Here at White Oak Pastures, as part of our commitment to the land, animals, and the people in our communities, we made a decision to offer bull meat to our customers! Most male cattle in the beef industry are castrated, which is what we used to do when we were commodity farmers. But, we realized that we could raise better herd bulls than we were buying, so we quit castrating our bulls and have been raising a bull herd for about eight years. This is something that we’ve grown increasingly passionate and excited about!
For decades, we’ve seen a nationwide emphasis on commodity beef that has been fattened up unnaturally for the sake of tenderness and a certain flavor profile. Grassfed beef is different; it offers a nutritionally balanced, robust beef flavor that commodity beef just can’t match. In some cases, cooking commodity beef doesn’t require the same attention to detail when it comes to delivering a delicious dinner to the plates of your family and guests. We all know the backyard grilling master who loves to turn his grill up to 400 degrees for a quick blast of heat, taking a fattier steak to 125 degrees and then cooling it down before serving it. That’s fine if the commodity beef is what you’re looking for. It really is. Nothing wrong with that if that’s what you want from basic beef.
At White Oak Pastures, we prefer beef the way it’s been raised for centuries. Our farming methodologies reflect this, and we are proud of a production system that restarts the cycles of nature.
So offering bull beef, while it seems to some to be a bad idea since the meat is so lean, makes sense for us. And it’s delicious.
A lot of beef enthusiasts nationwide may not be aware of the deeply robust flavor of bull meat. But in Europe, they became aware years and years ago. Eating bull meat has a long and storied history across the ocean, particularly in bullfighting communities.
Bullfighting became a part of Spain’s cultural tradition in the year A.D. 711, at the coronation of King Alfonso VIII. For centuries afterward, once a bull was killed in the ring, bull meat was taken by the winning matador back to his home community, where the meat was cut and stewed overnight for them all.
Cooking the bull meat low and slow rendered it quite tasty and tender and was a hit in these communities. If we fast forward to the modern era, several enterprising chefs in Europe have staked their restaurants and reputations on the taste, texture, and nutritional consistency of grassfed bull meat.
With all of the emphasis on the Carnivore Diet nationwide, bull meat is exactly what is needed for those who are dedicated to improving their lives.
Here on the farm, our customers have the added benefit and advantage of knowing that these animals lived the life that they were meant to live, practicing instinctive behaviors, grazing in the sun, and stewarded by people who care about the health of the land and the livestock. For us, selling bull meat is in line with our values and our willingness to participate in the cycles of nature as stewards.
This beef is lean, and it’s worth the time that it takes to braise or allow to cook overnight in red wine and then stew on low for several hours. For the adventurous home chef, this beef is worth it, and we believe that you’ll feel the same way.
Order some and see.
