I was shopping this AM and saw some good looking steaks. They were Piedmontese, something I had not seen advertise before. I had a conversation with my butcher and he started to school me on different cattle breeds. It was like coming out of the dark ages. I got home and started looking more carefully into cattle breeds:
"The limitations in USDA grading systems means Piedmont beef is frequently select or lower grade. While you might think this would mean sacrificing tenderness, a University of Georgia study showed no significant difference in shear force values between normal muscle and double-muscle beef. However, because delivering a double-muscled calf often proves difficult for Piedmontese dames due to narrow birth canals relative to calf size, homozygous (“pure-bred) Piedmontese bulls are cross-bred with Angus cows. This gives the added benefit of higher grades. To preserve leanness, a Piedmontese bull may be bred with a Continental variety. Heritage Farms makes Piedmontese beef available in the U.S."
So now I've gone from completely ignorant to semi-ignorant. What do you chefs look for when you buy meat for the grill? Are you buying by the breed and if so how different is the taste from one breed to another? Or does it make a difference to the average Joe? Given the fact that I have a choice, I'd like to understand how different the meats are and if you would cook one breed differently than another.
"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."
"The limitations in USDA grading systems means Piedmont beef is frequently select or lower grade. While you might think this would mean sacrificing tenderness, a University of Georgia study showed no significant difference in shear force values between normal muscle and double-muscle beef. However, because delivering a double-muscled calf often proves difficult for Piedmontese dames due to narrow birth canals relative to calf size, homozygous (“pure-bred) Piedmontese bulls are cross-bred with Angus cows. This gives the added benefit of higher grades. To preserve leanness, a Piedmontese bull may be bred with a Continental variety. Heritage Farms makes Piedmontese beef available in the U.S."
So now I've gone from completely ignorant to semi-ignorant. What do you chefs look for when you buy meat for the grill? Are you buying by the breed and if so how different is the taste from one breed to another? Or does it make a difference to the average Joe? Given the fact that I have a choice, I'd like to understand how different the meats are and if you would cook one breed differently than another.
"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."
