How old is too old to make a cow into burger??

ryanwheelock · Mar 9, 2011

I've got a herford cow that has mis-carried both times I breed her. I waited til she was about 2-2 1/2 years old to do it the 1st time and it was a big bull and he hurt either her leg or hip and she has had a limp ever since. So last year I breed her to a small bull and she mis-carried about 3 weeks early, the winter before it was about 2 months early. Shes slow moving with the hip/leg problem all year long.
My question is is a 4 1/2 old cow gonna make good burger?? I figured burger cause I've got a steer that will be ready in a few months and figured he'd be the steaks and roast. Is the cow too old??? Have had older cows go bad when they were 7-8 years old and we just hauled them out back and buried them figuring the meat would be tough.
Opinions???
Thanks
Ryan in northern michigan

Stuart · Mar 9, 2011

No they wont make good hamburger. Use the steer. Had a neigbor that thought 4 year old cows were great to eat till he tried one of our steers.

IaGary · Mar 9, 2011

McDonalds serves them 7 to 8 year olds.

Gary

ryanwheelock · Mar 9, 2011

Just wanted to add the butcher in my area has a half off rate deal going on this month. Does that make it any better or is it gonna be tough meat even in burger??

Tx Jim · Mar 9, 2011

Had you heifer/cow ever been given any shots such as Leptospirosis(sp) or Brucelosis(sp) to help ward off a miscarriage?

There's untold numbers of older beef animals(cow/bull) that are slaughtered every day and are sold in meat markets and fast food chains. Did I mention the Golden Arches? I seriously doubt a person could distinguish between a calf and older beef hamburger meat if killed and processed correctly.

greygoat · Mar 9, 2011

Haven"t you ever heard of VEAL?

Eldo case · Mar 9, 2011

Had a steer that was 4 years old I processed into steaks and roast grass fat and is good. I have done 6-8 year old cows into hamburger and are good if feed good and are reasonably fat. All I can say is if you have not been using your old cows to eat or sell your are loosing allot of money. Eat her or sell.

IaGary · Mar 9, 2011

Check this out.

I think you got your veal wrong???
What Veal is

old harv · Mar 9, 2011

I have made a 16 year old cow into hamburger and it was the best hamburger I ever ate, so I did another one that was 9 years old and it tasted worse than cardboard. I asked my butcher why. He told me that it depended on the health of the cow. The 16 year old was in beautiful shape and had raised 15 calves, but she prolapsed her nnalert during the last pregnancy, so I didn't want to put her through that again. The 9 year old quit eating hay so I fed her up with only grain and the butchered her, so I guess there was something wrong with her stomach. I don't have cattle anymore, only sheep, but I buy a 3 year old heifer that never bred from a neighbour every year for beef. It is a little more chewy than grain fattened beef, but has more flavor. If you cow has not been sick during all of this I wouldn't worry about it at all, but if she has, I would let McDonalds have her. You might get away with saving the best steaks for steaks anyway. I kept the tenderloin from the 16 year old cow. It was delicious, but a little chewy. Hope this helps, Harv

GeneMO · Mar 9, 2011

She will make fine burger.

Better than what you would get at Mickey D's!

Gene

sotxbill · Mar 9, 2011

If they been laying on the side of the road for more than a couple of hours, then they might be too old.

Goose · Mar 9, 2011

A buddy of mine cut into a piece of meat in the Staff NCO mess at the Marine Corps Air Station at Beaufort, SC once.

He commented, "Man, I bet they chased this critter off across the desert before they caught it!"

The Mess Sergeant overheard and was not amused.

buickanddeere · Mar 9, 2011

Better meat than a stinking old bull moose during the rut.

jackinok · Mar 9, 2011

now gary,,you cant say that,, thats 100% pure beef!doesnt have to be QUALITY BEEF!back when I worked at the stock yards a hundred years ago,any cow still moving,didnt matter in what condition,that no one else would even touch, automatically went to mcdonalds.nasty looking things,most barely able to walk.had a set price of 10 cents a pound or something and wouldnt buy anything that brought over that.I havnt eaten at mcdonalds twice after seeing that...funny thing was, the rendering plant wouldnt even take them unless they were paid to..other cattle that died they would pickup for free.

