Visit to Brandt Beef’s Processor
Posted by Jay on Tuesday, 24 October 2006
Today Michael and I drove up to Pico Rivera (near downtown Los Angeles), to watch Brandt cattle become Brandt beef.
First, a little background. Through our friends at Hamilton Meats, we were introduced to the folks at Brandt, who now provide all of the beef we sell at the Linkery (except for special one-time items we might bring in). Brandt is local (from Brawley, CA), and at a basic level, distinguishes itself from the majority of beef producers by producing “true natural” beef where the cows are never given any antibiotics or hormones.
After spending the day with our hosts, Eric Brandt and Brian McCready, we learned that what Brandt is doing is actually really new and pretty exciting. Most exciting, we found that, like us, they’re exploring a whole new model of food production and service by, pretty much, making stuff up as they go along.
As I understand it, the basic proposition of Brandt Beef is this: raising natural cattle is a lot more expensive than following the standard methods of beef production. But, while natural beef producers can charge a premium in the market, they still have to be somewhat close in price to mainstream beef. In order to make these economics work, Brandt uses their creativity and flexibility to develop novel markets for their beef; and uses their intelligence and hard work to raise better-eating beef and to reduce the cost of doing so.
Some examples:
- Their whole herd is Holstein breed, typically used for dairy. Brandt began using Holsteins because the bulls were inexpensive, being useless for milking and of little interest to cattlemen.
- Over the last couple decades, Brandt developed a specific feed to capitalize on the unique characteristics of the Holstein breed to make very high quality meat. Around 20% of the Brandt herd grades out at USDA Prime, the industry average is 2%.
- They use a relatively small processing plant: Manning Beef, where we were today, which processes about 1200 animals a week. (It’s still huge compared to the plant I visited in North Carolina, where we brought six pigs from Cane Creek Farms). This allows them flexibility to cut animals differently depending on what their customers want to buy. The flexibility in cutting, in turn, gives Brandt the potential to sell a much greater percentage of the animal as a non-commodity.
- Brandt continues to experiment with cutting beef in non-traditional ways, to get as many useful cuts of the animal as possible. This is, to them, a way to advance sustainability: creating the most value from the energy and work put into raising the animal.
- Brandt uses bar codes and an enterprise software system to track each steer from birth (actually, one day old) to plate, including where the animal was born, what it ate, its genetic background, and more. Right now, this is only implemented for a few cuts of each steer, but Brandt is in the midst of deploying this for all their beef. Within a few months we at the Linkery should be able to tell you, when we serve you a steak or brisket, the exact history of the animal from which it came.
- I don’t know whether this is the case with larger producers (I’m guessing it is), but it was interesting to see how practically every part of the animal is used in some way. The most fascinating — and I wish I had taken a picture — was the heart sac, which is separated out immediately and stored at specific temperatures, to be used in making (if I recall correctly) heart valves for humans. Cool beans.
After touring the plant, we discussed at length some possible cuts of these animals we could use at the Linkery and some preparations we had in mind. We brought back some non-traditional cuts of meat that we think will work out really well with our cuisine. If we’re right about that, we could have some pretty interesting and novel dishes to feature in the next couple months.
Additionally, we plan to go visit the Brandt feedlot in Brawley in the next few months. We’re told that Mr. Brandt (Eric’s dad) is a great guy, and we intend to entreat him to visit the Linkery and meet and chat with our wonderful community of guests.
Thanks to Eric and Brian for all their time today, for their dedication to making great tasting beef, and for taking us to an absolutely decadent lunch at Dal Rae in Pico Rivera.
I did take a couple pictures.
Endnote: I find it difficult to capture it in writing, but by far the wildest and most compelling experience of the day was being on the kill floor as operations restarted from the workers’ lunch break. When we walked onto the floor, it was empty. Then, two people showed up and killed one steer and brought it onto the floor. Then a couple more people showed up and another steer came onto the floor. Eric walked us from station to station, showing us how each part of the process worked.
After about twenty minutes, Michael pointed out to me that every worker’s break had been staggered so that each worker came back to his station right before the first animal arrived there. About the time when Michael pointed this out, I realized that we were standing in the middle of this very complex, highly kinetic choreography of people and cattle/beef…and there was really no good place to stand that wasn’t in the way, or, more importantly, likely to get me either kicked in the head by a hoof or cut with an air saw.
I’m not a fan of theatrical dance, so this was the first time I was really moved by choreography. It was a hell of an operation. I’d describe it as watching an orchestra, where one section at a time joins in, and suddenly you realize you’re listening to a symphony. But, you know, with steaks.
