Beef grades

[onthebit]

I have been told, and read that Dexter beef is of a darker colour than other beef. I pulled this off Mr Fry's web site:
Dark Cutter
Dark cutting beef or beef that is usually dark in color can lower the quality grade of all quality grades by one full grade. It does not affect the grades of cutters and canners.
So, what kind of grades are people getting on their govt. inspected Dexters?

Grass finnished beef is also darker...is there no such thing as select grade in finnished grass fed Dexters?

[wstevenl]

I think that a "Dark Cutter" is a bad thing but I don't think this is the same as the dark that people say grass fed or dexter beef has. Hopefully someone else will know more but I believe that a "dark cutter" has a different texture too and is due to stress or illness or something with the animal. Am I right?

[Honeycreek Dexters]

Ours just came back and it was a tad bit darker than the feed lot steer next to it, the state inspector said it was grade choice. If I understand him correctly the darkness of it was due to the fat not covering the entire back of the rump. I was a little fuzzy on that whole point.
The grades are
• Prime
• Choice
• Select
• Standard
• Commercial
• Utility
• Cutter
• Canner

[midhilldexters]

Hmm, my butcher used to tell me he knew when he was doing one of my Dexters as it was a dark cutter, but that he found many of the older breeds cut like that to, like highlands (he said).
So anyone know for sure why these older european breeds are darker? Anyway Angus are an old european breed, I'm guessing they don't cut dark, so maybe my butcher didn't know bull?? LOL

Carol

[Honeycreek Dexters]

Like I said I was a little fuzzy on the whole dark/dark canner thing, but I think the other poster may have been on the right track when he said he did not think that the dark red of the Dexter beef was the same as a dark canner. Now I do see in the market report that they list the number of animals that go to slaughter as so many steers as fats, and so many heifers and cows as butcher and some back to farm and some as cutter canner, the pure number of cutter canner excludes Dexters. There aren't that many Dexters on the planet. So some one is raising animals that don't make one of the top 3 grades. I speculate these are commercial cattle or cattle that for some reason fail to thrive.

[wdd]

Here is a link to information regarding 'Dark Cutter Beef'

www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/livestock/beef/market/publications/dcb

One of the things that leads to it is low energy intake. Grain is energy so grass finished beef would naturally tend to be this way. Heritage Animals tend to be grass finished more often that the Standard Breeds. We never grain finished our Herefords growing up and I remember how dry the steaks and roasts were. I just figured after leaving home and eating beef elsewhere it was due to my mother over-cooking the meat. Maybe she wasn't totally at fault after all.

[Honeycreek Dexters]

Well I'm not sure I know where New South Wales is (Austraila maybe) but that is a very informative artical. Thanks

[midhilldexters]

Interesting, thanks.
So, anyone hazard a guess why some of the heritage breeds are darker?

Carol K

[legendrockranch]

Just out of curiosity, those of you that do a lot of butchering.
What is you percentage breakdown of meat grades you get?

Prime (if any)
Choice
Select
Standard

Barb

[jwneeley]

I don't know a thing about the different grades of beef other than what they have on the packages at the store. I have only had my Dexter's for 2 years and have butchered 3 steers so far. Two I have sold and the third we kept for our family. I will say after consuming a lot of beef from "fat" cattle, the Dexter beef is the darkest beef I have ever had. I noticed when we received the meat from the processor, it was a darker red almost purple. I accounted this to the aging. I will say one thing, the people I sold the beef to have had no complaints and they all said it was some of the best beef they have had. I have had others ask about freezer beef from me but 2 cows and 2 heifers on my 4.5 acre hobby farm aren't going to keep up with my demand.

[bmbrown]

Since I do not own any Dexter I cannot testament to the conditions of Dexter meat; however I have taken a few courses that focus on meat science and thought that some of the things I have learned may be relevant to this topic. Plus I know I find it interesting and hope some of you may too!

Myoglobin is the molecule responsible for the intracellular transport of oxygen, much in the same way hemoglobin transports oxygen in the bloodstream. Myoglobin is also responsible for the pigmentation of the meat since it contains 95% of the muscle's iron. The more myoglobin in the muscle, the darker and richer the color of the meat will be. As the myoglobin oxidizes (looses oxygen) the more the color will fade, similar to metal rusting. In a post-slaughter condition oxygen supplies are no longer available so the muscle pH decreases (with and increase in hydrogen ions as the oxygen that was remaining in the muscle is used up) and thus creating de-oxy myoglobin which is darker in color than myoglobin. DFD or dark firm and dry beef is a result of pre-slaughter stress using up all of the glycogen stores in the muscle so that post-slaughter there is a reduced production of hydrogen ions and a higher pH. This results in a darker color of the final product which is viewed negatively by consumers. It also results in higher water ability in the meat product. Higher water binding ability is actually a good thing since there is less '"purge" or drip lost during wet aging (the red fluid in the bottom of the packaging- it's not blood but many plasma proteins from the cells) When you cook the meat you get juicer steaks since all of the purge isn't lost before you cook it. The higher pH may be a problem in shelf life since it may support microbial growth easier than a lower pH cut. DFD is rare, only occurring in about 1% of all beef.

