Cooking Tips for Grass Fed Grass Finished and Pasture Raised Meats

This may hurt your feelings, but it is true.

Meat often comes out tough or chewy is because it was cooked wrong.  

Our meats NEED it LOW and SLOW! 

If you cook our meats for too long, over too high of heat or too fast over the heat, then you are likely going to end up un happy :(

So, here are a few tips to avoid that...

Buy A Meat Thermometer

LOW and SLOW....

That is our motto here at Circle C Farm

When cooking grass fed and grass finished meats, the most important thing to remember is to cook the meat LOW (at a low temperature) and SLOW (for the meat to cook slow)!

IF the heat is TOO HIGH or TOO HOT or you try and cook it TOO FAST, then the meat will end up dry, tough and chewy. NOT the meats fault.

 * Our meats are leaner, with amazing flavor, BUT no "feedlot" fat development or marbling, so that is why your temps need to be lower.  The natural marbling in our meats lend themselves to amazing flavors, so your meal will taste amazing.   

You are actually working with the ONLY the soft meat, no preservatives no injected salt water solutions, no preservatives either.    

But what does that actually mean or look like for me in the kitchen or outside on the grill???

It means, on the ...

Sous Vide - is the ultimate way to cook our meats, it is the process of using water circulation at a set temp for a period of time to cook the meat perfectly every time!  Without ever over cooking your proteins again!

Cast Iron Pan - LOW, LOW and LOW, not Medium!!! Remember that the cast iron pan holds heat, so if you use the temp higher than LOW, it will heat up too much and make the meat tough and over cook it too fast. 

Cook top... no more than medium should be used.  If you go above medium for cooking, the meat will end up tough.

Ex.: Chicken breast, butter, salt, pepper, 15-20 minutes. 

Oven... drop the temp 15* F - 25* F from the suggested cooking temp in any recipe, especially if you are using a convection oven (remember, the hot air is already circulating, so it will bake your meat, but if too hot, it will dry it out.  A convection oven is supposed to have a temp drop of about 25*F because of that circulation as compared to the traditional oven.)

* Baking / roasting turkey, chicken or duck - DO NOT Stuff cavity for cooking. Please cook stuffings separately for food safety, if it does not reach the proper internal temps, you could get sick, we don't want that! 

Ex.: Pork chops - 300*F for 35-40 minutes.

Grilling... INDIRECT HEAT ONLY, if you put the meat directly above the flame, it will cook it too fast and make it tough.  Put the meat on the top shelf and give it some time.

If you have a single level grill, then put the gas/coals on one side and the meat on the other side.

Ex.: Sausages - top shelf, if too hot for the sausages, the casing will pop and the outside will be done/over done and the inside raw.  15-20 minutes

Steak - Indirect on same or top level, to medium rare/medium.  If you cook more than medium, keep a watchful eye, it could end up tough and is not recommended.

Smoking... brine the meat like you would other meats, this way it will not dry out.

Air Fryer - FABULOUS was of cooking, make sur that you are on air crisp for most of our meats.  Then adjust the temp and time as needed, depending on what you're cooking.

     Ex: 4 FROZEN Sausages: Air Crisp Setting: 390* for 20 minutes

           4 Thawed Sausages: Air Crisp Setting: 375* for 15-18 minutes,                              depending on how 'done' you want the skin crispiness.

IT IS NOT recommended to USE an insta-pot or George Foreman style grill.  They are just too hot and or the heat is too intense or not controllable at low enough temps to cook the meat yielding the best outcome.  MANY MANY people have told me that using either/both of these have ruined our meats.

Crock pot style cooker - OK, but only it making bone broth on low for 24-48 hours or if stewing the meats.  The crock pot actually fluctuates in temps and short or shorter cooking times will yield a tougher chewy meat because of the heat fluctuations. 

Short ribs - Roast or sear the short ribs and then put in crock pot for 12-18 hours on low.  Watch your water level.  If too high, you will end up with more of a stew.

Stew Meat - Sear on cook top, then put in crock pot like short ribs, add in the amount of water or liquids you want and put on low for 12-18 hours.