November 6th, 2006 at 7:57 am
Jay,
That was an incredible article! I’m so glad you got so much out of the visit. I’m going to share this with my dad today as I’m going over to the ranch today.
Thanks again,
Eric
February 7th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
[…] Monday morning we got up early (early for us, anyway) and drove out to Brawley, California, home of Brandt Beef. With us were Jonathan Sachs and Sandra Ouellette from Hamilton Meats, and Greg Koch of Stone Brewing and Stone World Bistro and Gardens. (Side note: Stone Bistro is doing an incredible job of finding and presenting high-quality, ethical ingredients for their menu, and they’re doing so at a very impressive scale. Check ‘em out.) Mark Brandt from Brandt Farms led our tour, along with their (I think) feedlot manager Scott. And we met Mr. Brandt, as well, who was very informative.A few months ago, Michael and I visited the Brandt processing facility in Pico Rivera (near L.A.), which of course you can read about on the blog. With this visit to the Brandt feedlot, we would now have seen and learned about this cattle farm from the time the beeves arrive at Brandt when they are about 3 months old, to the time they arrive at the table at the Linkery. We accomplished that; the visit was highly educational and thought provoking. And fun. […]
February 10th, 2008 at 2:16 am
Great article! Touring a meat plant is always very educational. It is a great way to secure business from potential customers…An age old tactic from meat suppliers….
For the recor Brandt beef is using Holstien cattle from California…..These are dairy cows! Like most cattle in southern California….Dairy cow do not perform as well as other breeds known for superior marbling and feed lot performance…..such as pure angus cattle do…
It is a well known fact that a Certified Angus Beef animal will develope way mor marbling and at a faster pace creating a superior tenderness and flavor!!!!
And Yes ….It is much better!!!!
Call Us Foodservice San Diego ….They stock Certified Angus Beef Year round and are much better priced than Hamilton Meats Dairy cow meat from Brawley California!
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Hey Kevin,
In addition to your poor english skills and shameless shilling for your employer, you are displaying profound ignorance about breeds and marbling. Calf-fed Holstein steers, raised naturally, grade extremely well–80 to 95% choice or better in my experience. Now, that’s marbling. Plus these steers typically yield grade at Y-1 to Y-2 (less surface fat cover). Natural Angus are wonderful but do not do quite as well, and they have a lot more “bark” fat: Y-3’s & Y-4’s. The big knock against the holstein steer programs has more to do with smaller ribeyes, strips and rounds. But the flip side of this issue is the chef gets to cut a thicker steak to reach the same weight advertised on the menu!!! What would YOU rather eat? A half-inch steak that covers the entire plate leaving no room for the veggies or a nice thick steak that occupies less real estate? Oh yeah, when we say “cows” those of us who actually work in the in the industry think you are referring to a female animal. FYI those female cows are all tied up in milk production at dairies. In the old days they just knocked the Holstein male calves in the head and took ‘em to the land fill. I think it’s much more responsible to try to get some value out of them. And, as the now Ex-SVP of Swift told me a couple years ago, “the dirty little secret in the Beef industry about Holsteins is they’re tender.” Cheers.
December 30th, 2008 at 2:32 am
which is the better skin in califerina, like dairy cow or dairy steer? which packer or abattoir sell it?
June 26th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
I support those who want to raise beef without hormones, but unfortunately Brandt is for a USDA program that will not be good in any way, shape, or form for those who want to raise any type of animal, whether for food or pet.
NAIS(national animal identification system) will require all those who own even one chicken, or other livestock animal, to register their premises, microchip and file birth, death and movement reports so the govt know where those animals are at any moment. The silly reasons given for this program range from bird flu, mad cow, bioterrorist attack or any number of “you need our help” garbage but the real reason is to benefit multi billion dollar corporate agriculture so they can improve their marketability while sticking it to the small producer or pet pot belly pig owner…see nonais dot org for more info.
June 27th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Esbee,
Although you may mean well, you are ignorant to the issue of NAIS. By dropping a tiny contaminated rag into a water trough in any public stockyard, large grower/stocker operation ect., a bioterrorist could cripple the agricultural industry. I encourage you to do a little research on Foot and Mouth disease. Tens of thousands of cattle intermingle and are moved all across every state of the US every day(obviously excluding hawaii). Diseases such as this are capable of spreading throughout the US at an unimaginable rate. And could call for the mandatory elimination of hundreds of thousands of cattle in the US. A tracking system will help to identify the source and stop the spread of disease. Dont just take my word for it. Do your own research. Foot and mouth disease. Look it up.
