Well, the day finally came for us to go to Grandview, TX (about 3 1/2 hour drive one way) to pick up the steer we had butchered. We ended up getting around 257 pounds of beef. He weighed around 722 pounds live weight, and around 396 pounds hanging weight. We ordered a little bit of everything they had to offer as far as the cuts of meat. We wanted to try it all, just to see what it was like, and know how to order in the future. This steer was kind of like an experiment...since we are not licensed to sell the meat yet (we are working on that) we will be giving bits and pieces of this meat away to interested people, and hopefully gain customers. It actually isn't even our steer, it is Mr. & Mrs. Herzog's. They are kind of following Stephen's lead though as he is learning all about grass farming and grass fed beef. It had been recommended to do this very thing...sell ourselves on it first, then give a little away to get people interested, so that's what we are doing. They did a really nice job processing the meat. It is all vacuum packed and makes for a nice presentation. We will be looking into a butcher a little closer to home to do business with though. We just wanted to have a good standard to go by as we have herd from so many about the great job they do. We also bought a little bit of their meat to compare ours to. Their animals are around 2 years old when they are butchered, and ours was only 9 months old. We have heard positives from both, and aren't set up yet to raise ours out to 2 years after being weened, so we tried one at 9 months.
I am actually writing this a few weeks after our trip, so I will go ahead and say how much we thoroughly love the meat!!! It tastes so real. The shrinkage is very minimal (slim to none). There is a little marbling (that is what you want). You actually have to chew it longer because there in more meat in each bite. With the 80/20 grass fed hamburger meat, you aren't picking out gristle or cartilage with every single bite, or draining off 1 cup of grease like you have to do with the 80/20 hamburger meat from the store. It tastes like beef ought to taste. I didn't know that the beef I was eating from the store didn't taste real, until I tasted the real thing, and it is like night and day difference. We all absolutely love it. We compared it to the Burgundy Beef's meat and the hamburger is pretty much the same. The rib eye (which is what we bought from Burgundy) had a little bit more fat (the good kind of fat because it is all natural, grass fed, and doesn't have all the added hormones and chemicals and feed stuffs you get with the store bought meat, and has a better balance of the omega 3's and omega 6's) which gave it a tad more flavor, but all in all, it wasn't to different. We are so pleased!
The official sign.
Mo and Paw paw with Stephen and the kids at Burgundy Beef.
Here is our little family right after we arrived to pick up the meat. We got there around 8:30 am. We got the kids dressed and ate breakfast on the way since we left around 5:00 that morning (We slept in the camper the night before so we wouldn't have to wake the kids up that early. It sure is nice having that camper to travel in!).
Martin and Bella using their big strong muscles to carry the coolers in to be loaded up with meat.
As Mr. & Mrs. Herzog and Stephen were inside asking questions, I had the little ones outside trying to keep them quiet. Martin rode his bike around the parking lot for a little while, Millie helped me take care of the little ones, and Bella was kinda in and out. Then Paw paw came out and sat with them for a little while so I could go in and listen. Thank you Mr. Herzog.
Here is our little helper, Bella Jane, load the meat from the boxes into the coolers.
This is Stephen and I with Mr. & Mrs. Taggart, the owners of Burgundy Beef. Sorry it is blurry.
At one of the fuel stations on out journey home, Papa bought the kids a treat. Here they are proudly posing with their gum. Stephen always makes things special. He is so sweet! Speaking of treat, Mrs. Herzog grabbed some chips and root beers from Burgundy Beef and we all enjoyed them on the way home. Thank you Mo!
Here is Stephen looking like he could use a nap.
Millie and Bella look like synchronized sleepers. Hahaha. It makes me laugh looking at them both sleep in the same position.
Sweet little Elaina Girl and James Wyatt sleeping away. Poor James gets the pink blanket. Oh well, he doesn't seem to mind.
Martin's thinking "Nap time? No thanks". He is not interested in sleeping anymore these days. When we are at home, I have tried my mom's trick of putting on some pretty music and having him lay down until the CD is over. I try to pick one that is at least an hour long. That didn't really work. One day, he grabbed the guitar and started playing right along with the music, and another day, he constantly played with the volume button turning it up and down, up and down, up and down. It is a wonder anyone else gets any rest.
Mo and Pawpaw trying to catch some zzzzzz's on the back bed.
Unloading the meat from the coolers to the big chest freezer at the Herzog's.
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