Nutritional Value Grass Fed Beef Vs Corn Fed Beef

Video, Tiny Desk Kitchen: Watch These Four-Legged Lawnmowers In Activeness

What's onetime is new once more. Across the U.Due south. farmers are turning back to a traditional method of cattle raising: feeding cows on grassy pastures instead of troughs filled with corn. A decade ago, there were only about 50 grass-fed-cattle operations left in the United States. At present, in that location are thousands and the numbers are growing.

But look to your local farmer's market or specialty grocer for the testify. It's much easier these days to get your easily on grass-fed beef from farms where cows spend their days out on pasture grazing on all sorts of grasses — from clover to wild onions to different types of tufted grasses chosen fescue. And beef eaters notice a deviation from corn-fed cattle. (Watch my Tiny Desk Kitchen video above with NPR's Susan Stamberg and Ari Shapiro to see which beefiness they preferred.)

The Gustatory modality

So at that place's more of this meat on the market, merely is it actually any different? I was curious about differences — both in taste and nutrition — so I called on farmer Forrest Pritchard, who runs Smithfield Subcontract in Berryville, Va.

Tiny Desk-bound Kitchen host Allison Aubrey (left) gave a blind taste test of grass-fed beefiness and corn-fed beef to NPR'south Ari Shapiro and Susan Stamberg. See the video for the results. Maggie Starbard/NPR hide caption

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Maggie Starbard/NPR

Tiny Desk Kitchen host Allison Aubrey (left) gave a blind taste test of grass-fed beef and corn-fed beef to NPR's Ari Shapiro and Susan Stamberg. See the video for the results.

Maggie Starbard/NPR

"I think of my cows as four-legged lawn mowers," Pritchard told me as we walked his pastures one morning. Afterward he pointed this out, I noticed that his cows were always on the move. That exercise leads to more muscle tone. And the resulting beefiness? Well it can gustation a little chewier than almost folks are accustomed to. Gustation testers say the season is more varied than the typical grocery store cuts of beef that come up from corn-raised cows.

From Pasture To Trough

Farmers get-go made the switch from grass to corn years ago because corn allows them to fatten up their cattle faster.

It's the difference, for humans, between eating bags of spinach all day vs. dense, calorie-rich oatmeal. A lot of corn-fed-cattle raisers still start their animals out on pasture, simply then quickly move them to troughs of grain for fattening.

That means farmers tin raise more cattle and in smaller spaces — considering they don't need all of that pasture. And aye, that means there's more beef for the millions and millions of hungry Americans.

Something Fishy

Cows love to swallow clover, which is rich in omega-3 fat acids. Eating clover and other grasses gets those center salubrious fats into their meat. Zac Visco for NPR hide caption

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Zac Visco for NPR

Cows love to eat clover, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Eating clover and other grasses gets those heart good for you fats into their meat.

Zac Visco for NPR

All right, there is a departure in taste, for sure. But what I'm really interested in is whether it'southward nutritionally whatsoever different. And the story gets a petty fishy here. You lot know how nutritionists are ever recommending fish? Well, that'due south because many fish are rich in heart-good for you omega-3 fatty acids.

And where do the fish get these omega-3s? They eat information technology. (Well, by and large, the tiniest ocean creatures consume algae, and it moves upward the food chain to bigger fish.) With grass-fed cows, it'south a similar story. Omega-3s are in their meat-- considering they're eating grasses and clover rich in these heart-healthy fatty acids.

A recent assay from the Matrimony of Concerned Scientists establish that grass-fed steak has most twice as many omega-3s equally a typical grain-fed steak. Another study published in March in Nutrition Journal backed up those numbers.

Yet, with 35 milligrams of heart-salubrious fats per serving, grass-fed steak tin can't compete with a salmon dinner, which has about i,100 milligrams. But it's a significant deviation in omega-3s betwixt grass-fed and corn-fed beefiness. (Yous can calculate the fat/protein or micronutrients of any nutrient in your diet with this USDA tool.)

And since grass-fed cattle are typically bacteria, almost all cuts of grass-fed beef take less full fat than beef from corn-raised cattle. Of course, the breed of cattle leads to variation, too.

The Price

There's a lot of variation in cost on both sides of the aisle — and grass-fed will normally toll more. Farmers have to pay for all that pasture. A random price check found Whole Foods selling a pound of grass-fed sirloin for $9.99; Safeway was selling its corn-fed sirloin for $7.99 a pound. (On the mean solar day we checked, Safeway had the sirloin on auction for $5.99 a pound.)

My determination? On the whole, grass-fed beef is better for you than corn-fed. But information technology may not give you that melt-in-your-rima oris sensation you grew up on, and it'south going to toll you a more. So are these differences worth the toll? That'south up to you.

Produced by Vikki Valentine and Maggie Starbard

Grass-fed cows almost always accept less full fat in their meat than corn-fed cows. Zac Visco for NPR hibernate caption

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Zac Visco for NPR

Grass-fed cows virtually e'er accept less total fat in their meat than corn-fed cows.

Zac Visco for NPR

America'southward Test Kitchen: Pan-Seared Sirloin Steak

Tiny Desk-bound Kitchen doesn't have a stove, so we used an indoor grill. In the video, we only cook the steak for 3 minutes, considering both sides are seared at once. If you're doing this at home on a stove, follow this recipe from America'due south Test Kitchen:

Serves iv

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

two boneless shell sirloin steaks (elevation butt) or whole flap meat steaks, each about 1 pound and 1 1/4 inches thick

Instructions

i. Heat oil in heavy-bottomed 12-inch skillet over medium-high estrus until smoking. Meanwhile, season both sides of steaks with salt and pepper. Place steaks in skillet; cook, without moving steaks, until well browned, virtually two minutes. Using tongs, flip steaks; reduce rut to medium. Cook until well browned on 2d side and internal temperature registers 125 degrees on instant-read thermometer for medium-rare (about 5 minutes) or 130 degrees for medium (nearly 6 minutes).

2. Transfer steaks to big plate and tent loosely with foil; let rest until internal temperature registers 130 degrees for medium-rare or 135 degrees for medium, 12 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare pan sauce, if making.

three. Using sharp knife, piece steak about 1/4 inch thick confronting grain on bias, arrange on platter or on individual plates, and spoon sauce (if using) over steak; serve immediately.

Copyright America's Examination Kitchen

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Source: https://www.npr.org/2010/04/08/125722082/the-truth-about-grass-fed-beef

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