Black Angus steak is food culture at its finest. But a perfect steak can only come from quality beef produced under optimal conditions. Such is the case in the vast landscape of New South Wales, Australia, with its temperate climate, where experienced cattle breeder David Warmoll brings up his pure Black Angus cattle on his Jack’s Creek Farm by combining grazing and grain in their diet. The result is a high-end meat featuring sensational marbling. Only the very best breeding lines from the region are used for breeding at Jack’s Creek Farm. The animals are reared in two ways: at first, the young cattle graze idly on the green, hilly pastures among kangaroos, watched over by cowboys on horses. Later, in their second year, they are kept in vast enclosures called feedlots where they are fed at least 150 days worth of grain, bought from regional producers (David’s brother, in fact) and guaranteed free of genetically treated organisms, growth-promoting additives or hormones. The grains consist of barley, oats and a bit of soy but the animals are free to continue grazing. The way in which the animals are reared and kept create ideal conditions for a balanced life, thus producing high quality and healthy meet with the desired marbling.
Jack’s Creek is a third-generation agricultural family business where quality is passed through all organisational structures and processes: From the purchase of grain to rearing the animals and the special cuts of meat at the end. While at all times considering EU and halal regulations, the entire process is also monitored by audits and each piece of meat can be tracked throughout the entire production and transport cycle.
Breeding Angus offers many advantages. Angus cattle are considered fertile animals, robust and adaptable to different climates and areas. Due to its spread it also has a large gene pool and the knowledge about breeding lines, rearing and breeding is extensive. Impressive in size, the cattle can be real heavy weights without storing too much fat. On Jack’s Creek cattle reach a weight of 370-400kg before slaughter.
If you think of a steak today, you think of Angus. This enormous popularity has a simple reason: the tenderness of the meat and its strong marbling. Angus cattle have an extraordinary ability to use intramuscular fat as flavour carrier during the so-called finishing phase. The combination of taste, tenderness, texture as well as colour of meat and fat, the result is delicious.
To determine the marbling grade, Jack’s Creek is using the AUSMEAT grading system. German importer Albers Food, who discovered the farm in 2001 and imports the meat exclusively to Germany ever since, only imports levels ms2 and ms3. The more fat in the meat, the higher the marbling score and the higher the quality of the meat. The fat is so soft that it melts at 10C, making the steak unbelievably juicy. The unique flavour is, among other things, due to the sugars that are caramelised during the roasting.
For more information, visit www.albersfood.de