Cooking Tips

We want your meat to taste the way Grandma use to make it! Here are a few helpful tips from The Lutz Family.

Beef

Thawing

Don't use a microwave to thaw your grass fed beef (it tends to cook the edges of your beef before the center is fully thawed). Either thaw your beef in the refrigerator, or for quick thawing place your vacuum sealed package in water for a few minutes. For more specific instruction, please view the USDA Food Safety Information.

Bring To Room Temperature – Bring your grassfed meat to room temperature before cooking.
Pre-Heat Your Pan/Grill – Always pre-heat your oven, pan or grill before cooking grassfed beef.
Oil It – Since grassfinished beef is extremely low in fat, coat with virgin olive oil or a favorite light oil for flavor enhancement and easy browning. The oil will also prevent drying and sticking.
Use Tongs – Never use a fork to turn your beef . . . precious juices will be lost. Always use tongs.
Don’t Overcook! Use a Meat Thermometer – The main reason for tough grassfed beef is overcooking. This beef is made for rare to medium rare cooking! If you like well done beef, then cook your grass fed beef at very low temperatures in a sauce to add moisture.
Let it Rest! - With grassed beef you are relying on the juices, not the fat to keep your meat moist… letting it rest for 5-10 minutes (uncovered - do not tent with foil!) will allow the juices to redistribute and make your meat even more moist and flavorful!
To prevent overcooking, use a good meat thermometer and measure the temperature in the thickest part of the meat. 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.
Grassfinished beef has high protein and low fat levels. The beef usually will require less cooking time and will continue to cook when removed from heat. For this reason, remove the beef from your heat source when it reaches the desired temperature (below).
Rare – 120 degrees Medium rare – 125 degrees Medium – 130 degrees Medium well – 135 degrees Well – 140 degrees

premium steaks

We do not recommend marinating premium steaks like NY Strip, Tenderloin, Ribeye, Porterhouse, T-bone or Flat Iron. Marinating these steaks tends to make them mushy. Sirloin, Sirloin-Tip and Flank Steaks can be marinated, but usually for no more than 1 hour. These steaks are best grilled or pan-seared in a hot skillet with only salt & pepper, or a rub (we love McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning). Get your cast iron skillet or grill HOT, add a little olive oil to the skillet just before adding the steaks. Sear both sides, then turn the heat down to cook the steak only until rare (120 degrees at center of steak). Remove steak from pan and let rest 10 minutes. Obviously, if you like your steak cooked to medium or medium well, use the temperature chart in the next column.

Rare Roasts

For premium roasts like Top Round, Sirloin, Sirloin-Tip and Prime Rib roasts... When roasting, sear the beef first to lock in the juices. Alternately, rub the roast with olive oil and put it in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Then REDUCE the temperature to 350 degrees and cook until the meat registers 120 degrees in the center of the roast. Remove the roast from the oven and let it rest for 15 - 20 minutes. Use the pan juices to make a yorkshire pudding, sauce or Au Jus. Again . . . watch your meat thermometer and don’t overcook your meat.

Let It Rest

Whether roasting or grilling, let the beef sitfor 8 to 10 minutes for steaks and 15-20 minutes for roasts after removing from heat to let the juices redistribute.

Marinating “Economy” Steaks

We recommend marinating steaks that are less tender like: chuck steak, london broil, eye of round steaks, skirt, flap, and hangar steaks. (Skirt, flap and hangar are excellent to slice thinly for fajitas after grilling.) For safe handling, always marinate in the refrigerator. To tenderize these cuts, allow at least 6 hours, but no more than 24 hours (longer makes it mushy). Any favorite marinade will do, but our favorite is Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing packets that you mix yourself with Balsamic or Apple Cider Vinegar. Once you’ve marinated the steaks, - get a grill or cast iron skillet HOT and just before adding the steaks, coat the skillet with olive oil, sear the outside of the steaks, then turn the heat down to cook the steak only until rare (120 degrees at center of steak). Remove steak from pan and let rest 10 minutes. If you do not have time to marinate just coat your thawed steak with your favorite rub, place on a solid surface, cover with plastic and pound your steak a few times to break down the connective tissue. As an added benefit your favorite rub will be pushed into your grass fed beef. Don't go overboard and flatten your beef unless your recipe calls for it. If you don't have a meat mallet, use a rolling pin or whatever you feel is safe and convenient.

Braising and Pot Roasts

For traditional “pot” roasts like Bottom roasts, Briskets, Chuck roasts, Eye of Round roasts or shoulder roasts, just follow your favorite recipe that will use moisture from sauces and slow cooking to add to the tenderness when cooking your roast. Try brining your own brisket for Corned Beef!