In relation to Dexters, the darker meat may be correlated with more myoglobin in the muscles rather than a high stress level pre-slaughter. It seems more likely that this is the case, to me anyway, considering how everyone seems to know their Dexters personally and take time to make sure the are all happy. It also would seem more likely if a high percentage of Dexters cut dark from different farms since stress is environmental and myoglobin production has more genetic links.
Also, even if Dexter meat had a slightly higher pH I don't think microbial growth would be a major problem since it seems the meat is enjoyed so quickly!

Britni

[Clive]

Here's a grass/clover-reared-finished dexter t-bone. I patted it with kitchen towel first so it would be a bit shinier than in the photo. That is typical of our meat colour.

The fat in the meat must have a very low melting point because it disappeared the instant it hit the pan, except the outside fat of course.



What I would call a dark cutter is an animal that has been stressed probably at the abattoir or during transport. I spoke to an abattoir owner recently when a cow came in for killing that was really aggressive, it was snorting an almost turning the trailer over (a big breed, not a dexter). I asked if that one would be a dark cutter. She said it would probably be OK because it was always like that (she knew the cow). She said the ones that were more of a problem were heifers that had been brought in alone and stood there quietly, but scared stiff in the corner.

[cjsfarm]

When we get our meet usda inspected it is not graded. They only certify age and condition of cow and facilities at which it is slaughtered & processed. The reason dexter meat is darker is simple, God wants it that way! LOL Judy

[bmbrown]

That is a nice looking steak. And I believe the reason that the fat melted quickly is because of the omega-3 content. The omega-3 fatty acid has a lower melting point (and thus a much higher freezing point) than other more saturated fats. That is why cold water fish are a good source of omega-3's -they need the fat in their body to stay liquid and not freeze while they are swimming. The grass fed animals get some omega-3's from the grasses and so their fat would be much more liquid at lower temperatures than non-grass fed animals.

Also, the official usda quality grading scale of beef works as follows:
Quality grade evaluates the factors that affect the palatability (flavor, juiciness, and tenderness) of meat. Beef carcasses quality grades are based on marbling, maturity, color, firmness, and texture of lean muscle. Intramuscular fat (marbling) is the primary factor on which the grades are based.
Any animals under 30 months of age can grade prime, choice, select or standard, where any animal over 42 month can only grade commercial, utility or cutter.
Prime has abundant, moderately abundant, and slightly abundant marbling;
Choice has moderate, modest, and small marbling;
Select has slight marbling; and
Standard has traces or is practically devoid of marbling.
USDA quality grades are not required to be done, but are helpful for marketing. Grades can also be helpful for evaluating management practices, such as genetic choices since tenderness does have a genetic link, and for evaluating if the animals are getting enough feed (in Dexters case if they may need supplemental feed- hay or grain depending on how nice your pastures are ) to finish them with the amount of marbling you want.
However beef grades for personal use are pretty easy to do yourself and you do not need to pay for them to be done if you don't want to market them as USDA grade : ... Also I think it is very impressive Dexters finish with such nice marbling on grass!

[copperhead]

To Quote from the Beef Cattle Manual from the Oklahoma State University...."Special consideration is given to dark-cutting beef. Dark cutters sometimes result if cattle are severely stressed 12 to 24 hours prior to slaughter. Such stress results in a reduced muscle sugar content, a failure of the muscle color to brighten (bloom) upon exposure to air and a sticky condition of the lean."
"There are eight USDA quality grades: Prime,choice,select,standard, commercial, cutter and canner."
A "cutter" is a low quality animal, used primarily in pet food and other non-human products, where a "dark cutter" just typifies a dark color in the meat due to stress.
I do agree with Judy, I think the Dexter is just a dark colored meat, probably due to the lean quality of the meat. According to the book Prime and choice is what usually served in white tablecloth resturants while the Choice and Select are what is usually sold in retail markets. The rest are used in hotdogs, ground beef, ect. It does say that even if a carcass is graded as a lesser quality, the loin and rib may be used by specialty resturants.
Sorry if I got too far off subject,
P.J.