Mary Molt-2012 Silver Plate Winner

Interesting Story

This morning we received an interesting article about Deanna Munson's collegue at K-State. We would like to congratulate Mary Molt-2012 Silver Plate Winner. Thanks for mentioning Munson Premium Angus Beef in your confessions.


Mary Molt's Award in Food Service

Beef Grading-Definition

Beef Grading

Consumers seeking high quality beef would be interested in beef quality grading. Beef grading is meant to show quality and yield grades according to the USDA. Two criteria used for determining quality are maturity and marbling. Maturity meaning the animals age. Marbling meaning the amount of marbling, generally tested in the ribeye section. Prime beef has better marbling which makes hamburgers, steaks and roasts more juicy, tender and delicious. Yield grades focus on the amount of meat in relation to the rest of the animal that can be cut and sold. Both quality and yield grades are important for those marketing beef, but you and I can mainly concentrate on getting beef that melts in your mouth by purchasing USDA Prime. Munson Premium Angus Beef has consistently graded as USDA Prime, which is at the top of the beef quality scale.

Buy Steaks Online

Top Quality Beef is available for purchase online. Consumers should be aware of quality differences.

1. USDA Select-lower quality, less fat content resulting in less juicy meat.
2. USDA Choice-used for food services, better than USDA Select but not as good as USDA Prime because of less marbling throughout the meat.
3. USDA Prime-top of the beef food chain, highest quality marbling, extremely tender and best tasting.

In addition to quality, consumers should learn about meat aging. At Munson Premium Angus Beef, our steaks are 'dry aged' to increase the tenderness and flavor. Most beef today is wet aged or recieves no aging at all. Try Munson Premium Angus Beef and taste the difference!

Free black angus graphic

Copy free-black angus cattle

Antibiotics and the healthy cow equation | Harvest Public Media

Antibiotics and the healthy cow equation Harvest Public Media

This article is interesting from the perspect of livestock producers use of antibiotics. Munson Premium Angus Beef contains no antibiotics in our meat. I agree with Mr. Hein's statement,
     "So much of that has to do with how you design the barns, treating the animals well,”  Heins said in an interview. At Munson Premium Angus Beef, we believe in using good husbandry skills produces a great end product that consumers will enjoy.

Munson Premium Angus Beef --- Taste the Difference

MARBLING: GOOD FOR YOU

Angus and Japanese Black Wagyu have especially flavorful meat and naturally superior marbling.

You get what you pay for.  Munson Premium Angus Beef may cost more but what are you getting for your money ??????

Why does Munson Premium Angus Beef taste so much better than other beef???

Why is Munson Premium Angus Beef healthier for you than other beef???

Here are the facts:

Munson Premium Angus Beef is Dry Aged - Most other beef you buy will be wet aged or not aged at all. Forty years ago almost all beef was dry aged.  In the 1960’s processers discovered the “wet aging process” which is aging in a vacuum bag and much more cost effective for the processor.  Since wet aging became popular, most consumers have forgotten the real taste of steak. For this reason great tasting steak is the exception, and dry aged steaks are very popular in fine, white linen steak houses on the coasts.

What is the difference between dry and wet aging or no aging?????????

Wet aging keeps the beef in a vacuum bag for 5-28 days in its own juices.  This causes the beef when cooked to be less juicy and have a wet taste.

Dry Aging keeps the beef in an aging cooler of specified temperature and humidity and the natural enzymes of the beef break down the muscle fibers thus tenderizing the meat. Dry aging is time consuming, expensive, requires extra effort, storage and must begin with high quality beef to be successful.  Recent studies at Kansas State University show that up to 30% of the original weight of the loin is lost during the dry aging process. Dry aging is expensive but the result is worth it.   The consumer will experience a concentrated and intense flavor in dry aged beef compared to wet aged. To help you understand the result of wet verses dry aging in beef, consider the taste of a familiar product, orange juice, thin and watered down verses concentrated.    This costly but concentrated superior flavor is why dry aged steaks are only offered in the finest restaurants, upscale grocery stores and gourmet steak companies.

How cattle are raised and processed greatly effects the outcome of the meat. Low-stress handling, diet, vitamin supplementation, timing of castration, and breeding are all very important.  Munson Purebred Angus Cattle experience the ultimate conditions in each of these factors. Munson cattle are raised locally and never experience long road shipping which is very stressful on animals. It is also our number one reason for processing Munson Premium Angus Beef locally.

Grain feeding cattle the final months of their life gives more flavor to the meat. That flavor or the prime grade can not be achieved with totally grass fed beef.  Munson Angus Cattle enjoy the large Flint Hills pastures of Geary County and even while being grain fed are not confined to small areas or dry lots that most commercial feed lots provide.  In addition modern building shelter is available for the cattle during inclement weather conditions.  Low stress conditions are always important for the general health of the animal and to produce an animal that will provide the highest quality beef.

Munson Premium Angus Beef is prime quality – less than 2% of beef produced in the US grades prime.  USDA prime grading means exceptional marbling and fat cover exists in the carcass of the animal.

Munson Premium Angus Beef is finely marbled throughout. This is the ideal marbling in contrast to:

Thick marbling which will not break down and will be a tougher cut of meat

Meat with little of no marbling which has very little flavor and usually is not tender. Little to no marbled meat, which is often marinated to improve the tenderness of meat usually creates a mushy texture.

Munson Premium Angus beef has distinctive color and texture. The outer fat that is cream color, the bones are reddish in color, and the meat is firm in touch and cherry red in color. These visible characteristics will equate only to succulent, fresh and high quality beef.

All literature supports that beef is a nutrition rich protein product.  When it comes to protein the consumer gets a lot of bang for their buck with beef which in addition to complete protein provides abundant zinc, iron and b12 in generous amounts. This is true of all grades of beef.   What has been less publicized is work done at Texas A&M University that shows that marbled tissue is uniquely good for you.  This means prime grade beef is healthier for you than lower choice and select grades. Keep in mind that Munson Premium Angus Beef offers the marbling of prime meat. In addition, the saturated external fat is closely trimmed.  Intramuscular fat, or marbling, provides more oleic acid which means less saturated and transfatty acids.  In the Texas A&M study select grade ground beef had the worst ratio of healthy monosaturated-to-saturated fatty acids at .75 and thanks to marbling, Prime beef had a ration of 1.33.  An even simpler and easier to understand way of saying this is the fat in marbled tissue (monosaturated) is the same as you find in olive oil which is highly revered by the fat conscious consumer.

Drug resistance in humans through beef consumption

An interesting article about the use of antibiotics in livestock production was sent to our inbox this morning. It talked about current legislation proposed by lawmakers. More importantly, the article suggests current usage of antibiotics may cause drug resistance in human beings. Here is the link to the article http://beefmagazine.com/regulation/antibiotics-rule-jars-ranchers

At Munson Premium Angus Beef, we believe in producing a natural product free of antibiotics, and this article is just one more reason why. Our beef is free of antibiotics and hormones. We avoid trends used in feedlots by allowing our animals to feed in pastures and a small clean well kept feedlot. Any animals requiring a veterinarian to administer antibiotics are sold at auction to large feedlots. The beef sold at our retail and online store are completely free of antibiotics.