644284 Wed Aug 12 21:16:45 -0700 2009 15 4 Pacific Northwest 0 4942054 I moved to Washington State actually Olympia in November from Oklahoma. I was impressed with all the fresh seafood, fruits and vegtables, but the first time I ate a hamburger or bought ground beef I was totally disgusted. I bought it from Safeway, Walmart, Fred Meyers and some of the local butcher shops. Always the same thing, stringy tough and chewy, and sometimes tasteless. My Oklahoma cats won't eat it raw or cooked. In Oklahoma they would dog pile you when you opened a package of fresh ground beef. Here they seem interested until you give them a piece. They sniff it and leave. I have tried making hamburgers, hamburger helper, meat balls and always the same results; chewy, stringy, tough, and dry. I have always cooked hamburger patties the same way gentily form a patty place it in a salted pan and sear it on one side until juice starts to form ontop the flip it over without mashing down or disturbing it in any way. When it juices up again flip it over once again and cook again. Oklahoma beef would just fall apart and melt in you mouth. Washington ground beef will substitute for shoe soles. Dry chewy, strings. And tastes like nothing. What is wrong with Washington Ground Beef??? Where can I buy good non stringy gristly ground beef here in Washington. My mom who grew up in Wa said the beef out here is all retired milk cows. Old dry and stringy. I'm beginning to believe her. I thought the other day I would buy an expensive package of 100% pure Angus beef 80-20. Same chewy stringy garbage. Cats wouldn't eat it. I chewed it until I gave up and just eat my green beans and macaroni. Help Me please. WA has everything I need, but good ground beef. John Wed Aug 12 21:16:45 -0700 2009 1101329 wulfdog 1 4942402 You would have to go directly to a butcher that gets his beef from the farm. I do not know who that is in your area but in Walla Walla it is "Thundering hooves" only organic pasture fed beef. and the flavor is excellent. Thu Aug 13 04:42:14 -0700 2009 4942054 183538 hickdolphin 1 4942455 Wulfdog, Having lived in the midwest in the past, I observed the same thing. Since you are in Olympia, I suggest Stewart's Meats in McKenna. (Where you can get standing rib roasts of Kangaroo should you desire.) Stewarts also sells Veal Liver (Not Calf's Liver or Beef Liver) but you must ask for it as it is in the freezer. Cooked gently, it tastes remarkably like Foies Gras. The reason everyone raves about the hamburgers at Tom Douglas' Palace Kitchen is that he took the time to get the blend of chuck, sirloin and round right to make hamburger meat the way it should be. Thu Aug 13 05:27:59 -0700 2009 4942054 11158 Leper 2 4942899 I did not notice any such change in the ground beef when I moved from the midwest some years ago. There was an article in the Seattle paper (yesterday?) about a mobile slaughterhouse. Not just any butcher is allowed to slaughter animals direct from the farm. As for the source of our beef - I bet most of it comes from midwestern slaughterhouses. Yes, western Washington has more dairy cattle than beef cattle (or so it would appear from driving some valleys around Seattle), but I doubt if they are significant part of the meat market. Could it be that the Oklahoma ground beef is higher fat? Thu Aug 13 08:03:42 -0700 2009 4942455 12139 paulj 2 4942915 You can always try explaining what you want to DD meats in Shoreline or AJ Seafood and Meats in Queen Anne. They are both well respected butchers ready to help and are both very friendly. If you do make it to DD you should give their homemade sausages a try they are great! Thu Aug 13 08:06:51 -0700 2009 4942455 78696 gt1485a 3 4942956 DD is in the next town north, Mountlake Terrace. Thu Aug 13 08:15:21 -0700 2009 4942915 12139 paulj 1 4943273 Get a farm share. I split half a cow with a couple of friends. The steaks are undoubtedly delicious, but the burgers really shine. I'd also think about getting a butcher to personally grind some meat for you instead of getting "hamburger". Generic "hamburger" can be alright from some places, but others may be throwing alot of scrap in. Get a nice chuck, some sirloin, or even a little brisket for flavor and ask for a specific grind. Thu Aug 13 09:28:00 -0700 2009 4942054 66211 GreenYoshi 1 4943379 Wulfdog, You are correct about the quality of meat offered at the stores you listed above - I refuse to buy beef of any type from those stores. (I know that I sound snobby but the quality of product from the mainstreams grocery stores has really, really gone done noticeably in the past 10 years, I used to think Safeway product was perfectly adequate but the quality has decreased alarmingly) I think you need to check out some independent butchers (great one on Main Street in Issaquah) and upscale grocery stores - Larry's maybe? Personally, I also find Whole Foods beef tasteless as well. (Higher quality, better smell and texture but always missing the mark flavor-wise) I live in Portland (used to live in SEA) and currently purchase my ground beef from a local chain - Zupans - which sources from Harris Ranch - I've been very happy with their 20/80 and purchase it on sale several times a month for $2.99 a lb. It matches the quality of meat I grew up with in Iowa. Thu Aug 13 09:57:27 -0700 2009 4942054 15250 sebetti 2 4943460 WOW! WOW! thank goodness. I just knew people would jump all over me and call me crazy. I was so releived to hear all those comments that are sympathetic to my problems with the beef here. I thought sure as the world everyone would pounce on me and tell me to go back to Oklahoma. Thank you thank you thank you for the resources and