Hamburger from a grown bull?

[KDM]

Anybody on here ever eaten hamburger they knew was from a full grown bull? Just curious about flavor, toughness, and overall usability. Thanks!

 

[risingsun]

Had some from an old bull that had broken his leg, so they had to butcher it. Had been in the pasture. Was very lean, to the point of having to add to it to get it to stick together for burgers. Was lacking flavor in my opinion. But if fed up and fat I would think would be ok.

 

[LBrandt]

Butchered a bull that when they banded him they missed a nut. He was about three years old and had been on full feed, all the corn he wanted. Made hamburger out of him except for the t-bones and he tasted fine. Maybe because he was young and well feed. I have had burger from older cows that was fine except very lean. LB

 

[MarbleEyez]

Extremely lean, and depending on age, it will have a different taste/aroma!

Some people love it and some can't stand it

 

[LBrandt]

I remember listening to the cattle markets where older cows were called canners and cutters and bulls were called baloney bulls = hot dogs and such, would make a lot of jerky. LB

 

[KDM]

Yeah, I remember the "bologna bull" term as well. I was just wondering if a guy fine ground the meat and mixed in some good kidney fat from butcher weight steers and heifers if the burger would make grade so to speak.

 

[espringers]

how old? and are we talking a bull that's done a bit of breeding or just one with its nuts where the owner changed his mind and decided not to breed it?

 

[fj40]

We've had to butcher a couple of bulls over the years and other than being very lean, the burger was just fine. Truth be told, much of what they called ground chuck or ground round years back was what they called boxed beef which mostly consisted of beef clod which is bull shoulder,

 

[KDM]

how old? and are we talking a bull that's done a bit of breeding or just one with its nuts where the owner changed his mind and decided not to breed it?

Either one really. I've been trying to help those less fortunate over the last couple years and meat seems to be top on the list of groceries that get skipped. I've got the machinery, know how, time, and stupidity to maybe take on an unwanted bull, make it into burger, and let some folks have at it if they want. Times aren't getting any easier for folks and if I can maybe help a bit, I'm going to look into it. Thanks guys!!

 

[espringers]

although not entirely unherd (see what i did there?) of, experienced ND cowfolk seem to generally be smart enough to not even toy with the idea of having an uncut bull around unless they know for sure it was gonna be a breeder and sold to someone else to breed unrelated stock. so, we are probably talking a multi-years old bull that's done some copulating. so, lots of variables here. the general rule is they are going to be leaner, tougher (no big deal w/ burger i guess) and more pronounced in the flavor category. of course one could attempt to finish it and add some fat. but, you'd have to get it isolated from both cows and other bulls to have any chance at having a good return on your effort and $. supposedly, some folk really dig bull burger. its probably those old school cow guys who certainly weren't gonna let one go to waste and acquired a taste for it. who knows. not sure i've ever had it. probably as a kid. just can't remember. anywho... what do you got to lose? keep us posted.

 

[luvcatchingbass]

Only experience was when I was a kid and don't remember anything that sticks out to me.

 

[johnr]

Could you nut it and feed lot it for a few months and get it marbled up?

 

[701FishSlayer]

If the price is right....

 

[Davey Crockett]

Iv'e always wondered the same about milk cows. Say a guy picked up a couple Holstein bottle calves and pastured them and feed them some grain. No idea how much a day old calf would cost or the feasibility of it but dairy farmers used to give them away when I was a kid.

 

[mikef]

Either one really. I've been trying to help those less fortunate over the last couple years and meat seems to be top on the list of groceries that get skipped. I've got the machinery, know how, time, and stupidity to maybe take on an unwanted bull, make it into burger, and let some folks have at it if they want. Times aren't getting any easier for folks and if I can maybe help a bit, I'm going to look into it. Thanks guys!!

There are sales on meat too. Idk if you have a contact at Sysco/ US Foods etc. but they do fire sale stuff

 

[LBrandt]

Iv'e always wondered the same about milk cows. Say a guy picked up a couple Holstein bottle calves and pastured them and feed them some grain. No idea how much a day old calf would cost or the feasibility of it but dairy farmers used to give them away when I was a kid.

That ship sailed. Expect to pay a couple hundred for day old bull calf and its worse during calving time as their is a lot of call for calves to replace ones lost by ranchers. LB

 

[cooter00]

We have had many bulls turned into burger over the years if you have a good butcher they will add fat to make it good other wise it's really lean.

 

[Zogman]

Iv'e always wondered the same about milk cows. Say a guy picked up a couple Holstein bottle calves and pastured them and feed them some grain. No idea how much a day old calf would cost or the feasibility of it but dairy farmers used to give them away when I was a kid.

When growing up we had two neighbors that milked Holsteins. The only beef we bought was through them. As I remember it was always good. It may have something to do with the cook. Mother was a GREAT cook.

 

[BrokenBackJack]

Back on the ranch, we have butchered older bulls and some holstein milk cows that were older. Both were very lean and we either fine ground the burger or ground it twice if we couldn't find the fine grinder plate.
Taste was ok as no one ever said it wasn't good.
If you can afford to throw some ground feed into them for 3 months or so, it would help some, I would think.

 

[garden]

A lot of the burger is made from older cattle, both cows and bulls. The bull beef does not get rank like boar pork. As mentioned above, adding fat to bull ground beef will enhance the flavor. Which is the part of the reason Prime grade beef is so good to eat. It has more intramuscular fat. The extreme of intramuscular fat in beef are the Kobe, Wagyu and other Japanese breeds