Hmmm ... 300 Pounds of Tough, Musky Meat from Prolapsed Cow - Cooking Suggestions ?

[gunDriller]

Well, now I got my freezer full of meat cut from the cow I butchered Friday & Saturday.

The cuts are not sorted - it's all mixed together, 5 to 10 pounds per bag, 10 inches wide, 18 inches deep, 4 1/2 feet high.

And now I'm wondering how to cook it ;)


My first 2 meals of this grisly delicacy were like something from a "Survivor" show. I like rare meat, but made it a point to cook this meat well-done, not wanting to get food poisoning. The butchering area was not exactly antiseptic - the farmer who sold me the cow (for $50) winched it out onto a tarp in my driveway. The gorier details are in the other thread.

Anyway, now I need to learn to "cook this stuff". I saved about 10 pounds from the freezer, and that's in the fridge.

I would like to tenderize it and to wash away the musky smell (it all smells like beef liver, possibly related to the fact that the next bag over in the fridge is the liver, which I saved for the chickens).


So - any cooking suggestions ?

I did a web search and found some info.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Beef-Barbecue

"Ingredients
1 boneless beef chuck roast (3 pounds)
1 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1/3 cup chopped green or sweet red pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons brown sugar
12 sandwich rolls, split

Directions
Cut the roast into quarters; place in a greased 5-qt. slow cooker. In a bowl, combine barbecue sauce, preserves, green pepper, onion, mustard and brown sugar; pour over roast. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender.
Remove roast and thinly slice; return meat to slow cooker and stir gently. Cover and cook 20-30 minutes longer. Skim fat from sauce. Serve beef and sauce on rolls. Yield: 12 servings."

Sounds like the basic idea is to cook it on low heat, covered.


Another recipe for a marinade -

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1615,153186-238205,00.html

"Boneless chuck steak
1/3 c. soy sauce
1/3 c. water
1/3 c. wine vinegar
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. ginger
1 peeled and slashed garlic cloves"


Seems like some basic marinade ingredients are -
* Brown Sugar
* Vinegar
* Garlic
* Soy Sauce

Anyway, I'm very open to suggestions. Usually I saute meat in the frying pan. That works well with a nice well-marbled Rib Eye. However, all this cow was big and looked really fat, there is very little marbling.

I would just like to be able to soak the meat in a marinade, and then to fry it. Or to bake it for longer if that's what you need to do.

[Neuro]

Maybe hanging the meat is a good idea?

Otherwise you can tenderize the meat by marinating it together with Kiwi fruit. It contains some enzymes that break down the tough part of meat... How long was it dead before you butchered it?

[Son-of-Liberty]

Don't have any suggestions but I do find this thread highly amusing. :)

[JJ.G0ldD0t]

If you can't build a fire to cook it on, I can't help.

[Heimdhal]

I would recomend long, long slow cooks, like smoking, crock pot, roasting, etc. This will help it slowly break down the fibers in the meat, making it less tough, while allowing good falvors to develop that may cover up the not so good ones. This may be the only way for some cuts of meat that are natural very tough anyways, like the shoulder, brisket, etc.

Also, learn to make some good heavy sauces. Rember, rich, heavy sauces were invented for this exact reason.


You may also try brine curing some of it as well.

[mamboni]

Tough meat indicates pre-mortem stress reaction. This also causes release of estradiol from fat stores in blood. Men who eat this kind of beef sometimes develop moobs. Just an FYI.;D

[EE_]

http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1253/5160107468_16085c7016_z.jpg

Teriyaki beef jerky recipe
http://homecooking.about.com/od/beefrecipes/r/blbeef109.htm

[zap]

Oh, icke Gundriller, will you just throw it all out please ! or feed it to the dogs and cats?

Chalk it up as a anatomy lesson and something not to do again !

If you insist on eating it (icke) soak that nasty meat in wine, garlic, and herbs then boil it in wine, or jerky out of it.

[JJ.G0ldD0t]

boil it in wine, .....


That would be a waste of wine :P

[gunDriller]

Oh, icke Gundriller, will you just throw it all out please ! or feed it to the dogs and cats?

Chalk it up as a anatomy lesson and something not to do again !

If you insist on eating it (icke) soak that nasty meat in wine, garlic, and herbs then boil it in wine, or jerky out of it.

ICK is right.

but i will not waste it. it is edible and i will eat it.

Moobs or no moobs.

anyway, thanks for the recipe tips etc.

[solid]

ICK is right.

but i will not waste it. it is edible and i will eat it.

Moobs or no moobs.

anyway, thanks for the recipe tips etc.

This is pure manliness, right here. In fact, Gundriller, send some to me and I'll kick up a good recipe for you.

No charge. :) We'll get through this the tough way. Teamwork.

[Tumbleweed]

gundriller I think the indians boiled the hell out of their meat. That would help to tenderize it and you could season the shit out of it to help the flavor. I'm thinkin nobodys gonna want to help you eat all that meat either. Ha!Ha!

[lapis]

gundriller I think the indians boiled the hell out of their meat.

