Cooking Tips

Rare sliced tri tip roast with a black handled carving knife on a wood board

 

Tips for Cooking 5 Bar Grass Fed Beef

Our Grass fed, grass finished, healthy, pasture raised beef cows get plenty of exercise resulting in thicker muscle fibers or true muscle integrity of the meat. The resulting leaner, healthier meat needs to be prepared differently from grain fed feed-lot animal, that get little or no exercise, resulting in flaccid, less flavorful cuts. This does not mean that our grassfed meat is less tender- on the contrary. Tough grassfed meat results from over-exposure to high heat, which causes the muscles to contract tightly and become too chewy and overly dry. Cooked more gently, grassfed meat is wonderfully tender. Here are some tips to help you prepare tender, naturally delicious meals

Picture of Frank Fitzpatrick, with grey hair, glasses and blue and white shirt grilling steaks on a barbeque

We Suggest:
 

  • Thaw meat completely to room temperature before cooking
  • Do Not Sear meat, but if you must, sear meat at the END not at the beginning. Grass-fed pasture raised meat does not have enough fat for the maillard reaction.
  • Low and Slow - Don’t overcook! Grass-fed beef is made for medium rare to rare. If you prefer well done, consider using a slow cooker on low with broth and sauces. When meat is cooked at low temperatures, it helps to tenderize it. Cook the steak at lower temperatures for a longer amount of time
  • Grilling should be done on indirect low heat. Turn off the burner that you place your steak on or move the charcoals to the other side of the grill away from the meat Stove top cooking again on low/medium heat and only seer at the end if desired. We love cast iron skillets.
  • Internal Meat Temperature: 120 = Rare, 130 = Medium, 140 = Well done
  • Touch Test : Touch meat while cooking to tell how well done it is. Your earlobe is rare, cheek with mouth open is medium rare and the tip of your nose is well done.
  • Stop cooking meat 10 degrees lower than desired temperature. Meat will continue to cook for 5-10 minutes off the heat. Rest your meat : Let cooked meat sit for 5 minutes prior to serving. The meat will continue to cook when removed from the heat. This allows meat to rest and the juices to settle.
  • Sous Vide precision cooking allows you to cook betterthan the best steakhouse. Place your steak, inside a vacuum sealed bag, and put it into a preheated water emersion bath at 130 degrees for 3 hours. Remove steak from the bag, pat dry and sear on the stove top or grill for a perfect medium rare steak.

Frank’s 5 Bar Beef baked steaks recipe

Place thawed steaks in preheated oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes. Remove steaks and heat broiler. Sear steaks under broiler for 2-3 minutes until brown.

The science:

There are enzymes called cathepsins, which break down connective tissue, helping to tenderize the meat. These enzymes do their work during the aging process of meat and during low temperature cooking.   When meat is cooked by conventional methods with high heat and fast, their final temperature is reached more quickly denying the cathepsins the time they need to properly do their job.

 

 

We believe it’s worth the extra effort to cook grass fed beef properly because it has significant nutritional benefits. 5 Bar Grassfed beef boasts higher heart healthy omega-3s, four times more vitamin A, and ten times more vitamin E than grain fed beef. Our pasture raised beef also contains higher levels of antioxidants and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which helps prevent cancer and heart disease.

Cooking With Jesus