[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Crockpot (Was: Crackpot!)

[Sheryll Townsend]

> > 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.
> 
Sheryll: 

It's been a long time since I bought beef at a
supermarket, hence my question. I hadn't realised that
it would be so obvious to the consumer that the beef
was factory raised, to the point of being able to tell
by smell when cooking. 

Our beef in the supermarket is pretty generically
marked, no company markings on the packaging, so it's
hard for us to tell exactly where the beef is coming
from (I'm in Ontario).

bboyminn:
> 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.
> 
Sheryll:

Interestingly enough, I know exactly where and how my
beef is raised. My mother can actually go out and look
at the cows if she wants. We get our beef from a guy I
went to high school with, lives right down the road
from my parents. His are raised on a combination, as
you mention, of grazing and feeding. Feeding being a
bit of a necessity in Canadian winters. :)

I would guess that for the most part Alain raises
without unnecessary 'medications'. It's not a large
farm and I'm guessing he's rolling in money. But I'm
glad he makes a go of it and can provide local
customers with good quality beef. Our pork, iirc,
comes from someone at his recommendation, so I'm
confident that it's equally well-raised.

Thanks for information, always good to learn something
new.

Sheryll


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