Quality Beef
Scottish Beef is undoubtedly the best in the world. The landscape and pastures found there naturally bring out the best in the flavour and texture of the meat.
Cattle should be grass-fed. Although this is not possible all year, in the winter months they would be housed and fed alternative natural feed.
Some farmers use Draff to feed their cattle. This is a by-product of the Whiskey industry, and is basically either barley or malt which has been soaked in warm water. This removes the sugars, which make the alcohol, and leaves the protein-rich residue being separated off as Distillers’ Draff.
Ageing
Beef needs to be hung. This means that wagyu grade a5 whole sides of beef are literally hung up in a refrigerated container, and left. The muscle fibres in the meat start to break down, which results in the meat becoming more tender. As a minimum it needs to be hung for 7 days, but really to develop the flavour and tenderise the meat, it should be between 21 and 35 days.
Colour
Bright red meat is definitely NOT the best to eat! Some people assume that the brighter it is, the better, but this is not correct. In fact, if it is a darker red, and has little blood coming out of it, this means that the Beef has been well hung, and will be tender and full of flavour.
Also, if the Beef has a good marbling pattern of fat running through it, or flecks of white fat in, this will also add to the taste. The fat will melt into the meat as it cooks and make it beautifully flavoursome.
Freezing
Beef is safe to freeze for between 4 to 6 months. However, this can compromise the quality, and it is always preferable to buy it fresh. This gives you an opportunity to see it properly, and also to portion it into smaller pieces if needed. Also, if you freeze it yourself you know exactly how long it has been frozen for.