oz block of cheddar cheese shredded 

Flatten out 2 pounds on raw ground beef in a 9x13 casserole dish. If using bacon, cook, drain and crumble the bacon. Place crumbled bacon on top of the raw ground beef in a layer. Cook the packaged stuffing mix according to the directions and layer it on top of the bacon and ground beef. Finally, add the shredded cheddar cheese to the top.  Cook on 350 for about 40 minutes or until the ground is not pink in the center. 

I have also added crumbled hot sausage to spice it up a little and most of the time do not add the bacon due to added fat etc but it does make it a little tastier and per serving size you aren't getting all that much of the extra fat.  :)  

Taco meat:

1 lb ground beef

1/4 cup flour

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon minced onions  

1/2 teaspoon paprika  

1/4 teaspoon onion powder  

You can serve this meat mixture in soft or hard-shell tortillas, or spoon over chips and cover with lettuce, tomatoes, salsa and cheese for taco salad.  This meat mixture freezes well.  You can make a batch of 5-6 lbs of meat and freeze meal-sized portions in freezer bags.  I usually add a diced small onion as I’m browning the meat.  You can also increase the fiber content by adding two cans of pinto beans and doubling the seasonings.