September 17th, 2009 at 8:28 am
I live not too far from Manning Beef, I actually use to live there, right behind it, between it and the Park on Beverly., Thanks for informing us about meat is processed and how the animals were treated. My question is, “How are the employees treated”? Being that it is smaller than most slaughterhouses, there shouldn’t be a high demand for speeding up the process, correct? I guess my concern is, is there a low rate for injuries, as far as the employee’s not being rushed to meet production, and being injured (cutting themselves/other employees etc..), This seems to be common with other facilities, as their need for speeding up the production line, for more profit, which unfortunately is their only goal, and not of their employees safety. Also public concern about E Coli, amoung other foodborne/airborne diseases (meat becomes contaminated w/feces, not properly cleaned or animal wallowing in it) that can occur during the slaughter process, cold storage & processing of the meat. These are true concerns I have, and would like to be informed. Thank you.
November 20th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
JW….been a while..but interesting response..a bit of animal science back ground I detect? Why would you think my employer is US Food Service? I just happen to know that “they” are the only licensed distributor of Certified Angus Beef in the San Diego Marketplace.
Certified Angus beef is the Oldest known, the longest running, first to be recognized by the USDA, and in my “OPINION” ..the best brand of beef available in America. But any way…
Yes kind of embarrassing reading the mis-spells in my last blog ..sorry professor!
Let me see if I can respomd 1 by 1 ,to your outatanding attempt to teach us all that a Fed Holstein program from the imperial valley of Southern California, processed at Manning meats in Los Angeles, is better product and will out perform Mid western Corn Fed High genetic Angus cattle that grade out at the top 8 % of all cattle produced in the country.
1)My profound ignorance in regard to which ” Beef type ” cattle breeds display a higher propensity to achieve marbling with relation to performance on feed anaylis, and is better than any other breed.
Answer.
Yes, Holstien,( Netherland breeds), imported into North America from Denmark in the 1800’s for milk, butter, and dairy production..will get fat. Yes they will Marble( Deposit fat )inside their lean muscle..known as intra-muscular fat..when un-commonly forced through the beef industry and put on feed . However, unfortunately this requires at least 300 days of a high sugar starch complex carbohydrate diet. This is Double the normal time beef type cattle are on feed for the usual 160 day feed cycle. To acheive this and still have the Animal harvested before B maturity ( 31 months of age ), these cattle are placed on feed at a drastically early stage in their lifecycle. Thes cattle, huge and extremely long as compared to other well known beef breeds quite simply are.. overstuffed.
2)Holstein ( Brandt Beef ) typically grade out USDA Choice or Higher.
Answer
Big woop. 85% of Choice is classified by the USDA as small Marbling. This is not much better than USDA Select.
Brandt beef has no recognized Marbling Specification or “minimum Marbling” Requirement on their beef. They are not even a recognized Beef Brand by the USDA! But any way…Certified Angus Beef has the highest minimum requirement for Marbling possible for “branded” beef. In fact they created this marbling “standard” and asked the USDA to help identify these cattle when harvested. This is called Modsest or Higher….Professor! Point is,
One aberdeen Abgus Steer will out Marble a Holstien Calf Steer in Half the time. Period. Oh…How about Marbling Texture? Thick Course Connective Marbling is a trait in Fed Holstein. This is Bad! This creates a tough grissle-like bite. 2 bad things when evaluating beef tenderness. CAB, or Certified Angus Beef, also has a USDA specification for Marbling Texture that yes…they created and asked the USDA to identify, and this is called, “Medium to fine marbling texture”. Professor, this basically means that just because it is heavily marbled ,does not mean it is going to perform well..Cruch….
Yeild Grade.
Dude, that is so old…
CAB has a 1,000 lb hot Carcass weight Specification.
This is to create uniformity in size and steak/plate apearance.
CAB does not allow any animal to have a Ribeye (square inch circumference ) outside 10-16 sqaure inches.
This creates uniformity in tyhick steak appearnace.
CAB has a specification that no more than 1 ” bark fat. Period. Professor, you should know that these 3 specifications CAB has created with the USDA have created the most consistent sizingresults in the world. Aberdeen Angus are thicker , shorter, more buff, more muscled, and more beefy than any other breed. They are vastly different from extremely long, tall, less than superior muscled holstein. Angus better-holstein poor for steak / thickness appearnce.. okay? I just dont get your menu mumbo jumbo thickness stuff…it appears you are backwards on this.
“We in the business” who try to get value out of Holstein Steers….god bless you..I have nothing against it. They are all gods creaturs, and I have tremendous respect for the Imperial Valley operation and those who run it. Any Organization that tries to raise cattle too. Especially Ranchers and people who work the land. Anyone in the business who plays a role in the Live side, supply side, production side, and distribution and Food Service and comsumption side of the industry has my respect….Even you ..who seemed to catch me in a less than dignant blog on my last entry response..I respect the thought..