information. Several people who had been out here from OK said they didn't know how to make good sausage out here, but had never mentioned the ground beef. I knew I could make my own sausage if I had to, but found the sausage out here is not bad at all, but the ground beef had me stumped. Last night after I made the post my wife and I decided we were going to go to the store and buy some chuck or sirloin and grind it ourselves just to see if that would work. Now that you guys have given me all these resources, I feel confident I can get some good beef here some where close. Anyone know where to get it closer to Olympia or Shelton? I saw a meat marked off I-5 by Centralia and thought about stopping there, but their building doesn't look too apealing from the outside. Again thanks for the help. OH paulj, I don't think the beef is any higher fat in OK. Matter of fact the beef I used to get would stick to the pan if you weren't careful, and usually didn't require draining. I hate to admit this, but I grew up on a cattle farm in OK and after I left home and my folks sold their cattle, I never had meat as good as we used to get, but still yet the beef from local meat markets in OK was way better than the stuff I was getting out here in the Mega Marts. Can you believe at one time I remember turning my nose up at steak because I was so tired of eating it all the time at home. Man those were the days. John Thu Aug 13 10:15:24 -0700 2009 4943379 1101329 wulfdog 3 4943514 Go to a farmers market. You'll get grass fed beef, which has a vastly different flavor than the supermarket swill and you won't pay too much more for it. I get ground beef at the farmers markets for between $5 and $7 per pound and it is just wonderful. Check with your local farmers market and see if they have a meat vendor. Most do these days. Thu Aug 13 10:24:39 -0700 2009 4943460 111701 patriciajane 1 4943502 The big problem is often the fat content, by which I mean the lack thereof. They like it lean around here, at least in the "healthy" stores, and it's utterly flavorless. PCC sells a 9%-max-fat version, which is, predictably enough, a waste of space. Probably viewing it as a wild extravagance, they also do a 16%-max version, which is equally pointless. When I asked if they could add more fat on request, I was given all sorts of bureaucratic reasons for why that wasn't possible. While Whole Food deals in pretty much the same silliness, I was once told by one of their meat guys that they could do any percentage I wanted. However, when I tried sometime later to actually do that, they said I'd have to place an order in advance. Tiresome. I haven't checked, but I assume that the vendors at the farmers markets deal in a similar product, since so many of their customers seem to have the same anemic notions about food. So you'll probably have to resort to conventional but expert folks like A&J. Unfortunately, that usually means leaving the sustainable-humane-organic realm. Thu Aug 13 10:22:08 -0700 2009 4942054 114020 Barry Foy 1 4943705 Stokesberry Sustainable Farm is in Olympia and sells delicious grass-fed beef. http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M19854 Definitely check the farmers' markets too! And I agree with out about it not being fatty enough, by the way. I often cook mine in beef tallow. I've gotten delicious grass-fed ground lamb around here though, and it's nice and fatty. Debs www.seattlelocalfood.com Thu Aug 13 11:13:48 -0700 2009 4942054 11377 seattledebs 2 4944646 Stewart's Meats (located in McKenna, past Yelm) maintains a stall at the Farmer's Market in Olympia, and you can place special orders with them and pick them up at the market (located at the Port of Olympia, at the north end of Capitol Blvd.). You might also want to check out Western Meats, located on Capitol Blvd. mid-way between Tumwatrer and Olympia. Thu Aug 13 15:43:14 -0700 2009 4943705 24347 Steve in Olympia 3 4945510 Tried Western Meats, and got the same stringy chewy stuff without flavor, but I will try Stewart's I was in thier store back in March and bought some sausages, but didn't think to try their ground beef. I'll stop by the farmer's market tomorrow when I'm in OLY. Thanks agian. Thu Aug 13 21:57:03 -0700 2009 4944646 1101329 wulfdog 1 4948367 Some of the bad taste in beef and the toughness these days is because they do not age the beef long enough before it is processed. I have been around cattle most of my life and have everything from angus and herferd to limosine and old dairy holstein. the main thing with cattle is how it is treated in the last 60 days of its life and how long it is aged. they ageing process breaks down the muscle and flavors the beef. I have had holstein that was excellent just a little larger bones and angus that relly sucked and couldn't hardly eat it because it was not treated properly. I make sure that all my beef is aged at least 15 days. some of the older ones on the blog remember the USDA prime cut. well that used to be aged 20-25 days you cannont hardly find that anymore. So when you talk to your butcher also ask him how long he aged it. it will make a big difference in flavor and texture! Sat Aug 15 05:50:23 -0700 2009 4942054 183538 hickdolphin 1 4949577 Painted Hills natural ground beef is really very, very good. It's from Oregon and it's easy to find here in Seattle....I would imagine that would be the case in Olympia as well. Go to their website and find out where to buy it where you live. I've never been disappointed with the flavor or texture..and I cook it rare-med. rare. I think you'll stop complaining about the beef here in the PNW after you've tried it! Sat Aug 15 17:04:32 -0700 2009 4942054 77289 staffstuff