Grilled Tri-Tip, right off the barbeque! Seasoned with a dry rub of kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, dried chipotle, cumin, garlic powder and onion powder. An easy and economical cut of beef!

Can you believe Memorial Day weekend came that fast? It doesn’t seem like we can be that far through the month of May, let alone 2015, but here we are! It probably doesn’t come as much surprise that Memorial Day kicked off the summer grilling season. I just love the thought of burgers and steaks flying off backyard grills all across America. But something I don’t love is the fact that a lot of people forgo grilling because they feel intimidated when buying beef. I completely understand that feeling, because even as a beef producer, I’ve been there. But, let me be the first to tell you, anyone can learn more about how to buy beef.

The town closest to where we live is lucky enough to have two of the best locally-owned grocery stores—and when it comes to meat, there’s no one I trust more than our hometown butchers. Last week I sat down with meat cutter/grocery store owner, Brock Lenz, and asked him to give his insight on all things buying beef. Here’s what he had to say:

If you’re planning on buying a steak, the first thing to do is pick out the cut you want. Muscles that don’t get used by the animal make the best steaks. Those include your Tenderloin, T-Bone, Ribeye, and New York steaks—to name a few. Any muscles that the animal uses to move, (known as motor muscles), are going to be your tougher cuts. However, there are a lot of delicious cuts hidden within those motor muscles, such as the Flat Iron, that are just as good as those that come from the top and back of the animal.

This print from Chasing Delicious is one of my absolute favorites! If I had enough room, I’d love to have one hanging in my kitchen! -Jessie

Once you’ve decided on a cut, the next thing to look for is what’s called “marbling.” Marbling refers to the white flecks of fat that is found inside a cut of red meat. The more marbling a cut has, the more flavor it’ll have and the more tender it’ll be.

A lot of people think that a steak has to be expensive to be good. You can’t really go wrong with cuts like the tenderloin, ribeye, etc., which tend to be higher priced; however, there are many other cuts that provide a great eating experience. And they are more economical. When it comes to value, I think Sirloin is your best bet. A Top Sirloin or the Sirloin Tip steak are middle of the road cuts when it comes to price, and the taste is hard to beat. (Note: Even though both cuts have sirloin in the name, they are different. Check out top sirloin vs. sirloin tip to get more info on how to prepare each.)

In my opinion, one of the most versatile cuts is the Tri-Tip. It’s great for grilling and can be used for groups, big and small. It can be tricky to cut if you’ve never done it before, but that shouldn’t keep you from putting one on the grill. Idaho ranchers work hard every day to produce beef that provides a consistent, tender and high-quality eating experience every time!

I love all the selections at my hometown grocery store. A great resource when buying beef is the butcher behind the meat counter.

The worst mistake you can make with beef is overcooking it. Beef can be consumed at a lower internal temperature (145 degrees) than any other animal protein. And keep in mind that your steaks will continue to cook internally for up to ½ hour after they’re taken off the grill (when resting), so don’t cook them until they’re crisp; otherwise you’ll be losing a lot of taste.

Many thanks to Brock for all his tips on how to buy beef!

The Idaho Cattlewomen hope you have lots of beef on your barbeque this summer. Feel free to ask questions in the comments section if you want to know about buying or cooking beef. We are happy to answer!

~ Jessie

Every ranch has “projects.” Some are high priority, like fixing the fence where the heifers got out last night. Some are medium priority and seasonal, like fixing all the broken boards in the feedlot before the next feeding season. Some are low priority, like fixing the gate to the stack yard. These low priority projects can become permanently established as “when we get time.” They become annoyances that we live with understanding “it’s been like that since I was a kid.”

The gate to the stack yard was a very heavy, 16 foot metal gate with a wooden panel stretched to the fence line tie. They configured this entrance because of the double wagons of small bales they brought into the yard to be hand stacked. The gate had to be angled so the wagons didn’t take out the fence every time they pulled into the yard. However, there hasn’t been a small bale hand-stacked here in 30 years! The stack yard gate became just another winter aggravation to complain about.

The stories this panel could tell!

Last fall, my husband and the crew were working on their project list and the stack yard gate made it to the top of the list. I was so excited, I headed to the stack yard with my camera to document the historic ranch event.

Every day this winter, I’ve opened this smooth-swinging, nicely fitting, attractive stack yard gate and thought of this year’s “Ranch Project!”

~ Julie

Mattson taking his cousin for a ride.

The first ride on the colt he is breaking.

Three of my favorite people.

The other day I was driving the truck while Matt was feeding the cows. The sun shining on my face, deer running up the mountain beside us, Dawson playing on the seat next to me, and it occurred to me how truly blessed we are to get to live the life we do. The opportunity to see a baby calf just be born and the mother lick him off and have that bond. The horses running across the top of the hill, their beautiful colors and long manes flowing making it a portrait worth painting. The breeze blowing enough to whistle through the trees playing a tune, the sound of the tractor purring, waiting to load the next bale, and the feeder calves thundering to the gate to let us know they are tired of waiting. Each day is a gift and a promise that God loves us and has blessed us with this life.