LAA · Mar 9, 2011

Up until after world war two the majority of fat steers slaughtered were 3-4 years old, people did not like the mild taste of the 18 month old beeves. I feed out cull cows on contract to a packer in Texas and they don"t turn it into hamburger unless it won"t grade, I make my money on the grid, according to the carcass grade and color of the fat. Probably 40% of the steaks and roasts sold in the grocery store are cow beef, anything marked USDA SELECT is more than likely cow beef. At current prices I would sell the steer and grain feed the cow a couple months and put her in the freezer.

Dick L · Mar 9, 2011

If your worried about hamburger being tough run it thru the grinder twice or get new dentures.

^D

Dad always butchered old cows at home as I was growing up if the freezer was low and a steer wasn't being fed out at the time. If the freezer was full and one needed culled out it went to market. I think they call them cutters and caners at market. Didn't bring as much as young steers fed out.

PJH · Mar 9, 2011

Ryan - she will make good hamburger, and a LOT of it. I'd grind all of her into burger, but ask the butcher to save the loins for you. They aren't very big, and you'll almost be able to cut them with a fork. Our butcher insists on saving them.

Hope you haven't named her. . .

Paul

thurlow · Mar 9, 2011

Usta carry all our cull (beef) cows to a slaughter house about 80 miles down the road. Most of the cows they bought were worn-out Holsteins from the local dairies. If the cattle could get off the trailer on their own power, they'd buy them. They only paid on hanging weight, after inspection. They all went into hamburger and processed meats.

teddy52food · Mar 9, 2011

Did you get a strong one? I still like a spike buck or doe over a big rack deer.

kyhayman · Mar 9, 2011

When they've got all for legs sticking up in the air, then they are a bit too old..... Cull cows 10-14-16 years old go every day into the hamburger we buy at the store. Unless they've got a problem or miss a pregnancy I dont cull on age until 15. Thats fairly typical of what you see going direct to the killers for culls.

Mike (WA) · Mar 9, 2011

Ask any dairy farmer's kid- cull cows was all we ever ate! Usually hamburger, but if the cow was in pretty good flesh, we'd do some steaks and roasts, too.

I hadn't heard the term "canners and cutters" for years- "cutters" were the cows in decent flesh, and they'd "cut" them into the various cuts. "Canners" were the skinny old cows- guess they made them into canned meat in the old days, now just burger and boloney.

buickanddeere · Mar 9, 2011

The bulls all smell moosey. It's just a matter of how much.
Last years bull certainly makes the kitchen smell different than beef. Maybe an acquired taste but it's good. Some people eat mutton or goat too, phew. Never did learn to like whitetail deer, bucks in particular. Unless they were used to make sausage, pepperettes or ground meat to use in chilli etc where the spices, smoke and sauces provide some cover.

tjdub · Mar 9, 2011

A 4.5 year-old would be like veal compared to what I stock my freezers with

Every year I cull about 2-3 cows and just take the best one for the freezer. A couple of years ago I had a first-calf heifer that I had to pull the calf from. She wasn't able to get bred again. I probably shouldn't have put her in the freezer because now everyone in my family knows what they're missing

Old cows are fine though, the steaks are just a bit tough. For roasts and burgers, I can't tell the difference.

Jerry/MT · Mar 9, 2011

Great answer, David!

RodinNS · Mar 9, 2011

If you only knew what a hamburger cow really was.... Probably best we don't go there.

Yours at 4-1/2... if she's got a good bunch of flesh on her ribs will make very good eating, never mind burger. Hang it for 3 weeks and probably even the rounds will be decent.
All we've been eating the last number of years is old holstein. Fatten one up on the end of her lactation and hang her up.
3 weeks in the cooler tho....

Rod

Ludwig · Mar 9, 2011

I don't think thats true, I shot a 1 1/2 year old male and it tasted just fine. Fork tender too.

bill mart · Mar 9, 2011

butchered our 14 year old family brown swiss when she broke her leg.Toughest meat we ever processed.Even the hamburger was tough! bill m.

dieseldoc · Mar 9, 2011

What do you think happens to all my 10 -12 yr old holsteins when they go to the salebarn? they are made into ground beef.

wolfman · Mar 9, 2011

When you get past 95 or 96, better let someone else do it.

How old is too old to make a cow into burger??

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