Imagine for
a minute, that you own a beef business.
By that, I mean you either raise or process beef for human
consumption. The ever tightening economy
has you up at night pondering business practices to increase your profitability. Maybe then you realize how much money your
business has been spending on the disposal of those extra cow parts, the fat,
connective tissue and tiny bits. Maybe
you wish there was a way to somehow market this product, but who would buy this
waste, and for what purpose? Then the
idea hits you like a cattle prod. Take
this waste, blend it into a pink mass and flood the mixture with some ammonia
to kill the E. Coli, of course. Then, all that's left is to sell it to
profit-over-quality fast food restaurants and some school lunch programs. This actually isn't your idea, it's the
genius minds at Beef Products, Inc and they have made some business of feeding
us this junk.
I didn't
actually have to tell you this story, like me, you have known this for some
time now. This information has had such
a profound effect on how I shop for food and what I prepare for my family, it
owns a piece of this blog. This was one
of a handful of reasons I can identify for taking a hard look at what comes
into my kitchen, and it should be for you too.
As I sat and thought about how we have been deceived, I struggled to
define my course of action, but I refuse to allow my children to be fed this
for-profit poison. Finally, I have my
course of action; prove to myself that I can make it better, or at least just
as good, by using single ingredients (whenever possible) and document my experiences. So here we are, you're reading it!
I love a
good burger. Beyond the fact that I can
no longer support food establishments that serve this waste beef product, I fundamentally
disagree with some business practices of these large establishments, but I will
spare you those details, for now. I will
just focus on the burger. With this
being said, I am aware that I have basically limited myself to eating burgers
at home. Rest assured, I do not miss the
fast food version one bit. I don't buy
frozen beef patties anymore. We have
seen exactly what they contain. I don't
get excited by phrases like "angus" or "prime". These are mostly a dog and pony show,
skirting around the USDA guidelines to add "value" to an otherwise
valueless product. I go to a butcher, I
look at a piece of beef and then I ask for said piece of beef to be ground to a
specific coarseness that I request.
Assuming you can trust the butcher, as I do, you know exactly what is in
the ground beef you bring home. I made
some burgers for this article. They were
very good. I mixed in a bit of olive
oil, shaped them into patties and sprinkled a healthy dose of my Hickory SmokedSea Salt and some fresh black pepper. I
grilled them over natural oak char-coal and made some caramelized red onion to
top them off.
I keep my
grills and smoker out all winter, and yes I have two grills. I have a propane grill and a char-coal
grill. The idea behind the smoked salt
was for the odd occasion that I may not be up to standing outside in the dead
of winter. Smoke the salt in the nice weather,
and enjoy the "grilled" taste in the warmth of your house. Now, I really don't care what season it is, I
just like the salt and use it quite a bit.
When I was
young, every day I would make "the rounds" with my grandfather
Rocco. We would visit the Dairy for
milk, the bakery, the produce guy and the butcher. Most times he was buying a little something,
and sometimes we just went to say hi. Countless
times, I watched my grandfather buy a piece of beef, bring it home and grind it
with a hand grinder for whatever he was cooking. As I would sit and watch, I remember always
thinking to myself how he is inconveniencing himself, how the stores have this
already prepackaged. My grandfather was
a firefighter, but worked a part-time job for a while as a butcher at a local
market. It wasn't until I was sitting
here writing this article, when I actually realized why he took the extra step
and did it himself. My grandfather knew
well the value of doing it yourself. He
understood that quality is something produced, not purchased. The food industry has been lying to us since
my grandfather's days, and well before.
They continue now and pursue more profitable, more egregious and more
pervasive means to achieve their goals. Sometimes,
you miss out on the knowledge others may have to offer. Sometimes, you get lucky and remember.
the burgers look awesome! (the message of the post wasn't lost on me either - thanks for sharing!)
ReplyDeleteThey were delicious!! Thanks for reading my blog! I'm glad you got the message!
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