The cornerstone of Better Together Farms' regenerative agriculture is our herd of 100% grass-fed certified Angus cattle. This page focusses on the beef (as opposed to the cattle): how to cook grass only beef and the cuts available. For more on what "grass only" and "certified Angus" mean, and how we raise our cattle check out How we Care for our Cattle. For an explanation of how our cattle are good for the environment see Cattle and Grass.
Cooking: grass only beef is leaner than most beef and so needs to be cooked a bit differently. See Cooking grass only beef for details.
Appearance: The fat of grass only cattle is higher in beta-carotene which makes it a bit more yellowish than the fat of grain fed animals. Beta-carotene is used by the body to make vitamin A and is also a powerful antioxidant.
Marbling and Grading: Beef is graded based on several characteristics including marbling. Marbling is the fine whitish flecks you see running through the meat. However it is not just the marbling that makes meat tender, but the microscopic intramuscular fat deposited within the meat fibers. The leaner grass only beef does not show as much marbling; that doesn't mean you will have dry or tough meat as long as you cook it appropriately (see Cooking above).
Cuts Available
All our meat is frozen solid and vacuum packed.
Weights are given in grams; 1 kilogram = 2.21 pounds = 1000 grams, so to convert grams to pounds multiply the grams by 0.00221. The range of weights for each cut of meat is set when the latest beef first came on sale; it is not updated as cuts are sold.
Ingredients are just beef; no brining, smoking, fillers, or other additives or processing.
Beef Farmers of Canada has a useful guide to the different cuts of beef (yes, there's an app for that) at https://canadabeef.ca/cuts-by-colour/ . The link guides which cuts are suitable for what kind of recipes (e.g. grilling versus marinating steaks), includes synonyms for cuts (e.g. tenderloin medallions are also known as filet mignon), and provides other tips. Our descriptions of cuts follow their naming and cooking guide, so if a recipe calls for a blade roast (which we don't have) the guide lists it as a blade pot roast so any of our cuts with pot roast in the name below can be substituted.
Grass only beef is leaner than most beef so we recommend lower doneness temperatures than they show: 120 F for rare, 125 F for medium rare, up to 140 F for well done. If you are cooking for someone who is immunocompromised you should follow canadabeef.ca's higher doneness temperatures just to be safe.
Each section below (steaks, roasts, other, organ meats) lists the cuts alphabetically. Photos of the cuts show you what you will be getting: frozen, vacuum packed, with a tape measure to give an indication of size.
Steaks
All steaks come individually vacuum packed. Steaks are sold by weight and weight is given in metric on the label (as required by law). FYI one ounce is 28.6g so 6, 8, and 10 ounces are 172g, 229g, and 286g respectively Our steak cuts listed alphabetically are:
Pichana Grilling Steaks. Each pichana is a block of steaks from the top round popular in Brazil. Thaw it, slice it, then grill the individual steaks. More at www.steakschool.com including "If rib-eye is the king of meats, then we’re about to introduce you to the queen". Pichanas range from 1 kg to 2.1 kg. Price is $45.95 per kg. Photo.
Prime Rib Grilling Steaks. This is a rib-eye steak but with the bone in. Steaks range from 0.3 kg to 0.7 kg. Price is $48.62 per kg. Photo.
Rib-eye Grilling Steaks. This is a prime rib steak but with the bone removed. Steaks are about 0.3 kg each. Price is $64.09 per kg. Photo.
Rouladen Marinating Steaks. These are packages of boneless steak sliced into strips 2 to 3 mm thick. Packages range from 0.33 kg to 0.54 kg. Price is $35.36 per kg. Photo.
Round Marinating Steaks. This is a boneless steak. Steaks range from 0.8 kg to 1.3 kg. Price is $35.36 per kg. Photo.
Sirloin Grilling Steaks. This is a boneless steak. Steaks range from 0.6 kg to 1.1 kg. Price is $45.95 per kg. Photo.
Sirloin Tip Marinating Steaks. This is a boneless steak. Steaks range from 0.5 kg to 0.9 kg. Price is $35.36 per kg. Photo.
Strip Loin Grilling Steaks. Also known as New York strip. This is a boneless cut. Steaks range from 0.2 kg to 0.5 kg. Price is $59.67 per kg. Photo.
T-bone Grilling Steaks. Each bone-in grilling steak is a combination of a strip loin steak and a tenderloin medallion with the bone separating the two cuts. Steaks range from 0.4 kg to 0.8 kg. Price is $48.62 per kg. Photo.
Tenderloin Medallions grilling steaks. Also known as filet mignon or beef filet. This boneless cut is probably the most tender meat on the animal. When the tenderloin is not cut into medallions it is known as chateaubriand or tenderloin premium oven roast. Packages range from 0.2 kg to 0.4 kg with one medallion per package (our previous butcher included two medallions per package). Price is $86.76 per kg. Photo.