Maybe you can make traditional pemmican out of it. But you'd need a lot of tallow and berries to make it palatable.

[LuckyStrike]

A few years ago I came into maybe 30-50 pounds of tough ass beef. It was horrendous, then my wife did something with it in the crockpot where it was cooking for 8 hours, some of the best stuff I've ever had.

In short, I highly recommend the crockpot.

[gunDriller]

This is pure manliness, right here. In fact, Gundriller, send some to me and I'll kick up a good recipe for you.

No charge. :) We'll get through this the tough way. Teamwork.

2 choices -
* refrigerated or not refrigerated.
* before or after the flies laid their eggs in it ;)

no WONDER the Indians boiled it for a week. my impression is, they were more hunters than scavengers.

so, let's say they kill a bison with as much meat as this cow - 300 pounds, more if they have a bone saw (i'm not sure if the Indians had bone saws.)

they can have a big feast ... the first night, everyone can eat as much as they want.

if it's winter, they get some natural refrigeration. if it's summer, i guess they would make jerky ?

but when that bison is down to some of the last cuts ... and those fly eggs have hatched ... God, i'd boil it too.


speaking of boiling ;)

yesterday i tried boiling the meat for about 5 minutes. then took it out & trimmed it up.

then i sauteed it in - KETCHUP ! yes, Ketchup.

it was ... Better. which isn't saying much.

some of the pieces i chew ... and chew ... and spit them out - and feed to the chickens.

i feel like a mother bird ;)

the chickens LOVE pre-chewed beef.

[Tumbleweed]

Gundriller you need to boil that stuff for hours as others have said. A crockpot on high would be good. I believe the indians would dig a hole in the ground, line it with some of the raw hide, fill it with meat and water then heat rocks in a camp fire to drop in with the meat and water to cook it. They would keep heating rocks and add as necessary. As meat was taken out and consumed they would also add more meat and spices if they had them.

Since this is a modern day thing I'd put some beef boullion, sage, tyme and onion in with the meat and boil the shit out of it all day long then try eating it.

[Neuro]

Yeah, a five minute boil may be good for a premium cut of beef, but that shit you need cooking for hours. Maybe putting it in salt for a couple of months, would draw the stress hormones and flavor out of the cadaver, change the salt after a week or so? Then you boil it!

[gunDriller]

thanks everybody !

making my shopping list.

i notice a lot of the ingredients are similar to salad dressing (spices + vinegar).

i was also wondering if cooking it in oil (canola, sunflower, something like that) at low heat might be good.


i just cooked some liver very rare and gave it to the chickens. they like that. they seem picky. they don't like raw cow-meat, and they don't like well-cooked liver.

i have to cut it up into pieces for them or they will over do it and try to swallow a piece that's way too big.

[Tumbleweed]

gundriller the sage, thyme, onion and beef bullion or McCormick brown gravy mix are what I use when I've got a buck thats gamey to get it where it's edible. Cook it all day in the crockpot. Start it on high for a few hours then turn it to low. should be tender and if you put in enough seasoning it will help the flavor.

[hoarder]

Bullion cubes are loaded with MSG and very unhealthy. Soaking venison in milk overnight reduces gamey flavor, it might work in your situation too.

Oregano in meatballs really masks gamey flavor, might work in meat loafs, too.

[Tumbleweed]

gundriller you need to try all these suggestions and report back to us. If something works out pretty well we might all be keeping an eye out for carcasses laying around and feeding on them ourselves.

[muffin]

A crockpot on high would be good.

NO!! do NOT do high!! i promise it's worth the extra wait time if you do low and slow!! crockpot on high will make even a good piece of non-icky meat tough!

i second, third and fourth the crockpot. it can turn any piece of meat into heaven ;) i would be lost without mine....

[muffin]

maybe you could find something on allrecipes. (http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Meat-and-Poultry/Beef/Slow-Cooker/ViewAll.aspx) i like to find recipes that are rated 4 stars or more and then check out the comments and suggestions. people will test run the recipes and then make changes for making it better. love this website. some of my best meals come from here....

[Tumbleweed]

muffin you're probably right about cooking meat to long on high in a crock pot making it tough. you want to keep water in the pot so it doesn't dry out either. I like to cook it for awhile on high to start to kill any bacteria that might be there then turn it to low. Hoarders right about the msg not being good for you but if you're trying to cover up a musky/skunky flavor it's probably worth the risk so you can go ahead and eat the meat instead of throwing it out.

[gunDriller]

gundriller you need to try all these suggestions and report back to us. If something works out pretty well we might all be keeping an eye out for carcasses laying around and feeding on them ourselves.

OK i went shopping and started marinating and cooking.

