Dexter tenderness/toughness

[Roger Goy]

We started keeping a few Dexter cows with calves last year, and are eating our way through a half a steer which we have in the freezer, which we bought at the same time. The steaks are absolutely the best we've ever tasted, but the odd one can be very chewy, as are many of the joints, although flavour is still wonderful. The steer was just under the thirty months limit and stayed out on grass all its life with its mother, and was hung for 3 weeks.
Looking ahead to producing our own beef, whilst I am told that stress before slaughter can cause toughness, what other factors are there - eg content and quality of grass/forage, breeding, growth rate, skill of the butcher, hanging, heiffers v steers, or even cooking method?
Roger

[Broomcroft]

The only thing I've heard re stress was that if sufficient it can alter the colour of the meat. But I believe in blind tastings, the flavour is not affected, but the colour makes you think it is! But it could be wrong, I think an abattoir manager told me.

The tenderness of your meat can be genetic but it is more than likely that he wasn't sufficiently finished. Grass can be anything from almost useless as a feed, through to modern high sugar grasses which would be too good to keep anything other than finishing stock on. If you really want to finish literally off the field, then I would recommend you look at the grasses and perhaps stitch something in with a mix of some modern white clovers as well, if your PH is OK.

If you don't want to change the grass or improve it, then you could change your stock to a stockier framed type. If you've already got stockier frames and they aren't finishing, then it is your leys that need attention. Unless your cattle have worms or something else stopping them putting on condition.

Even with fields of fairly high sugar grasses and loads of clover, we have had the odd few (especially from one particular bull, Elite as it happens!) that were very hard to finish properly, so that was genetic.



Edited By Broomcroft on 1266408033

[Roger Goy]

Clive
That's really helpful thank you.
The steer was not one of ours - we havn't produced any yet - we only have cows and their heiffer calves, but we'll be calving this Spring so hopefully we'll then have some to bring on.
Our only grass field at present is un-improved permanent pasture, but we sowed another field last Spring which is mainly rye grass with white clover, and we have three more to sow this year under a Stewardship scheme.
Sounds like we want to avoid the more traditional mixes if Natural England will permit on new sowings, and to stitch in some better grass and clover into our existing field?
Thanks again for the help.
Roger

[domsmith]

i was unaware that finishing would effect tenderness.

personally iw ould put it down to quality of the animals life, hanging and butchering. maybe genetic, as we are talking dexter surely genetics cannot be for a tough beast.

my money would be on hanging, its the secret to really good meat.

dom

[Duncan MacIntyre]

My meat inspection days are long over, but we used to get what the old butchers called "bone taint" where the meat especially close to the bone was altered and almost uneatable. This was attributed to stress, and the last time I remember it being a problem it certainly did involve a farm where stress was at a peak when loading animals and they also wanted to be in such a rush that there was no rest time in the lairage before killing.

Duncan

[Saffy]

Also - if you wish to grow/keep clover it is important to restrict or not use nitrogen in your fertiliser. You will probably find that as long as there are tiny amounts of clover, by keeping a pasture well and in good heart, not fertilising with nitrogen and not over stocking, clover quantity will naturally rise and within two to three years the ley will have enough clover in it.

Equally if you spread nitrogen regularly on a clover and grass ley - then clover will be almost entirely gone in a few years.

Stephanie

[Martin]

One of my fields that I use mainly for Hay/silage has too much clover and it tends to choke the grass. Although I want the clover I also need some grass in the mix so every spring I put nitrogen on to check the clover and encourage the grass. This works very well in my situation and the regrowth comes back as mostly clover.
The lay is now in its fourth year.



Edited By Martin on 1266425301

[AlisonKirk]

Roger - You have certainly chosen the best breed - the beef is really in demand.

Finish off your steer and look forward to eating your own beef.

There could be a number of factors which could have caused some of your beef to be tough. Yes, any stress at slaughter can cause the meat to be not as good as it should be, whether it's enroute to the abattoir, how the live animal is treated at the abattoir prior to slaughter, how the carcass is treated directly after slaughter & during hanging. It could be due to a problem during the life of the animal which caused the animal to lose condition until it recovered or perhaps the dam did not produce sufficient milk (which would be unusual for a Dexter).

