How to Cook Grass-Fed Meat
You may be an age-old grass-fed cook, or you may be new to the scene. Before you toss that pound in the pot, take this 3 minute crash course to sharpen your culinary skills to make that meat do what you want.
Grass-fed or pastured meat is leaner than grain-fed. Pastured animals spend their lives foraging and moving about, and less time standing still, fattening up. In contrast, conventionally grown meat is raised on smaller square footage and with significantly more grain (at significantly lower quality), which means more fat, and greasier meat. This latter type of meat is what Americans are most used to. Because fattier meat has more “forgiveness” when it comes to over cooking or cooking from frozen, you will not achieve nearly the same results cooking grass-fed like you would conventional.
100% grass-fed beef and pastured pork are vastly superior to grain-fed, environmentally, nutritionally, and for the health of the animals. Below are your pro cooking tips to make it superior on the plate as well.
Thaw. Room temp is best. Let that meat loosen up. There’s truly no coming back from throwing it into the pan still frozen (I’m looking at you frozen InstantPot cooks.) This is the First Commandment of cooking meat.
Salt it. Add high quality sea salt to the meat 30 - 60 minutes before cooking. Tenderizes and brings out the delectable flavors.
Add moisture. Marinate; mix in juicy vegetables; add sauces; combine leaner meats with fattier meats; add a dash of olive oil. Best of all - soak meat in its own juices from the crock pot or pan. We love burgers with 2/3 grass-fed beef, 1/3 our pastured ground pork, and our pork carnitas are always drizzled with au jus.
Cook slowwww and low. Unless you’re searing, keep that temp low. Slow and steady wins the race allowing for more tender, more moist (moister?) meat.
Do. Not. Overcook. Since grass-fed has less fat, it can overcook much faster than grain-fed, so keep an eye on the clock! Without a doubt, invest in a $10 meat thermometer. You won’t regret it. Pork = 145*, Chicken = 160*, and try to catch it right at that point.
Let rest. Don't go straight from pot to plate. Give it a few minutes to sit. If you have the patience, sitting for 15 minutes (in a low-temp oven or under a cover) will let the meat relax and voila - superbly tender. This is most important when dealing with very lean cuts like tenderloin.
There you have it! Even if you adopt just one rule at a time, once these cooking tips become habit, you’ll be hearing “whoas” around that dinner table.