Is grass-fed beef really more lean? Nutritional data?

My understanding is that grass-fed organic beef is generally healthier, but it may or may not be leaner than what you'll find in a store. I buy 96/4 beef from Trader Joe's and would be hard pressed to find anything leaner.

Don't have specific data, but from personal experience it does seem to be leaner. For example, to me a conventional ribeye is too fatty but grass fed is not, and game such as moose is even leaner yet. Conventionally raised beef are fed grains to fatten them up and give the meat marbelling aka fat/flavor.

I couldn't tell you about the nutritional differences, but the taste is definitely better!

I raised lean pigs this year and they are a bit tough compared to the crate-raised commercial pigs. They ran, they ate pasture, and when the meat came out to be $4 a pound butchered people got all bent out of shape over it. -- Grass fed beef generally is tougher.. depends a LOT on the butcher though.. if it is aged long it's much softer. Have you ever driven past a beef feed lot? It's the most horrible smell ever. It has to take the health of the animal, and their meat, down a few notches.

I know this is insane, but as a English country girl born and bred I had NO idea that there are cows NOT fed grass, wow, what sort of a messed up thing is that? All the cows here live in fields and eat grass.

Like she said, cows don't naturally eat grains. They eat grass. At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, cows raised by big industrial farms are fed grain because it's cheap due to all the subsidies. I don't eat red meat, but I would imagine a grass fed cow is a happier cow and I like my animal meat to come from happy animals. It makes me feel less like less of a jerk for eating them.

Most grassfed beef is leaner than conventionally finished beef, but it doesn't have to be. Leanness, particularly in grass finishing, is a function of breed and management. It's hard for a small producer to accurately provide the fat percentages since they would have to test each animal. Plus there are some seasonal variations in the fatty acid profile. The USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/) is a good starting point for nutritional information.

Beef from large industrial farms generally receive hormones, antibiotics, eat pesticide-laden grass and finish on corn which changes their fatty acid profile. Even the stress of being pushed through the slaughtering line can change the nutrient profile for the worse as the animal emits stress hormones that affect the muscle meat that you end up eating. All of the nasty stuff will reside largely in the fat. If you eat that beef, it's a good idea to trim the fat and get a lean cut. If you buy grass-fed/grass-finished beef at the Farmer's market that was raised on an organic farm, you can enjoy that fatty goodness. Plus you can feel happy that you are supporting a local farmer. And you can ask where the animal was butchered and find out their methods. My butcher is very careful about leading each animal quietly in to keep it calm, and beef from each farm is processed on different days and carefully separated while drying so they can ensure you are getting the animal you are paying for.

I don't know the exact leanness of my ground beef, but it definitely puts out less grease than regular ground beef, to the point that I often have very little to drain out. My brisket had lots of fat. My flank steak had almost none. I have yet to make any real steak cuts yet from my cow, but some cuts seem to have more marbling than others.

Generally, you should cook grass-fed beef slower than corn-finished since it's generally leaner and can be tougher.

from what I understand, the grass fed beef contains a bunch more omega 3 fatty acids than grain-fed.

slightly more

Generally, grass fed are leaner because they have to "work" more to get their food. They walk lots more than grain fed because they're kept on very large ranches, whereas grain fed are usually kept on smaller farms or commercial farms with tons of other cows. It only makes sense that they grass fed cows would be leaner.

In my opinion, the grain fed ones taste waaaaay better, but it's just a personal preference.