Dey Dey's 8 step Quality Control Program for Great Tasting Beef
In order to assure our customers that we consistently produce great tasting beef, we have implemented a quality control program which we follow rigorously. This program drives everything we do. The following are the elements of our program.
1. We start with the right genetics. In the Our Cattle tab of this website you will find a description of our choice of breed of cattle i.e. Lowlines. The bottom line is that they finish well on grass (i.e. they achieve excellent levels of intramuscular fat) and do not need grain finishing. This is critical for achieving healthy beef that tastes good.
2. We grow the right grasses which makes our beef taste great. Beef is similar to honey in that the flavor of the beef is affected by the diet provided to cows as the flavor of honey is characteristic of the flowers that the honey is gathered from. We follow Alan Nation's recommendations for the types of grasses that gives the best tasting beef: Oat, Alfalfa, Perennial Rye, Orchard Grass, Fescue
3. We never use any hormones, antibiotics or animal by products in our program. We never feed any grain.
4. To insure the health of our herd, we feed quality supplements that insure their health. They are provided on a free choice basis to our cows. It is amazing how smar cows are in selecting what they eat and when. Cows know what they need. Our free choice supplements include Thorvin's Icelandic Kelp, Fertrell's Nutri-Balancer, Molasses and Granular Salt.
5. As mentioned in the first element of our qualtiy control program, adequate amounts of intramuscular fat is critical to achieving good tasting beef. Prior to harvesting our steers, we determine the IMF level in the steer to determine if is ready for harvest. We only harvest those steers whose intramuscular fat level is Choice or better on the USDA Quality Scale.
6. We practice humane transportation and harvesting. Stress management is critical in achieving good tasting beef and providing a caring environment for our herd. Cows are herd animals and we never transport our cattle by themselves. Furthermore, we insure the harvesting process is stress free and humane.
7. We at DeyDey's dry age each steer for 14 +/- 3 days. Dry aging provides a degree of tenderness and a concentration of flavor that significantly enhances the taste of our beef as compared to unaged beef. Due to cost considerations (i.e. the loss of approximately 10% of the weight of the steer) dry aging is not practiced any longer as a rule in the commercial cattle industry.
8. Finally, we want to make our beef practical for use in daily life. We start with packaging our beef in small packages of .5 lbs to approximately 3 lbs depending on the cut. This insures that the average family can select a useable size package for a meal without a lot of leftovers. Furthermore, we vacuum pack all our beef. This allow us to store our beef for up to a year without degradation in quality.
