Cooking Instructions

Here is an excerpt from the Buffalo is Heart Healthy cookbook, available exclusively through the National Bison Association.

"Although buffalo meat is similar to beef, it needs to be handled and cooked differently. You will find most recipes for other red meats can be adapted to buffalo. The important things to remember are, DO NOT OVERCOOK!!!, and, do not let the meat dry out.

Remember "low and slow." Cook buffalo meat to the same doneness that you prefer in beef. We recommend medium/rare. Overcooked or dried out buffalo meat will bring you the same results as other meats that are overcooked - something nearly as palatable as an old boot. If you must have your meat well done, consider one of the very low temperature (180-200 degrees) recipes, where the meat is cooked for 10 hours or more. Very slow, moist heat works especially well with the less tender cuts of buffalo, such as chuck. There is nothing to compare with a buffalo chuck roast cooked all day in a slow cooker. With slow cooking, you do not have to worry about overcooking, let it cook until it falls apart.

For steak or burgers, medium heat is recommended and it is even more important to not drive off the internal moisture. Particularly for ground meat of any kind, the FDA has recommended for restaurants that meats be cooked to an internal temperature of 155 degrees. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends 160 degrees for home use, and because of the difficulty in determining the internal temperature of a burger patty without special equipment, recommends that burger patties be cooked to the point where the pink is just disappearing. These recommendations are primarily for ground meat since any external bacteria on steaks and roasts are killed in normal cooking. 

Ground buffalo meat may be used as a substitute for ground beef in most recipes. Since ground buffalo contains very little fat, once again moderate temperatures will help insure that the meat does not scorch. With ground buffalo meat, what you see raw is what you get when it is cooked, as there is very little shrinkage in cooking."

Bison Recipes

The first is a Dunham family favorite. For all of you San Diegans who love carne asada, it will be one of your favs to. It calls for flank steak, but you can use round steak (we have our round cut really thin - it substitutes for any recipe calling for flank steak, which, on a bison is really kind of measly - they can't help it if they have little flanks, poor guys). The second recipe is for short ribs, which are not good on the BBQ - much too little meat and no fat. BUT, cooked in the crock pot, they are delicious!!!! Here they are! Enjoy!

LIME CILANTRO TACOS
1 ½ pounds flank steak (or thin cut round steak)
4 limes; 2 juiced, the other 2 cut in wedges
1 ½ t. paprika
1 t. salt
½ t. pepper
1 c. chopped cilantro
2 T. chopped onion
Tortillas, cheese, guacamole, tomatoes, sour cream, olives - any other taco garnishes you like.

Prepare marinade for carne asada by using the juice from 2 limes salt, pepper, cilantro and chopped onion. Place all these in a plastic Ziploc style bag along with the flank steak. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight. Grill the flank/round until done (3-5 minutes per side maybe - watch it, tough bison is overdone bison??). Slice steak 1/8 thick along the grain first and then chop into small pieces. Fill tortillas with meat and garnish with other items. Yum!!

CROCK POT BRAISED SHORT RIBS

3-4 pounds short ribs
½ c. flour
1 ½ t. paprika
1 t. salt
½ t. dry mustard
2 medium onions, sliced and separated into rings
1 c. beer or stock (bison homemade or beef store bought)
1 clove garlic (or more!!)
3 T. water
2 T. flour

If you are using beef, you’d want to brown the short ribs to remove the fat, but with bison, you can skip this step – you want all the fat they’ll give you! Combine ½ cup flour, paprika, salt and mustard; toss with short ribs. Add rib mixture to crock pot. Place onions, beer (or water or stock) and garlic in crock pot. Stir to mix ribs with onion rings (be sure onions are under ribs). Cover and cook on low 8-12 hours or high 4-6 hours. Remove short ribs to warm serving platter. If thickened gravy is desired, make a smooth paste with 2T flour and water. Turn crock pot to high and stir in paste. Cover and cook until gravy is thickened. Or you can do the gravy in a sauce pan. Makes appx. 6 servings.

Annual Sale results

National Bison Association Annual Sale results mirror strong demand for bison meat

The National Bison Association's Gold Trophy Show and Sale where the nation's top breeding animals are shown and then auctioned off drew to a conclusion Jan. 24 when 107 animals were sold at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colo. In addition to the live animals, meat was sold from 18 market class animals.

The grand champion male, a two-year-old bull exhibited by Noland Miller, Silver Creek Bison, Binscarth, Manitoba, Canada, sold for $5,750. The grand champion female, a two-year-old bred heifer exhibited by Michael and Kathleen Gear, Red Canyon Ranch, Thermopolis, Wyo., sold for $2,900. Overall prices were higher for two-year-old bulls, yearling bulls, futurity bulls, and three to four year-old bred cows, but lower in the heifer and calf categories.

While the price of live animals was steady to lower, bidding on market animals was brisk, with final prices at record levels, a reflection says the NBA, of strong demand for bison meat throughout the country.

"Sale results for breeding animals are understandable given the jitters being felt by many about the overall economy," said Dave Carter, NBA executive director. "The other thing we have going here is that the pendulum has swung from the industry seeking out and paying high prices for breeding animals to a more meat demand-based market."

Carter adds that he expects demand (and prices) for breeding animals will strengthen as the economy improves. "Projections tell us the meat demand will continue to expand, which will also positively impact the prices of breeding animals," he said. 

According to NBA data, overall, sales of bison throughout the nation have been steady in 2008 and at the beginning of 2009, despite the nation's economic downturn.

"The strong market sales are reflective of the strong demand for meat nationwide," said Carter. "Heifer carcasses sold especially well due to this particular group's excellent tenderness scores. People were really anxious to get quality meat."

Another important component of the strong market animal sale was the participation of consumer groups, particularly a local Slow Food Chapter. The members made the decision in advance to share in the purchase and meat of a designated number of GTSS market animals.

"Our goal was to get a carcass from a Colorado ranch, to get a fair price to the rancher and to get animals with higher scores," said Andy Nowak, representing the Slow Food buyers. "We achieved all our goals this year even though we paid more this year than last year. We were surprised that the prices were more this year even thought the economy is in the dumps. We learned that bison is still highly valued for its healthy status and great taste. 

Did you know...

After three straight years of double-digit increases in bison meat sales, the National Bison Association (NBA) says it's poised to continue the run in both production and sales in 2009.

USDA projects 2007 data will see an 18% increase in bison meat sales. Bison meat production has nearly tripled since USDA began tracking the industry in 2000. As of Dec. 7, USDA says 47,098 bison have been processed under federal inspection, compared to 39,985 head during the comparable period in 2006.

Dave Carter, NBA executive director, says a 2009 association priority is to attract new producers. Prices paid by ranchers for breeding bison have surged by 20% over the previous year's average at the November Custer State Park Bison auction, long considered a bellwether sale for the industry. To learn more, visit www.bisoncentral.com. 

Looking for Ideas

Hello to all,

We are so thankful for your continued support! We have had many of you share your kind words with us about our recent San Diego delivery and how much you are enjoying the meat.

We are exploring ways to give our services a more personal touch and also create a community environment that we all can benefit from.

With that said, a blog seems to be the obvious solution. What we are looking for right now are some ideas.  We would like to know what you think we should have as content.  So, share your thoughts, keep it simple and let's see what we might come up with.

Again, thank you so much for your support of Glacier Grown.

Many Blessings,

The Dunhams