Meat 101: Everything You Need To Know About Choosing Healthy Meat, Grass Fed vs. Grain Fed, DIY Meat Curing & More!

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Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode.

Have you ever wandered into the meat section of the grocery store, a butcher shop or even a fancy charcuterie-style restaurant and been just slightly perplexed about which cuts to get, how to know if the meat is safe and healthy, the difference between words like natural, grass-fed, grain-fed, hormone-free, feedlot/CAFO free, or humanely raised?

In this podcast, we delve into the mystery of meat with Jacob Dickson of Dickson's Farmstand Meats. Dickson's is a”candy shop for carnivores”, one of the most sought after purveyors of fine quality meats in the city of New York, and offers things like artisanal meats and house-made charcuterie made from animals raised without added hormones, prophylactic antibiotics, or animal by-products – whatever those are.

-How Jacob came into the food industry originally from corporate marketing…

-Which animal is the most efficient animal to eat from nose-to-tail…

-What you should you look for when you walk into the meat section (or a butcher’s shop) to know that the meat you’re getting is actually healthy…

-Why some grass-fed meat is not actually healthy grass-fed meat…

-What it really means for an animal to be humanely-raised and how you can know it’s really true…

-Why the word “natural” on a label means pretty much nothing…

-A big misconception about antibiotics, and why they're actually used…

-Whether the mold and fungus that forms on meat in the curing process is really bad for you..

-How you can cure your own meat at home…

-The ultimate way to cook the tastiest steak…

Resources we discuss in this episode:

Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Joel Salatin's book

Beyond Bacon book

Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing 

Do you have questions, comments or feedback about choosing healthy meat, grass fed vs. grain fed, DIY meat curing or other meat-related topics? Leave your thoughts below!

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4 thoughts on “Meat 101: Everything You Need To Know About Choosing Healthy Meat, Grass Fed vs. Grain Fed, DIY Meat Curing & More!

  1. Phil says:

    Are these all the show notes?

    Thanks,

    Phil

    1. Yes! Is there something I missed?

      1. lonely_moa says:

        … only that "TOD" is required reading.

  2. lonely_moa says:

    Loved this podcast. I agree with everything I heard. I do a few lambs and hoggets because they are both easy and we grow them. And they are tasty. I actually have a ram that will become dog tucker soon… not really the flavour of choice for humans. Leave the cattle for the pros. They kill and quarter a couple of steers in an hour, and leave us with all the goodies from the fifth quarter.

    No stressful ride in a truck for our stock.

    Nothing better than having a good stock of meat on the property (both on the hoof and in the freezer) except maybe a giant garden and a beautiful, magic gardening wizard on the property as well.

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