Roasts
All roasts come individually vacuum wrapped. Weights range from 2 to 5 pounds (1.0 to 2.3 kg), with most being between 3 and 4 pounds (1.4 to 1.8 kg). Roasts are sold by weight and weight is given in metric on the label (as required by law). We usually have less than a dozen of each type of roast available. Roasts available are listed alphabetically.
Blade Pot Roast. This boneless roast is also called a Shoulder Pot Roast. Price is $29.29 per kg. Photo.
Cross Rib Pot Roast. This is a boneless roast. Price is $29.29 per kg. Photo.
Eye of Round Oven Roast. SOLD OUT. This is a boneless roast. Price is $30.39 per kg. Photo.
Prime Rib Premium Oven Roast. SOLD OUT. Also known as Standing Rib Roast or Rib Roast, this is a bone-in roast. Price is $39.90 per kg. Photo.
Round Oven Roast. SOLD OUT. This boneless roast is also known as an Inside Round Oven Roast. Price is $30.39 per kg. Photo.
Rump Oven Roast. SOLD OUT. This boneless roast is also known as a Round Oven Roast. Price is $30.39 per kg. Photo.
Other
Cuts other than steaks and roasts are listed alphabetically below except organ meats (also known as "variety meats") which are under a subheading at the bottom.
Back Ribs. Each package contains a rack of ribs. Packages usually range from 0.6 kg to 1.3 kg. Price is $24.96 per kg. Photo.
Braising Ribs. These are simmering short ribs. Each package contains two cross-cut ribs. Packages usually range from 0.6 kg to 1.3 kg. Price is $24.96 per kg. Photo.
Briskets. Each brisket is cut in three resulting in pieces usually ranging from 1.4 kg to 2.4 kg ready for your barbeque or smoking recipe, or as a superior stewing beef. The flat end is the cut used for corned beef. $29.29 per kg. Photo.
Burger Patties. Packages of four 6-ounce (=170g more than 1/3 of a pound each) burgers made with our regular ground beef. $19.95 per package which is about $44.09 per kg. Ingredients: beef, salt, pepper. Photo.
Ground Beef. Our ground beef comes in vacuum packages of about one pound (454 g) each. Most of it is "Lean" which means a maximum of 17% fat; the only leaner grade is "extra lean" with a maximum of 10% fat. $12.50 per package which is $27.63 per kg. SPECIAL: the steers that were butchered 2023 July 11 got fatter than we wanted so we also have some medium ground beef at $11.00 per package and regular (the fattiest) ground beef at $9.00 per package. All grass-fed certified Angus -- just expect a bit more shrinkage when you cook the medium or regular ground. Photo.
Marrow Bones: These are plastic bags of usually four to six meatless bones. Each bag usually weighing about a kilogram. These are the bones you want for bone broth (versus soup bones below). Price is $10.91 per kg. Photo.
Sausages: Each package of four sausages weighs about a pound. Ingredients: beef, water, salt, rice flour, spice, garlic, mustard. Price is $14.08 per package which is $31.12 per kg. Photo.
Shank Centre Cut Stewing Beef (Shanks). These are the medallions used in osso buco. They come vacuum packed with one per package. They are cross-sections of leg and so are a bone-in cut. Packages range from 0.3 kg to 0.7 kg. Price is $24.96 per kg. Photo.
Soup Bones. These are plastic bags of bones with meat attached and the air sucked out. These are the bones you want for beef soup (versus marrow bones above). Bags weigh 1 to 2 kg. Price is $10.91 per kg. Photo.
Stewing Beef. These chunks of meat come vacuum packed with about one pound (454 g) in each package. $13.25 per package which is about $29.29 per kg. Photo.
Tallow. Each plastic tub contains about 800g of tallow, which is rendered beef suet, for the flakiest pie crusts. Ingredients: beef suet. Priced at $10.61 per tub which is $6.00 per pound or $13.26 per kg. Photo.
Tenderloin: see under Steaks.
Organ Meats
Organ meats can be more nutrient dense than other cuts. However the quality of organs that detox the animal (like the liver) can be compromised by stress (potentially including an unnatural diet like grain). See How we Care for our Cattle for how we strive to minimize stress for our cattle. The animals that produced our current beef never received any hormones or antibiotics.
Hanger Steaks usually range from 0.7 to 0.9 kg at $20.94 per kg, Photo.
Whole Hearts usually range from 1.4 to 2.0 kg at $20.94 per kg, Photo.
Whole Kidneys usually range from 0.5 to 0.7 kg at $20.94 per kg, Photo.
Liver slices range from 0.5 kg to 0.8 kg at $20.94 per kg. Photo.
Spleen slices range from 0.5 kg to 0.8 kg at $20.94 per kg. Photo.
Whole Tongues usually range from 1.5 to 1.9 kg at $20.94 per kg, Photo.