We must not forget that good beef is dependant on the milk the calf receives during the first 8/9 months of its life (the Dexter being dual purpose is an excellent producer of milk for her offspring).

Good luck

Alison Kirk
Boram Dexters

[pudser]

Toughness can be genetic or nutritional but stress at slaughter or during transport causes depletion of glycogen(the form in which glucose is stored in the body). Enzymes post slaughter break down the glycogen to lactic acid which reduces the ph. Hanging for an extended period allows the lactic acid to break down the connective tissue and make the beef more tender. Poorly handled animals will obviously be more excitable at slaughter with consequent reduction in glycogen .......

Bone taint is a different issue and is probably related to poor hygiene at bleeding post stunning when bacteriaa are introduced into the blood stream and settle throughout the carcass. as the hind quarter has the greatest muscle mass and is usually the slowest part of the carcass to reduce in temperature it may allow the bacteria to proliferate in the deep round with associated putrefaction.

It would be more usually assiciated with continental breeds ,bigger quarters slower drop in temperature and i would be really surprised for it to occur in a dexter or any of the British breeds.It usually occurs during the summer months and is unmistakable-the beef equivalent of a corked bottle of wine


P

[Broomcroft]

The Manitoba Forage Council has a good site for grass-finishing. Here's a link Manitibo Forage Council /grass-fed-beef/. Just remember it's Canadian obviously, but the basics are the same..."loads of good grass, don't let them go backwards and give them time". Also a link to their Grass-Finishing Manual

Interesting post pudser.

[Rob R]

I wish I knew what causes tough meat, as many times I read that hanging and finish improves it but I no longer concern myself too much with hanging as I received no preference from customers between the two and three week hung steers so hanging now tends to be a case of logistics. I believe a tough animal becomes so before it is killed now (feed, breed & stress). As for finish, I've found the 100% grass fed animals to be top for tenderness and I'm yet to kill a tough one, even in the under-finished ones, so maybe it is more to do with genetics and I've just got lucky! I tend to kill them in season too coming off grass from Autumn to early winter.

[Broomcroft]

Well from what I've read, one of the main things that create tough meat is letting the animal go backwards at some stage. That is what it says in the Manitoba grass-fed beef articles. Strictly speaking it is said that the tenderness is not actually to do with marbling, but the marbling adds to the eating experience, i.e. in effect making it taste more tender just as it would if you were to cut a small piece of lean meat and a small piece of tender fat, and then eat them together. So we try and get as much marbling as possible. Here's a grass/clover-fed T-Bone that was yummy....the fat being low melting point grass-fed, disappeared immediately on hitting the pan.....





Edited By Broomcroft on 1266991888

[Rob R]

Just reading your post Clive, and thinking about the feeding- do we have anyone here who finishes from conservation grazing?

[Saffy]

You mention going backwards at some stage Clive being a cause of tough meat and I certainly think that unthriftiness could well be a cause of toughness and quite possibly poor flavour and lack of flavour as well.

However it is almost impossible to prevent an animal going back very slightly at some point i.e. loosing a little weight, when it is weaned or when in with a new bunch but then they usually pick up quickly. I think it is a more serious, sustained check and heavy weight loss, especially from injury, illness, or long term untreated parasite burden etc, making it difficult to get the animal to thrive again quickly that cause the problem you mention.

Is that the kind of weight loss you are talking about?

Stephanie



Edited By Saffy on 1267019790

[Broomcroft]

I've had animals go back a bit or stand still over winter, in fact that would be normal, but I've not had any problems, so I don't know from first-hand experience Stephanie. The "not going back" problem is quoted by the Manitoba Forage Council and I've also heard a long-time beef producer say that with animals that have gone backwards you can see a line in the meat when butchered, but I'm just quoting what he said, could be a load of rubbish, don't know. It is normal, isn't it, to try and get more tenderness by making sure the animal is putting on weight prior to slaughter.

Same if you ate people. If you ate someone who'd been gorging on ice-cream and chocolate, they would probably be quite tender. But if you ate a marathon runner, they'd be real stringy.

Took 17 barren cull ewes to market today, only 60-65kg Lleyns, quite small. Got £105 each, wow!!!