Angus adventure - gourmet aged beef the hard way
Not being cowboys, we bought a corral to help move the lean 1000+lb, gentle steer onto the horse trailer.
"Nice, nice... That's a boy. Guys that was great, easier than I imagined... Whoa, what's - he - doing..."
I have to admit, we respected him more and gave him a little more room. It was like watching a giant elk - fast- and in an instant he was out the front door!
Our second attempt was slower and uneventful.
A month later, we picked up our final product:
21-Day Aged Beef. Free range, grassfed, natural. The best choice cuts and ground beef you've ever had.
Guineas are mean birds
Over the last couple of months we have been expanding our bird population. Now part of this is because we like the eggs we get from our ducks and guineas and would like to have more, but its really because hatching birds is addictive. I write the date on the egg that we put it in the incubator, put it in the turning rack, obsess over temperature and humidity factors for 25 or so days, carefully move the eggs to the hatching incubator, and then practically stand over them for the last 3 days listening for the gleeful peeps that start coming from them even before they break through the shell.
Some birds take their time coming out, but the guineas practically go from first peep to completely out of the shell the fastest. They are tiny little things when they come out and kind of tumble around until the feathers dry. Then, watch out! They are fast. They hop around, they run around, they tumble anything in their way, and if you have anything other than guineas in with them, they peck their feet. Since we have mostly hatched ducks and guineas with an occasional turkey thrown in, that means they have terrorized the ducks. Ducks are fairly unsuspecting birds at best. Not a lot going on between the head feathers if you know what I mean. But they still try to snuggle with the guinea keets and act surprised when they turn on them and peck their feet like a million times a day. So we separate them after a couple days in the brooder.
When it comes time to take them to the aviary at the farm there are two choices. The turkey side or the duck side. We tried the turkey side only to find they escalate the guinea violence. The guineas chase the turkeys around until the tom final can't take it anymore and he turns to fight. Not pretty. Not pretty at all. But if we leave them with the ducks, they peck the ducks. But they tire of the game pretty soon because the ducks always seem surprised and keep coming back for more. So with the ducks they stay.
Yesterday was a release the babies day. We took 4 guineas, 4 ducks, and 1 lone turkey down to the farm. We let the big birds out while we acclimated the babies. The beautiful turkey poult made a place for a dirt bath and then chased flies. The ducks wandered aimlessly and the guineas tried their wings. We left them in by themselves for a couple of hours to explore unfettered. Then we brought the big guys in.
Avian chaos. Guineas do not like change. It makes them question everyone all over again. So it was a peck fest. They even pecked each other. Although they did seem surprised by that and did it the least. The baby fliers found they could run to the back side of the hay bale and hide between the hay and the fence. The ducklings, however, were not that smart. They ran up to the kennel and assumed if they could stick their head through, the body would follow. Not so much if you are on the side of the cage. Which they were, repeatedly. Now just so you know I am not sadistic. We have intervened with things like this before, but have found they need to find their sense of order and it gets better. If we intervene, it just escalates and then some real damage can be done. So we monitor and try not to intervene.
I have even tried to show the ducks where the hidey holes are, but it doesn't matter much. They still think the bars of the kennel will part for them when under attack. They huddle together waiting for the onslaught to be over, and then it is. Cause guineas may be mean, but they just want to establish that they are in charge. And God knows those ducks need someone else to run the show.
In praise of baked bacon
We have been selling our pork at the Farmers Market at the Agricenter this summer, and what an experience it has been. All the kids help us - Ryan is the chief cash register man and keeps us on track with goals, Seth organizes the freezers and hands out recipe advice, and Grant tries to look awake and hands out price sheets. The vendors at the Agricenter have been great and so have the consumers. Now one thing I have been really surprised about is the sale of our bacon.
Bacon is a tricky thing to cook for me. It starts out slow and then cooks at an exponential rate until you reach the critical mass stage and then you have to grab it off at just the right time before crispy turns to tooth breaker or burned. Seth likes his bacon crispy so I have tried to excel at this over the years and have tried many ways to do it. Thick bacon, thin bacon, cast iron skillets. I've tried it all. With limited success.
Then I found the perfect recipe for me. Baking the bacon. When you cook the bacon in the oven there are no grease burns, no splatters to dodge, just yummy goodness. It does lengthen the time to cook the bacon but that just opens the window of finding the perfect crispiness without overdoing. Now most of the recipes on the net suggest a 400 degree oven with a 17-20 minute cook time. I, however, lower the oven to 300 and allow it to cook longer. Maybe even 40 minutes.
Then the fat doesn't melt the way it does on higher temperatures, it just caramelizes. It gets crispy with a great chew to it. With no turning or burning, it comes out perfect. Who doesn't like that? I have been pleasantly surprised that about half our customers already bake their bacon, and the rest look at us strangely but come back the next week for more. Could be because our bacon is the best (which it is) but I'm sure it helps that they have found a better way to cook it.