TXKitty - That's what marinades & a smoker is for. Any cow = good cow. And the toughest meat can always be made the most flavorful. For instance, fajitas use the flank steak, which is the toughest piece of meat on a cow. But sliced thin & saute'd slowly w/onion, garlic, spices (cumin, corriander, oregano, black pepper) and chile to taste... with some fresh avocado & tortillas & cheese & tomatoes... Pineapple juice is a natural meat tenderizer and I've used that a number of times on "tough" cuts of beef, marinading overnight. If you don't like the flavor of pineapple, after you marinade overnight, you can then soak it for like 1/2 hour in a cold saltwater bath & that takes most of the pineappley out. DH hates pineapple but never knows I use it.

man now I'm hungry.

Me too. Someday I'll get a freezer and share a cow with someone. A little afraid to do it after my neighbor bought a cow from someone, and they could hardly eat it, the taste was so awful. And, we don't have enough pasture here for the animals we already have, so can't raise my own.

TXKitty - I've had some "fresh" beef (slaughtered that day, not hung) and it was pretty strong tasting. Personally, I thought it was disgusting, so that's what marinades were for. It's probably just personal taste. I personally can't stand the taste of buffalo because it's too strong to me. But I think I'm the only person I know who doesn't like it.. everyone else loves it. You can also fake-age beef, but it's very dangerous and I do NOT recommend it at all.. I've done it and had no ill effects. I left a roast that I knew was gonna be strong (grass-fed beef) in the oven (not turned on) for almost 2 days. It wasn't rotten, but definitely cut back on the strong taste. I do NOT NOT NOT recommend this for ANYONE for ANY type of meat, though. The danger of the meat going bad is too high & is not worth it. You can also soak it in V8 juice (tastes better than in just plain tomato juice). Or, if you're feeling like it, a decent cabernet red for a 2-3 hour soak will help too, but that would definitely lead to the meat having to be SLOWLY cooked.. crockpot or smoker or roasted at a VERY low temperature for a few hours.

man now I'm REALLY hungry!!! Stop it!! But this is something I would do:

1 tough 7bone roast
1bottle cheap cabernet (Sutters home is a good one I like to use)
2-3 cloves garlic minced rough
fresh crushed black pepper course-ground
dried rosemary
dried thyme

put the roast in a large glass dish (like a big ol 9x13 cakepan). Gotta be glass, metal & plastic will actually leech weird flavors. pour other ingredients over it (to taste.. of course, sample the wine first, just to make sure it's not sour or anything... ), cover with Saran wrap & put in the fridge for 2 hours (you'll want to do this early in the morning). Take out of fridge & remove the wine, saving for later (put it back in the fridge so it doesn't go bad w/the beef juices). Let it warm up to room temperature for about an hour, preheat your oven (I personally use my turkey roaster) to 275degs. Put on a rack w/a pan underneath and put in the oven (roaster) for a minimum of 2-2.5 hours. One thing you can do is also top with thinly sliced yellow onions (and more garlic.. garlic = good. You can slice small slices into the meat & stuff more garlic inside the meat). When meat gets to be about 140degs, pull out of oven (roaster) and let rest for at least 15 minutes. Use some of the wine & make into a gravy w/the drippings of the meat (the fat will be in the pan, you don't want the fat if you can avoid it.. a little won't hurt, but not a LOT). Roasted Quartered yellow potatoes w/zucchini & squash, honey wheat bread to sop up the juices...

*slurp* Now I'm STARVING!!!!!!!!!!

Too bad we live so far from each other, we could have great time taste testing

Dear Trish, you should make Yorkshire pudding. You cannot have beef without that. It is very filling and easy to make. See http://cubits.org/Neil/article...
Regards.
Neil.

Trish, it must be difficult to home school the children seeing as there is a wide range in age. Do you buy school books yearly or take courses yourself to keep up with modern teaching. Will those that want to go to collage leave home to do so???

I don't think we want to get into an in-depth discussion about homeschooling on ATP. There are people out there who disagree with the lifestyle decision and we don't want our private lives discussed in view of them.

I have often made Yorkshire pudding, Neil, it's very good. As we get older, however, we have to cut down to just those foods that have vitamins or minerals, or we get fat. Haven't had it for years.

That's fine Dave, I think everyone has the right to choose the lifestyle that works for them.

TXKitty - so, if I'm already fat, that means I can eat it?? Lol!!! My MIL makes a Yorkshire pudding thingie for Christmas. It's ok if a little bland for my taste. But she doesn't really use a lot of spices either.

Dave - how many roasts were you able to get out of Elsie the dinner? Ribs would also be my big interest.. Love smoked ribs!!!

Psssst- Elsie is the (youngest) milk cow...we can't eat her

I'm pretty sure we've never named an actual name of one of our freezer cows. We just refer to them as "red cow's calf", or "the spotted one", or "the new black one in the north pasture". None of us would be able to eat one of our named cows

I'm not sure how many roasts, so I can't answer that (guessing 15-20 at an average of 5# each)...but our big freezer is stuffed F.U.L.L.

Right! Don't name it if you intend to eat it.

We once accidentally named one. She had the funniest tuft of hair between two long ears that stuck straight out. We started calling her Bowtie. She was scheduled for the freezer, but when I mentioned her destination a year or two later, I was met with 4 pairs of watery eyes and someone squeeked "we can't eat Bowtie!!" She went to the auction instead

You guys don't have a dog Trish?

hahaha!! as far as naming dinner, sorry, but when I was about 6 years old, my father came from the flea market with 4 itty bitty baby bunnies. I named them Flopsy, Mopsy, Topsy, & Peter. We raised them up for about 6 months and then I helped Father process them into dinner. When I was a teenager living in the mountains of NM, mom decided she wanted to raise a couple of pigs. We flipped a coin & I got to name them. We got 2 castrated weanling boars & I named them Pork Chop & Bacon. After all, that's what they were gonna become! 2 years later, mom got 2 more.. a weanling sow & a castrated weanling boar. She named them Wilbur & Mable. They didn't taste as good as Pork Chop & Bacon did. But they did fill the freezer nicely.

wow.. 15-20 5# roasts. That's a LOT of roasts! *jealous!!!* But we wouldn't be able to eat that much beef before it got freezer burned...

Well you could name a Cow/Steer "All Beef Patty", or "Barbi Q" or "Ground Chuck"

We've jokingly called them those names (Ribeye is my fav), or just "Freezer", but it doesn't stick

Nope- no dog. I love dogs, but it's just not a good fit for us.