Posted on 07/09/2012 5:38:51 PM PDT by djf
I believe so.
Three weeks of sustained hot, dry weather across much of the United States has propelled the grain complex higher with corn leading the way.
After the markets closed, the Department of Agriculture reported that 40 percent of the U.S. corn crop was rated in good to excellent condition, a drop of 8 percentage points from the previous week and the biggest weekly decline in nine years.
Sizzling temperatures abated in the Corn Belt over the weekend, but rains this week were expected to miss the areas that need moisture most. Forecasts indicate that Iowa and Illinois, the two biggest U.S. corn and soybean producing states, should be mostly dry for the next 10 days...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/09/us-markets-grains-idUSBRE8681BN20120709
If you do get a bargain on bulk beef, I highly recommend the following: vacuum pack, sous vide cook, ice water bath and freeze.
Home vacuum packing is very reasonable these days. If you buy beef in bulk, cheaper cuts taste better than steak cuts with sous vide cooking. And once cooked and frozen can last up to a year. Sous vide really holds on to the beefy flavor and odor.
To start with, here is a primer on how to cook sous vide meat.
http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/03/how-to-sous-vide-steak.html
Since most people aren’t going to shell out for a cooker to keep their water temperature at 135F for a couple of hours, it’s best just to use a candy thermometer and check your water every 5 minutes.
If you figure your stored meat is to last for more than six months, you might salt it or add a few drops of rosemary extract prior to sealing.
Cook - Chill - Freeze - Reheat
Season and vacuum several batches of food and cook them all together to save time. Beef, pork and lamb all cook at 135F.
When they’ve finished cooking, quick chill the pouches in an ice water bath (half ice/half water) for at least 30 to 45 minutes.
Label with contents and date and freeze for up to one year.
Reheat the cooked food from a thawed or chilled state at the sous vide temperature for 45 minutes per inch of thickness. If reheating from frozen, allow an additional 30 minutes.
Sear or sauce the food, as usual, if desired.
A personal favorite of mine is stew beef, a 5lb bulk tray split into 1lb vacuum bags. After cooking it still looks rare, but is very tender and flavorful, as well as being ready for many beef recipes.
In the past 4 weeks I have been in Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri.
The only place I have seen less than good condition is in Southern Kansas and much has been in excellent condition.
I can't say anyhting, yet about Illinois, Indiana, or Ohio in the past 4 weeks except what I have heard in passing and that is that central Illinois and Indiana are hurting right now.
Believe me, I pay attention to grain and bean crops as I drive the roads. My job depends on them.
Oh my, you live in Eden!
Ever hear old baseball players whispering in your ear?
Lookin good!
I grew up in upstate NY (western), and even though NY isn’t widely known as a producer, there is one heck of a lot of field corn there.
To a young kid wandering the fields, 8, 9, or 10 foot corn plants is pretty darn impressive!
Thanks! Might try that.
What I usually do is buy like roasts (or sometimes steaks). If it’s a roast or two, cut it into strips then wrap it in saran wrap getting ALL the air out.
That way I’m all set up for like stir fry or even take them out the night before and charBq em.
I’ve used meat frozen for 2 years or more and as long as the air didn’t get to it, it’s good. Toss a tsp of horseradish in there and nobodys gonna know the difference.
My house too. Rain looks like it is going to arrive and at the last minute it either breaks north or south.
We’ve been running cows on this ranch for over 100 years, hundreds of thousands have grazed this land during that time and not once have we ever fed corn, nor have any of the other ranches in the area. The only corn these cows ever get is when they knock over my damn deer feeders. Anybody that has to feed daily wasn’t going to stay in business long anyway. We run the feed truck once a week with rangecubes not because they need it but because thats the best way for us to gather them and take count. Last year here in West Texas was the worst I’ve seen in 60 years so we gatherd the boys and went on a prickly pear burning mission. Not only did we save the cows but we cleared allot of cactus out at the same time.
I highly recommend cooking beef the sous vide style. I got a 5 lb rack of stew beef, vacuum packed and cooked it that way, with just a couple of tsp of chopped garlic added. I brought the water up to temperature with a candy thermometer and watched it at five minute intervals to keep it right around 135F for an hour and a half.
When I opened the package I got this huge “beef!” smell, and for the next several days I cooked boeuf Bourguignon, beef Stroganoff, and Hungarian goulash, and all of them were much tastier than usual. Typically, I would fry the stew beef then pressure cook it for tenderness, but this was much better.
As one of those websites mentioned, a lot of restaurants are doing this today, so their meat is good to go and just needs searing before serving, and comes out just right every time.
For long term storage I mentioned adding salt or rosemary extract because both are very effective antibacterials, and rosemary also acts as a preservative, about as good as BHA and BHT, while giving a pleasant herb flavor to the beef. It has long been used specifically for that purpose.
Rosemary extract contains an enormous number of medicinal chemicals and has long been used to preserve beef (though it is toxic to dogs.)
yes, yes and yes.
:)
Last year, just prior to harvest, I was tending to the remnants of a brush fire to make sure no faggots went flying where they shouldn't.
I heard a loud crash and then steps coming through the corn toward me. I thought of that movie. LOL
I think it was just our resident white tail buck we nicknamed Bullwinkle because of his size and huge rack. He must have stumbled crossing through the corn field. But you can bet I kept one eye on the fire and one on the field.
Around here, you usually see the does way before you see the buck. They kinda hang out in the background under cover and keep an eye on things. (and a nose!)
Had two doe munching on my green bean plants late night last fall. The buck was back in the woods, and he made this weird coughing noise. Man, they took off like they was struck by lightning or something!
Bump!
In spite of what some folks say on this thread, I am still hearing predictions of falling meat prices. Except probably not chicken, which is expected to rise, time from hatching to market for chicken is under 50 days, so they will immediately be affected by rising grain prices.
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