"quick marinate" -
Italian salad dressing, fresh garlic, dash of liquid smoke, water - i simmer the meat in this on low heat for 10 minutes before saute'ing it.

marinade -
Apple Cider Vinegar
Mucho Garlic
Mucho Onions
Liquid Smoke
... it will take a while before i can report on this. i started marinating about a pound of meat and took a 5 pound chunk out of the freezer to go in the marinade pan later this afternoon. some of the first meat i butchered. i can cook this meat a little more rare. ;)


today's lunch got the "quick marinade" treatment, then when i saute-ed it i laid down some ketchup in the frying pan.

tasted WAY better. the garlic etc. covers up the gnarly musky taste quite effectively. it's still well done, because i cooked it well done.

it's interesting how the flavors combine to make a "barbecue" sauce type taste, even though i didn't buy any barbecue sauce.

[muffin]

muffin you're probably right about cooking meat to long on high in a crock pot making it tough.

sorry. i didn't mean to sound like an ass. i just know EVERY time i've used high on the crockpot, i've regretted it....

[Shami-Amourae]

I like making jerky with Bragg's Liquid Aminos + Brown Sugar + Freshly Ground Pepper + Liquid Smoke. Best jerky ever.

Bragg's Liquid Aminos is a soy sauce alternative, and has no wheat. Plus it's way cheaper and tastes much better.

[hoarder]

Hunters have dealt with meat from animals that were stressed before they died for millenia. Up until about 50 years ago, most beef was grass fed. Grass fed beef tastes a little gamier than corn fed. Corn fed beef simply tastes a lot better and we have all gotten used to it.
Think of corn fed beef as glazed donuts. It's yummy but it's not good for you.

The generations that built America ate wild, grass fed Longhorn cattle. It's only one notch above Buffalo. They ate little besides beef in the early days of the West, several pounds a day of it. They didn't have much in the way of seasonings.

The real issue is your taste buds, Gundriller. Yes, your taste buds are liars.

[LastResort]

This thread reminds me of the time someone made up ground jackrabbit burgers at the hunt camp.

When we were eating all you could hear was people chewing loudly and everyone saying a tleast once or twice " pass the ketchup". LOL

[gunDriller]

made an addition to the Marinade -
Apple Cider Vinegar
Mucho Garlic
Mucho Onions
Liquid Smoke
Orange Peel

it was in the compost bin so i thought, "what the heck".

[Tumbleweed]

So gundriller do you think you'll be looking for more carcasses to feed on since this seems to be workin out for you? I don't think that farmer should have charged you fifty bucks to deliver it to you. If I had a dead cow I'd just drop it off in your driveway and it wouldn't cost you anything.

[gunDriller]

So gundriller do you think you'll be looking for more carcasses to feed on since this seems to be workin out for you? I don't think that farmer should have charged you fifty bucks to deliver it to you. If I had a dead cow I'd just drop it off in your driveway and it wouldn't cost you anything.

Gee Thanks Tumbleweed !

They had a tough call to make. They were trying to get it to the butcher - it was in the trailer - then it died.

Their butcher wouldn't take it. So they advertised on Craigslist. They did have to drive it over - about 30 miles each way - and winch it out. I thought the $50 was pretty reasonable.


I'm pretty sure this is a once-in-a-lifetime type thing.

Sure, in 2 or 3 years, when I'm done eating this, yeah, maybe I'd do it again.

But time of year matters - this was in the winter so I had less pressure to get it butchered in 1 day. If it had been summer, I couldn't do it. I would have got 60 pounds of meat & the rest would have spoiled.


I did stop at Safeway and ask a few questions. The guy showed me their sharpening tools, just a 3-position whetstone thing.

He also let me try the Safeway bone knife on a piece of paper. It didn't seem that sharp.

The bone knife is pointy, they also use a butcher knife with some serrations like a break knife.

I was using a file and only one side of the Whetstone, the fine side. So I learned - use both sides.

Though actually, I was sharpening a scythe a few months ago with just the file and got it razor sharp, so sharp it cut me quite by surprise. I guess a file is a good sharpening tool too.

[lapis]

sorry. i didn't mean to sound like an ass. i just know EVERY time i've used high on the crockpot, i've regretted it....

I know what you mean (btdt), but I think Tumbleweed's crockpot method (cook on high for an hour or two, then reduce to low) is the best method; however I usually just use the low setting because I'm not going to be around to change it from high to low.

[lapis]

This thread reminds me of the time someone made up ground jackrabbit burgers at the hunt camp.

When we were eating all you could hear was people chewing loudly and everyone saying a tleast once or twice " pass the ketchup". LOL

I'll bet! It sounds like a nasty taste of Rabbit Starvation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_starvation).

[zap]

LOL, I have never had a crockpot, I guess I should get one, We do use pressure cookers though.

[Tumbleweed]

LOL, I have never had a crockpot, I guess I should get one, We do use pressure cookers though.

Well hell yes Zap a pressure cooker is better that a crock pot! You don't have to wait as long to see what it tastes like with one of those. I've got one and use it all the time.

[gunDriller]

LOL, I have never had a crockpot, I guess I should get one, We do use pressure cookers though.

yesterday i used a covered sauce pan with water in it, i even changed the water from the day before ! ;)

it actually was half-decent, i think i managed to chew every piece.

i mean, cooking it that way seemed to soften them up a bit. or maybe i'm getting some of the good pieces.