Crockpot (Was: Crackpot!)

[Steve]

---  Sheryll Townsend <s_ings at ...> wrote:

> Sheryll:
> 
> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> I'm curious about meat, though, being a serious
> carnivore. Do most people here buy their meat at a
> grocery store? What do you think of the quality? I buy
> a cow every fall (with my mother and sister) and have
> it butchered for the freezer. Usually a pig, too,
> ...
> 
> Sheryll, eyeing her nearly empty freezer and thinking
> it must be almost slaughtering time
> 


bboyminn:

Supermarket meat is a necessity  for a bachelor like me,
but the quality sucks. When beef hits the frying pan and
you are overwhelmed by the smell of vitamins cooking, you
can be pretty sure that cow was raised in a factory.

Tyson Foods, I think is the worst. Nearly all their cows,
pigs, and chickens come from factory/confinement farms. 
These animals are raised in tight confinement and are 
force feed massive quantities of vitamins and antibiotic
just so they can survive their environment.

Hormel is a little better. My brother likes their beef
because it doesn't give off the strong vitamin smell
when he cooks it. Hormel has good pork too. In fact
one of the largest pork processing plants and SPAM 
canning plants is only a few miles from here.

So, what's my point. You need to make sure who ever
butchers your cow or pig gets them from a /normal/
farmer and not from a meat factory, or you really 
haven't gained anything from it. Well, the price is
probably pretty nice, and having hamburger ground up
out of beef steak instead of beef scraps is pretty nice.
But in terms of the quality of the meat, nothing beats
non-factory raised animals. 

Note, I say 'non-factory' because you don't have to go
as far as organic meat. Animals raise in a traditional
blend of grazing and feeding are OK. 

If you want the best though, and can afford it, natural 
beef is pretty good. This isn't certified organic, but
it is graze feed, low stressed animals, that are only 
treated with 'medications' for specific problems. So,
for the most part, they are vitamin and antibiotic free.
They are also much leaner than standard corn fed cattle.

Omaha Steaks, Creekstone Farms, La Cense Beef (Montana)
are all good suppliers, but again they are NOT cheap.
A quick search of the Internet for 'Natual Beef' will
yield many sources.

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bboyminn