Tell your buddy at JBS Swift Rock on!!!
Fed Holsteins are no dirty secret anymore.
I enjoyed this Mental Meat joust….
Ps …
I did not spell check this either and type to fast I guess.
November 20th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
JW….been a while..but interesting response..a bit of animal science back ground I detect? Why would you think my employer is US Food Service? I just happen to know that “they” are the only licensed distributor of Certified Angus Beef in the San Diego Marketplace.
Certified Angus beef is the Oldest known, the longest running, first to be recognized by the USDA, and in my “OPINION” ..the best brand of beef available in America. But any way…
Yes kind of embarrassing reading the mis-spells in my last blog ..sorry professor!
Let me see if I can respomd 1 by 1 ,to your outatanding attempt to teach us all that a Fed Holstein program from the imperial valley of Southern California, processed at Manning meats in Los Angeles, is better product and will out perform Mid western Corn Fed High genetic Angus cattle that grade out at the top 8 % of all cattle produced in the country.
1)My profound ignorance in regard to which ” Beef type ” cattle breeds display a higher propensity to achieve marbling with relation to performance on feed anaylis, and is better than any other breed.
Answer.
Yes, Holstien,( Netherland breeds), imported into North America from Denmark in the 1800’s for milk, butter, and dairy production..will get fat. Yes they will Marble( Deposit fat )inside their lean muscle..known as intra-muscular fat..when un-commonly forced through the beef industry and put on feed . However, unfortunately this requires at least 300 days of a high sugar starch complex carbohydrate diet. This is Double the normal time beef type cattle are on feed for the usual 160 day feed cycle. To acheive this and still have the Animal harvested before B maturity ( 31 months of age ), these cattle are placed on feed at a drastically early stage in their lifecycle. Thes cattle, huge and extremely long as compared to other well known beef breeds quite simply are.. overstuffed.
2)Holstein ( Brandt Beef ) typically grade out USDA Choice or Higher.
Answer
Big woop. 85% of Choice is classified by the USDA as small Marbling. This is not much better than USDA Select.
Brandt beef has no recognized Marbling Specification or “minimum Marbling” Requirement on their beef. They are not even a recognized Beef Brand by the USDA! But any way…Certified Angus Beef has the highest minimum requirement for Marbling possible for “branded” beef. In fact they created this marbling “standard” and asked the USDA to help identify these cattle when harvested. This is called Modsest or Higher….Professor! Point is,
One aberdeen Abgus Steer will out Marble a Holstien Calf Steer in Half the time. Period. Oh…How about Marbling Texture? Thick Course Connective Marbling is a trait in Fed Holstein. This is Bad! This creates a tough grissle-like bite. 2 bad things when evaluating beef tenderness. CAB, or Certified Angus Beef, also has a USDA specification for Marbling Texture that yes…they created and asked the USDA to identify, and this is called, “Medium to fine marbling texture”. Professor, this basically means that just because it is heavily marbled ,does not mean it is going to perform well..Cruch….
Yeild Grade.
Dude, that is so old…
CAB has a 1,000 lb hot Carcass weight Specification.
This is to create uniformity in size and steak/plate apearance.
CAB does not allow any animal to have a Ribeye (square inch circumference ) outside 10-16 sqaure inches.
This creates uniformity in tyhick steak appearnace.
CAB has a specification that no more than 1 ” bark fat. Period. Professor, you should know that these 3 specifications CAB has created with the USDA have created the most consistent sizingresults in the world. Aberdeen Angus are thicker , shorter, more buff, more muscled, and more beefy than any other breed. They are vastly different from extremely long, tall, less than superior muscled holstein. Angus better-holstein poor for steak / thickness appearnce.. okay? I just dont get your menu mumbo jumbo thickness stuff…it appears you are backwards on this.
“We in the business” who try to get value out of Holstein Steers….god bless you..I have nothing against it. They are all gods creaturs, and I have tremendous respect for the Imperial Valley operation and those who run it. Any Organization that tries to raise cattle too. Especially Ranchers and people who work the land. Anyone in the business who plays a role in the Live side, supply side, production side, and distribution and Food Service and comsumption side of the industry has my respect….Even you ..who seemed to catch me in a less than dignant blog on my last entry response..I respect the thought..
Tell your buddy at JBS Swift Rock on!!!
Fed Holsteins are no dirty secret anymore.
I enjoyed this Mental Meat joust….
Ps …
I did not spell check this either and type to fast I guess.