Barb and I entered a contest on Colorado Craft Beef’s Instagram, and hot damn we won!
But let’s back up a bit here. A few months before we won the contest, Barb featured some of my first Steak King videos in a presentation she did on social media during Denver Startup Week. As luck would have it - Kara Smith of Colorado Craft Beef was there! Since there was a bit of a connection, Barb and I thought it would be fun to head east to Akron, Colorado to pick up our loot and learn more about craft beef.
What Is Craft Beef?
Craft Beef vs. Regular Beef
Unfortunately, the wind was INSANE at Kara and Jeff Smith’s 5,000 acre ranch so we couldn’t use quite a bit of the footage we shot. But we did learn a few things!
Our biggest question when visiting the ranch - what’s the difference between regular beef and craft beef?
One differentiator between craft beef and regular beef is in the way the cattle is “finished,” which refers to what the cattle eats just before harvest. There are a lot of different ways to finish cattle, the most common of which are grain-finishing and grass-finishing. Colorado Craft Beef uses finishing ingredients that are locally sourced from farmers and may change depending on the season. Examples of finishing ingredients are flax seed, pumpkins, and reclaimed products from processing industries like sunflowers, peas, beans, potato waste or carrot waste.
Craft Beef Is More Sustainable
Craft beef is considered to be a more ethical and environmentally friendly way of harvesting beef. The craft beef movement is a bit of a throwback to the good ol’ days, before mass production and factory farming was “a thing.”
As mentioned earlier, some of Colorado Craft Beef’s finishing ingredients are reclaimed from the processing industry, and would otherwise have just gone to waste. In addition to that, the pastures on which the cattle roam have been transformed into fertile lands and sources of protein. Colorado Craft Beef in particular even uses solar and wind energy for cattle watering.
Craft Beef Is Full of Nutrients
Craft beef producers focus on raising healthy calves from before day one. Kara and Jeff Smith work closely with their cow calf producers to raise animals that are well suited for the Colorado landscape. They design a nutrition plan that is healthy for the cattle, which in turn creates a healthy end product. For example, flax seed is a staple in craft beef because it helps enhance the amount of good fats, and raises levels of Vitamin E and omega-3 fatty acids. Last, cattlework is done literally on horseback to create the lowest-stress environment possible - which leads to a healthier final cut.
Craft Beef Tastes Amazing
We only spent a day out on the //N Ranch so we have LOTS to learn about the craft beef industry. What we know for a fact through - craft beef is effing delicious. We’re almost done with our 12 pound prize, looks like we might need to head out for round 2 this spring!