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Ask Willie Barber > Beef Questions
With extensive knowledge and experience, Willie and her team are an invaluable cooking resource. They are uniquely qualified to answer any questions you may have about meat, Tyson products or the kitchen.
Beef Questions
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What is the difference between "red meat" and "white meat?" |
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Oxygen is delivered to muscles by the red cells in the blood. One of the proteins in meat, myoglobin, holds the oxygen in the muscle. The amount of myoglobin in animal muscle determines the color of meat. Pork and lamb are also considered red meat. Chicken and fish are considered "white meat." |
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What is the "flat iron griller?" |
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The flat iron griller, also called top blade steak, is a "new cut" of steaks from beef shoulder top blade. In the past, we consumed the meat from the beef shoulder as chuck steak and roasts. The flat iron griller is the second tenderest cut of beef after the filet mignon. |
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What is the difference between beef and cattle? |
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Beef is meat from bovine animals that has been processed for food. Cattle refer to bovine animals on a farm or ranch. Other terms include the following:
Cow: a mature female bovine
Bull: an adult male bovine
Bullock: a young bull
Steer: a male neutered within six months after birth
Calf: a young bovine that has not reach sexual maturity
Heifer: a young female that has not had a calf
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How are cattle raised? |
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Cow/calf operators breed cows to produce calves. These cows and calves are on ranches and farms grazing on grasses. When the calves are weaned at six to ten months, they are considered stocker cattle and are moved to a grazing program until they bulk up to weights of 600 to 800 pounds. At this weight they are moved to feedlots and are now called feeders. Feeder cattle will typically be in the feedlot eating from a feed bunk for three to six months until they reach weights of 900 to 1,400 pounds. From here they will go to a slaughter facility to be processed into beef. |
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What are some of the uses for beef by-products? |
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Beef cattle provide not only meat, but also a source material for thousands of edible and inedible products that are part of our daily lives. Household products include soaps, shaving cream, floor wax, toothpaste, luggage, leather sporting goods, paints, shoes, cosmetics, textiles, crayons, candles, and fabric softeners. Tires, brake fluid, asphalt, car polishes and waxes, and antifreeze contain beef by-products. Ice creams, marshmallows, oleo shortening, and salad gelatin may contain gelatin from beef bones.
Beef by-products play an important role in pharmaceuticals: insulin for the treatment of diabetes; pancreatin for treatment of celiac disease; thyrotropin for deficiency of thyroid gland; and heparin for treatment of respiratory diseases.
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Glossary of Terms
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