Is it worth spending extra money on grass-fed and finished beef for the grill?
Many people are switching to better and healthier food sources and I have switched, among other food, to all-natural pork, beef, and chicken for my regular cooking now for a while.
The reason is that there is all kind of hormones and antibiotics added to the diet of the animals.
That is not the only thing! Cows eat grass, but at the end of their lives, they feed them corn and soybeans to make them gain weight.
Besides the fact that most of these products are genetically modified (GMO), it is not a natural food for cows and pigs.
The question is if it is worth spending extra money on grass-fed and finished beef for the grill?
I can only answer that question with YES!!
Besides the obvious reasons for eating better quality food and helping our system to stay healthy I can also mention that it tastes a lot better.
I can make this claim after using and cooking with, and comparing regular and grass fed beef now for a long time.
That is why I think this answers the question why grass fed beef is better.
Just remember that this is my, and my family, personal opinion and not backed up by any scientific research team 🙂
Where To Buy Grass Fed Beef
I guess we are lucky that we live in an area where we have a large number of Mennonite farms. We found a family that does homesteading and that is where we get most of our meat now.
Before that, we had a farm about 40 miles away that we used and online stores. The two natural meat stores online I used were Crowd Cow and Butcher Box. I also looked at, but have not used yet, the FarmFoods and Snake River Farms website.
Crowd Cow
Crowd cow offers a lot more than beef. Pork, chicken, and even Wagyu beef are available in their online store.
I did a Crowd Cow Review for you on its own page, but you can also keep on reading here for a short summary.
Crowd cow works like this: You pick the meat and amount you need. After that, they deliver it to your door. Frozen and ready to put in your freezer or thaw out for cooking. All beef is 100% grass-fed, grass-finished
Butcher Box
Butcher box might be a little more known since it has been around longer.
Recently they have an action that you get 2 pounds of hamburger meat, free for life with your membership. Got no idea how long this will go on, so don’t blame me later.
Butcher Box works like this: You choose your box and after that, it gets delivered to your door. Frozen and ready for your freezer or to thaw out and use.
You can have a box of your choice delivered to your door every 4, 6, or 8 weeks. You can have a look at my Butcher Box review.
There are 5 boxes to choose from
- Mixed box
- Beef and Pork
- Beef and Chicken
- All Beef
- Custom box
I find it hard to compare prices but am under the impression that the Crowd Cow is a little cheaper. I have never done a real comparison so I encourage you to check yourself what the best deal is for you.
FarmFoods
I have not used this service myself yet so I am writing what other people mentioned about this meat delivery service.
FarmFoods works like this: They work with 5 farms that produce grass-fed and grass-finished beef. I looked at all 5 to make sure. If you like you can read my FarmFoods Review
FarmFoods works with one farm that raises pigs. This farm only feeds them grass and an all-vegetarian diet. Antibiotics are only used on individual animals when really needed.
If you are curious you can have a look at it here
What I like so far is that they like to keep their prices low compared to other companies. They do this by not using too many advertisements and cutting down on other unnecessary things.
Shipping is free for any order over 10 pounds. This is a great plus in my opinion.
They are the only ones that also ship to Hawaii and Alaska. The other two do not offer that.
Snake River Farms
Snake River Farms is well known for its great selection of meat including American Wagyu beef, Korobuta pork, and a selection of dry-aged beef.
I did a Snake River Farms review on this page to give you all the information you need to find out if this is the grass-fed beef you are looking for.
Their meat is of very high quality, and as I mentioned one of their best sellers is the Wagyu, or what is also called American-style Kobe beef.
Snake River Farms runs specials and discounts on a regular basis and you can have a look at them by clicking this link.
Good Chop
The Good Chops is a fairly new meat delivery service and I had a good look at them in my Good Chop review an that company.
My Take On Natural Meat For The Grill
I am not a real health freak but pay attention to what I eat and drink.
Grass-fed beef is nice, but that goes for every cow. It should also be grass-finished. Meaning no corn, soybeans, or other food to make them gain weight before being slaughtered.
These cows also live a better life since they roam around in a pasture basically their whole life. They are also better for the environment since they let go of less “gas” compared to “normal” cows.
The taste is absolutely better. I have fed family and friends this beef and they all agreed that it tastes better.
Grass Fed Beef For The Grill – My Experience
You have to realize that this meat does not contain as much fat as you are used to. It is, however, in my opinion, better marbled.
At first, I thought it would be a lot dryer and not as tender but it turned out to be the total opposite.
I also found out that it needs less cooking time. Not only on the grill or smoker but also in the oven or Dutch oven.
If you like to go all the way you can have a look at the article I wrote about The Meatery Wagyu and take grass-fed to a whole new level
Independent Taste Test
You don’t have to take my word for it. I found several videos on YouTube where they did a taste test for regular beef and grass-fed/finished beef. Here is one I found, but you can find tons of them.
I hope you found this article informative to make you think about or going to test, grass-fed and finished beef or pork that was raised in a natural way.
Remember that we are what we eat and feed our family.
Let me know if you have any experience with grilling or smoking grass-fed beef or natural pork.
Eddie van Aken
Eddie van Aken has years of experience in running his full-service restaurant and with this came working with using and dealing with all types of kitchen equipment. With his experience, he can find all the pros and cons of grills and add them to the grill reviews he is doing. You can read more on the about page for Eddie van Aken