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Highland x Beef Balancer Beef
We began working on our project of crossing our Beef Balancer cows with our AHCA Scottish Highland bull in 2021. We are excited to announce that after years of patience, all of our hard work of raising these cattle has paid off and we now offer this cross of beef to our customers! We are currently the only farm in Kansas that is certified with the Quality Highland Beef seal through the American Highland Cattle Association.
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What is it?: Our Beef Balancer cattle are a 50/50 cross of Black Angus and Gelbvieh- two breeds that well known for their tender and flavorful meat due to a natural disposition to marbling. Highland cattle are said to produce some of the most tender cuts of beef. They are slow maturing, lean, low in fat and rich in protein and iron.
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We believe the cross between our Beef Balancer and Scottish Highland cattle should produce a product that is unsurpassed in flavor, tenderness and juiciness.
**Scientific Data about the unique traits of Highland Beef from the University of Missouri: "Tenderness was determined using the Warner-Bratzler Sheer Force Test. Small core samples were removed from the ribeye steaks submitted and then mechanically pulled apart, measuring the force required to do so. Although not identical to chewing, this test gives good indications of what masticating that piece of steak would feel like in one’s mouth. The industry standard of tenderness ranges from 4-6 on the Warner-Bratzler scale. Anything above a 6 is considered less tender, anything below a 4 more tender. The average tenderness of the 220 Highland samples sent in measured 3.46. This includes samples finished on grass or grain, processed in every season of the year and every region of the country, regardless of the hanging time, or time at the processor before slaughter. Some of the steaks were remarkably tender, with a sheer force as low as 1.27. This data is truly remarkable and powerful."
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OAll of our beef is dry aged for 14-21 days ensuring exceptional tenderness and flavor and is processed within an hour from our farm at USDA inspected facilities, where they are processed and immediately frozen to maintain the freshness that we strive so greatly for.
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Pure Highland beef was shown to be almost 23% more tender than commercial beef, scoring , at 83.27, well below the 100 which benchmarks meat as “very tender”.
The industry standard of tenderness ranges from 4-6 on the Warner-Bratzler scale. Anything above a 6 is considered less tender, anything below a 4 more tender. The average tenderness of the 220 Highland samples sent in measured 3.46. Some of the steaks were remarkably tender, with a sheer force as low as 1.27.
Compared with commercial meat, pure Highland meat contains almost 7% more protein and almost 17% more iron, averaging over 4% less cholesterol.