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Some Quick tips on cooking your grass-fed beef
The main reason for tough grass-fed beef is overcooking. This beef is intended for rare to medium-rare cooking. If you like well-done beef, then cook grass-fed beef at very low temperatures in a sauce to add moisture. When grilling, sear the meat quickly over a high heat on each side to seal in its natural juices and then reduce the heat to a medium or low to finish the cooking process.
Grass-fed beef is extremely low in fat, so coating it with a light oil for flavor enhancement and easy browning can be helpful. The oil will also prevent drying and sticking. If you are going to use an oil make sure it is comprised of omega-3 fatty acids (olive oil, flaxseed oil, as opposed to the omega-6's found in most vegetable oils. Cooking with an oil comprised of an omega-6 fatty acid goes against a major reason for grass-fed beef.
If roasting, reduce the temperature of your grain-fed beef recipes by 50 degrees. This usually means around 275 degrees for roasting, or at the lowest heat setting in a crock pot. The cooking time will still be the same or slightly shorter, even at the lower temperature. Again, watch your meat thermometer and don't overcook your meat. Use moisture from sauces to add to the tenderness when cooking your roast.
Also, baste to add moisture throughout the grilling process. Don't forget grass-fed beef requires 30% less cooking time so don't leave your steaks unattended.
When roasting, sear the beef to lock in the juices and then place it in a preheated oven. Save your leftovers... roasted grass-fed beef slices make good, healthy, luncheon meats instead of processed "lunch-meats".
One individual suggested cooking everything frozen. This would help to prevent overcooking of the beef. Also, it would make less forethought needed on what is going to be cooked and thus defrosted prior to cooking.
Use a thermometer to test for doneness, watch the thermometer carefully. Since grass-fed beef cooks so quickly, your beef can go from perfectly cooked to overcooked in less than a minute. I strongly suggest this as what appears rare might actually have attained a proper temperature to kill any potential pathogens.
Always use tongs to turn your beef... never use a fork! Precious juices will be lost.
Grass-fed beef has high protein and low fat levels. The beef usually will require 30% less cooking time and will continue to cook when removed from heat. For this reason, remove the beef from your heat source about 10 degrees before it reaches the desired temperature (your beef will continue to cook after it has been removed from its heat source).
Never use a microwave to thaw your grass-fed beef.
Optimum Internal Temperatures for Meat.
The chart below lists optimum temperatures, based on maximum juiciness and flavor. For optimum safety, all meat should be cooked until its internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.
- To determine the internal temperature, insert an instant-read thermometer deep into the meat away from any bone. Take two or three readings to make sure the entire piece of meat has reached the desired temperature.
- Note that the internal temperatures that follow are at serving time. Since the internal temperature of most cuts will rise as the meat rests (the effect is called carryover cooking), you will want to remove steaks from the grill or a roast from the oven before it hits these temperatures. For instance a roast the reaches 125 degrees on an instant read thermometer when it comes out of the oven might reach 135 degrees by the time it has rested on the counter for 15 minutes (resting of the meat helps the meat to retain its moisture content cutting your meat will right after it leaves the oven will cause it to dry out significantly).
- Thicker cuts of meat will have a larger carryover effect as they have more mass to hold onto the heat.
| Rare | Medium-Rare | Meduim | Medium-Well | Well-Done | |
| Beef | 125 | 135 | 140 | 150 | 160 |
