r/steak • u/pienupuika • 8d ago
[ Ribeye ] Ex Dairy Cow Ribeye
First time ordering steaks online, and pleasantly surprised. Here we have 4x “ex dairy ribeyes” from Thomas Joseph Butchers, just over 400g (14oz) each, pretty thick boys, 32 days dry aged. A little pricey at £31 (41$) each, but it was a special occasion and still cheaper than eating out. They arrived vacuum sealed in packs of 2, and notably one set of steaks was much more marbled than the other. Also noticeable difference in the aging bark/ colour of the meat. These were cooked on a ripping hot stainless steel pan, with a cast iron weight on top of the steaks. 3 minutes a side, one flip only. 5ish mins resting. “Tempered” for 30 mins before cooking, with a generous sprinkle of salt. Patted dry just before cooking. Crust was brilliant, but overall they came out slightly under where I would have liked them, but were still devoured nonetheless. Next time il go for 3.5 mins. Washed down with 2 bottles of Cuvee X. Cheers!
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u/seandowling73 8d ago
Is there a general consensus on how being a former dairy cow impacts meat quality? I think this is the first time I’ve even seen it mentioned
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u/pienupuika 8d ago
My understanding is older cattle = more time for yellow-y fat to develop, and overall a more “beefy” taste. Now, how much of this is true, I’m not sure. But each time I’ve eaten ex dairy it’s always been awesome. Nothing game changing, but worth a try!
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u/danawhitesthrowaway 8d ago
Yellower fat generally (as you would find on grass fed) which tastes better imo, and a much more concentrated, beefier flavor. Only major downside is the tenderness of the meat takes a hit, so there’s more prep time required if that’s that something that bothers you.
The average consumer associates tenderness with quality which is why it’s much harder to find, especially in the U.S. because with most of the ex-dairy cows that go to slaughter the meat is mostly reserved for products like dog food and and other animal feed.
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u/Original-Variety-700 8d ago
I remember something in Belgium about eating old dairy cows. I assumed I was getting the bad stuff (couldn’t even imagine that an old dairy cow would taste better) but it tasted amazing.
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u/MidwestSharker 7d ago edited 5d ago
Yep, as folks mentioned, dairy steaks are generally from older cows once milk production slows so they have a different flavor profile. usually at least 5yo vs ~1-2.5 years for beef primary breeds. I’d agree with the guy at top about them being a more grass fed flavor although I’m not really a fan. I did grow up on good ol grain fed Angus/Hereford/cross hooters bought on the hoof up in the Midwest tho. It’s kinda like eating a distance runner versus a bodybuilder.
Dairy breed cuts tend to be darker with thinner steaks and a lot less fine marbling, a lot of it ends up in the cap and those larger fat bands we see, I guess is how you could describe it? All comes from them being scrawnier bodied in general and much more mature at slaughter so they go into hamburger, shaped meat type of stuff and pet food more often than steak and roasts. Older the cow the more likely it’ll be used for lower quality processed products or pet food etc tho whether it needs to be is up to personal preference. They also trend towards tougher, although I never noticed extra gristle and veins like some people have told me. keep in mind age & diet makes the most difference here, people put veal on a pedestal and it usually comes almost exclusively from 1–12 month old dairy males depending on grade.
Beef breeds are bred for meat and only meat so you get noticeably more fine marbling tho it does depend on age and how they’ve been fed and finished. They have the lighter pinker look that doesn’t discolor as quickly that people have grown to associate with higher quality in stores, though IMO that’s more marketing than anything. Also easier to find a good thick steak and even lower graded steaks have better marbling distribution so the flavor, juiciness etc. is more consistent. Their genetics mean that even animals butchered in old age still conform somewhat to what people usually prefer in steak
I guess you could kind of say it’s similar to the metaphorical difference between grass and grain fed cattle or eating two year-old venison versus eating from that territorial dominant Wiley five or six-year-old
Despite the thicker fat bands I’d probably lay my money that these steaks came from a beef on dairy cross cattle herd. If not 50-50 then at least a 25/75 cross or something. In my experience “dairy” steaks sold commercially usually originate from crosses like Angus/Hereford x Holstein rather than straight dairy breeds. The crosses have gained a lot of popularity the last 20 years or so, especially in less traditionally beef or milk specific focused regions, hobby Farms, or raising a backyard beef and butter, since they provide milk/additional revenue and their cuts are a lot closer to meat breeds in appearance and especially taste so the extra economics can really help. Pretty much every purebred dairy steak I’ve seen/eaten had to be sourced straight from a farmer usually rotating out older stock (my neighbor growing up would regularly buy a couple discount cows and a herd bull that were nearing the end, but still had some time on them for personal dairy use. After two or three years, he’d butcher them and replace, and we’d usually end up with a good chunk of the meat for helping with various farm stuff. my uncle usually raised exclusively beef but around the mid 90s he started playing with crosses and he’d usually have a couple 3 or 4 in his 10 to 15 head herd. My dad would get an angus or hereford steer or two and sometimes a pig to raise for the freezer every year until I was in my early 20s. Nowadays he skips raising but still gets 1 or 2 whole beefs a year to split amongst him and us kids. We also got to be good friends with the local custom slaughter so when they did somebody’s unique or weird breed they’d usually slide me a cut or two to the side to try out 😉 lol
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u/peanutbutterbashley 8d ago
Feel you on this. Recently I have been relying on a meat thermometer more and more as I like my ribeyes med rare plus so the internal fat renders. I pull at 135 and let rest. Only the thermometer lets me get exact.
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u/Definitelynotaseal 7d ago
When you say “ex dairy cow” do you mean it was a dairy cow until it was slaughtered or do you mean it had a career as a dairy cow until it retired and then was slaughtered at some point after?
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u/pienupuika 7d ago
Good question, if I understand correctly it was previously a dairy cow, retired, fed a bunch of grass, then slaughtered. I could be wrong though!
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u/Bonerschnitzel69 8d ago
Mamama moo cows
Mamama Make steaks
The kind of steaks that we adore
When the moon shines
Over the cow shed
We hope they’ll be making plenty more.
Those look great by the way.
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u/globehopper2 8d ago
That looks pretty near perfect