Exploring the World of Craft Meat

Happy National Fajita Day

August 17th, 2018 by Caitlin Postal • Read 56,051 times • 1 min read

Hot and spicy fajitas are a classic Tex-Mex dish, inspired by the cuisine of the Tejanos residents in the Southwest. From its humble beginnings as a grilled strip of skirt steak, fajitas now refer to the delicious combination of grilled strips of any meat, a variety of garnishes or sauces, and a soft tortilla for its casing. Fajitas began as strip steak given to ranch hands as part of their pay, though now fajitas are a go-to pop of flavor...

Olive Wagyu returns to Crowd Cow for the second time

August 16th, 2018 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 22,484 times • 2 min read

Rare. Delicious. Umami. Olive Wagyu [http://crowdcow.com/olivewagyu], the world’s rarest beef, is back—and only Crowd Cow has it. In April, we offered Olive Wagyu for the first time ever [https://www.crowdcow.com/blog/tags/olive-wagyu] in the United States and our extremely limited supply sold out quickly. Only a small amount of Olive Wagyu is available at a time because only a few farmers raise it. We’re thrilled to announce that we will be...

Visiting the Olive Wagyu grill in Takamatsu

August 13th, 2018 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 43,340 times • 1 min read

Spending time in Japan is pretty special to me, especially when I get to eat fantastic food prepared by the best chefs in the country. I just got back from a trip to Kagawa Prefecture to meet with our Olive Wagyu [https://www.crowdcow.com/olivewagyu] producers and the experience was phenomenal. One of the trip highlights was visiting Ichigo Steakhouse, the Olive Wagyu specialty grill in Takamatsu [http://www.steakhouse-ichigo.jp/en/]. Chef...

A trip to Texas

August 10th, 2018 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 36,762 times • 1 min read

When you think of Texas, you probably think of Longhorn cattle and barbecue joints. We did too until we took a trip to Texas last May where we met with independent ranchers and enjoyed some great-tasting meat. Texas is a big state but nothing prepared me for just how big it really is and just how much variety there is. We drove over 1200 miles in four days and passed through hill country, desert cacti, and pretty much everything in...

On Fitness Confidential with Vinnie Tortorich

August 8th, 2018 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 55,630 times • less than one min read

Last week, I spoke to celebrity fitness trainer Vinnie Tortorich [https://twitter.com/VinnieTortorich] and Serena Scott Thomas [https://twitter.com/serenast09?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor] on Fitness Confidential [https://vinnietortorich.com/] about Crowd Cow and ethically raised meat. Vinnie is a renowned health and fitness expert, the founder of the No Sugar No Grains (NSNG®)...

The Basics Behind Meat Marbling

August 7th, 2018 by Caitlin Postal • Read 56,031 times • 3 min read

If you've been with Crowd Cow for a while (and even if you haven't), you've probably seen us refer to "well-marbled" meat. But what is marbling and why does it matter? What is marbling? Well, marbling refers to the white flecks of intramuscular fat in each cut of meat. Marbling adds a lot of flavor and can be one indicator of how good the beef is. It impacts the tenderness, moistness, and overall flavor and has become one of the most...

Beef and Beer Pairing Tips for International Beer Day

August 3rd, 2018 by Caitlin Postal • Read 45,799 times • 1 min read

Today is International Beer Day so Hoppy International Beer Day! Get it? Hoppy, like hops. Anyway, nothing pairs better with a crisp cool glass of your favorite beer than great-tasting beef of all shapes and sizes. It's best when the beer matches the profile of the meal, so balance heavier meals with darker beers and lighter meals with pale ales. We want to share some of our favorite pairings and tip you off to some new recipes so you can...

How to Hold a Steak Tasting

July 31st, 2018 by Caitlin Postal • Read 68,812 times • 1 min read

Much like fine wine or decadent cheese, no two steaks taste the same. Yet only modern meat enthusiasts nuance the flavor and texture profiles of craft beef [https://www.crowdcow.com/beef], enjoying the local and specialized range of flavors between farms and cuts. Throwing a beef tasting is as easy as any other tasting (and you can still drive home safely afterward). It's remarkably easy to throw a beef tasting, especially with Crowd Cow beef...

Wild for Wagyu? Try these techniques

July 26th, 2018 by Caitlin Postal • Read 52,731 times • 2 min read

We taught you how to cut your beef like the Japanese [https://www.crowdcow.com/blog/cutting-beef-like-the-japanese] and perfectly prepare your A5 Wagyu [https://www.crowdcow.com/wagyu/enjoy]. We wanted to find a few more ways to cook your Wagyu, so we checked out the #A5Wagyu tag on Instagram [http://instagram.com/tags/a5wagyu] to see how beef buffs prep their platters. Not going to lie: these breakout stars are a party just waiting...

Grass-Finished Versus Grain-Finished

July 18th, 2018 by Caitlin Postal • Read 22,814 times • 3 min read

Close up of grass at Little Shasta Ranch Grass versus grain, or so the story goes. But how do we know the real differences between the two? In the meat industry, using terms like grass-fed, grass-finished, or grain-finished can mean very different things for the beef associated with them. But let's back up for a second because I just wrote "meat industry" as if it's one homogenous beast. It's not. There's a marked difference between...