The best whole steak comes from steers, and it comes at a premium. But what do you think happens to all the heifers, cows, (even bony old milk cows) and bulls that didn't meet the mark? Walmart, McDonald's, hamburger, etc., etc. Beef grading here is not done by federal employees, but but slaughterhouse employees who have had a course in grading beef. If the guy that signs my check says that piece of beef is Prime, by God it's prime. We buy whole steers from a rancher we trust and have them butchered, aged, and packaged to our specifications.

That’s the way to do it Lester...also, the farmer gets the full value of his beast rather than the middle man skimming 80% off the top. I used to buy a lamb off a farmer every now and again for the same reason. Mum loved it.

went and spent weekend with my good mate who hails from Wyoming ,I cooked the meat for our tea both nights....6 year old mutton chops...now my mate is a sworn beef man and reckons sheep are just "range maggots" Ive seen him feed whole leg of shhep to chooks...nothing but scorn for sheep meat .... after he ate chops Saturday evening he was quick to say they were "darn good" its all in the cooking technique.
I run a few sheep so we dont need to buy mutton anymore.

In this neck of the woods most sheep are pets. being able to buy mutton is unheard of, and the lamb we can get seems to have lost it's gaminess. I love both and mutton is as Elvis said best in the hands of someone who knows how to cook it. My dad is from Texas, and thought sheep were only good for wool, but I fed him some mutton once without him knowing and he loved it. Mutton is a lot like carp.

I don't like carp either.

A roast leg of lamb with mint sauce, chops from a “two tooth hoggett”, or a lamb casserole is absolutely outstanding. A meal without meat is not a real meal in my mind. That meat can be beef, lamb/hoggett/mutton, pork, goat, venison, rabbit, kangaroo (although I’m not a real lover of roo meat), crocodile, any fish (except any of the bottom feeders like cat fish or carp-they are only good for fertiliser) and most shellfish (prawns, lobster, yabbies and marron-fresh water cray, oysters etc). Did I mention I like a feed of meat?

Vince, my daughter ordered a vegetarian pizza for us once. I told her that it was just a hot salad, where was supper?

As for catfish... It's pretty good! I'm not sure how it was raised or processed but I get it every couple of weeks.

Pumpkinslinger wrote:

Vince, my daughter ordered a vegetarian pizza for us once. I told her that it was just a hot salad, where was supper? As for catfish... It's pretty good! I'm not sure how it was raised or processed but I get it every couple of weeks.

Yep...a hot salad mate, for sure.

I think the catfish you guys have over there are different to ones we have. The Eel Tail catfish is a nasty mongrel with poinsonous spines (one put me in hospital for the day), are only about 10"-12" max and are bottom feeders. I smash everyone I catch with a lump of wood...turn it's head into mince so the hook just falls out.

Vince, you make catfish-burgers?

Catfish are great, wild caught much better than disgusting farm raised, and never eat farmed raised tilapia. And, yes Vince I suspect our catfish are different from what you described, we have many varieties, Flathead, blue, channel, (these are predator fish, I once caught a channel cat with a live 6 inch bass in it's stomach, and then the less than desirable bullheads.

Carp and white sucker are just as good, and if you studied your ichthyology you would realize that they eat just about the same things as any other fish, they are not the rotten flesh eating vultures of the deep, they are mostly vegetarians. I would never make Fish & Chips with carp or suckers.

But, clean them, brine then for 6 hours, and then smoke them till done, and the flavor is fantastic. Rivals the best smoked salmon, trout, Steelhead, or whitefish you've ever eaten. Catfish, bass and panfish including crappie don't smoke well, yuk. Not enough fat in the meat.

Our catfish are definitely not on the menu mate. I’ve never tried them and have no intention. I’ll rely on my Dad’s experience because he tried them, only once, and said never again...tasted like a mouthful of mud.

Aloys...no burgers mate, when they fall off the hook I kick them back into the water for other marine critters to clean up.