Our nieces came to visit one evening last week. They live in town, and don’t get to have interaction with the ranch life that often. Mattson has been riding a colt he started, so his good ol’ trusty horse has not been ridden for a while. Not that he needs to, but Mattson just doesn’t want him to think he likes the colts better than him. They have quite the bond those two. Mattson saddled up the good ol’ boy and climbed on. Just as he started to ride away from the barn, the girls, (the nieces) came driving up. They got out of the car, put their coats on and by the look in their eyes and big smiles on their sweet rosey cheeks, they wanted a ride! Mattson rode over to them, no questions asked, with a smile and a nod, loaded up one girl on the saddle with him, and away they went. They rode out in the field, her blond hair blowing in the breeze, and from the sound of the conversation, she had a lot to say! Mattson just nodded and smiled and let her have her moment of riding. Next it was the other girl’s turn. She loaded up and away they went. She didn’t have as much to say, but from her grin from ear to ear, she was so happy! She got to hold the reins and in her mind, that horse was doing whatever she told him to! It was priceless!

Just as they were riding back from the field, I heard Matt and Dawson coming back from checking cows. Dawson loves to check the momma cows to see if they have a new baby on the ground, and to see if it has “yicked” as he calls it, which he means to say “lick.” He says, “Yep, that baby is byack (black) again Dad.” (yes, our calves are black). A smile on his face, red nose, jeans tucked into his little cowboy boots, his rope in his hand, he started telling me all about their half hour long adventure that was as simple as anything, but was big as life to him!

Once again, in that moment, I thought about the little things that mean so much and are such a blessing! Mattson having the desire to start colts, to be kind to his cousins to take them for a ride. For a good broke horse that is so loved and part of our family. An opportunity to see the smiles on the girls’ faces. The time Matt gets to spend with Dawson doing chores and see new life be born, just to name a few.

Life is about change. In the next couple of months, we will have lots of change. Spring is here, changing the weather, the trees, the grass, and the ranching chores. Fences will need fixed, and the calves branded. Our oldest son, Jackson, will graduate high school, and get ready to attend college on a full ride football and track scholarship. Changes are a blessing, family is a blessing, and we all need to take a little more time and cherish the little things that are just simply so big!

Happy Spring Y’all!

Jayme

Jayme Thompson lives in Shelley, Idaho, with her husband Matt, and their three sons, Jackson, Mattson and Dawson. She was daddy’s little cowgirl being raised horseback on the family cattle ranch in Mackay, Idaho. Matt and Jayme have known each other since their early junior rodeo days. They are both 4th generation ranchers and have a cow-calf and horse operation. Jayme drives school bus, and helps Matt on the ranch in addition to chauffeuring kids. Matt is a custom saddle maker and a video representative for Western Video Market on the side.

Jayme also blogs at Cavvy Savvy, where this post first appeared.

It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to sit down and write about all the happenings on the Rafter T. This is by far our busiest time of year, so my free time has been very limited. Since I’ve failed to keep up on my writing, let’s play catch up!

Sale Day- A couple weeks into February, we sold our calves; a process that happens through a local sale yard. For those of you who have been to an estate sale, or watch Storage Wars, it’s pretty much the same concept. People (cattle buyers) show up, and bid on the cattle they’re interested in purchasing. Some are buying for themselves, while others are buying for “orders.” Those orders usually come from bigger feeders, such as JBS, Simplot, etc. If quite a few buyers show up and the market is hot, you’re golden. However, if only a couple buyers are bidding, it doesn’t matter what the market is doing—they’ll only bid against one another for so long. I won’t lie, it’s a bit defeating to know that your annual pay day depends on someone else; but that’s just part of the cattle business.

Girl Scouts-The week after we sold our calves, a Girl Scout troop from Glenns Ferry came to the ranch for an afternoon tour. They got a chance to see a few newborn calves, feed some soon-to-be mamas, and grain our horses. Those girls had more fun doing chores than I could ever dream of having! I love getting a chance to talk to people about where their food comes from, especially the younger generation. At the end of their adventure they received a fun coloring book and brochure, courtesy of the Idaho Beef Council.

Bottle Calves-The Chinese might consider this to be the Year of the Ram, but around here it’s been the year of the bottle calf. In total I’ve had six little bundles of joy, but am currently down to four. Hallelujah! While we don’t name every cow and calf we own, bottle calves always end up with a moniker of their own. Currently, we have Nola Dakota, Jumbo, Marvin and Peanut. While it’s a bit of a pain to feed them three times a day, their personalities make up for the inconvenience.

Branding-Awwww, branding. The true definition of “March Madness.” We usually have four groups to brand—two groups at home that typically occur around the 15^th, and two out on the desert that happen at the end of the month. The last two take a lot of planning since they happen quite a few miles from home. One pickup is dedicated to packing all of the necessary branding supplies: propane, firewood, branding irons, vaccines, ear tags, etc., and another is dedicated specifically for bringing the food. When it’s all said and done, branding is a pretty big ordeal. Thankfully, we’re blessed with some pretty handy friends and neighbors who are always willing to lend a helping hand.

Turn Out-Our cows go back onto our public lands allotments April 1, which is why it’s imperative that all of our branding and sorting takes place before then. This year was an exciting year for Justin and me, as we turned out our own set of cattle. Personally this is my favorite part of the work season, since it represents the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.

Irrigation-Usually the first 10 days of April are pretty relaxing around here; all the cows are out and our irrigation water isn’t in the canal yet. We very rarely take time for vacations, but when we do, this is when we go. I honestly look forward to April 1-10 like a kid looks forward to the last day of school. Until now. This winter/spring season has been extremely dry, so the irrigation company chose to let the water in a few days early. While I’m happy to see things start to green up, I’m still a bit bent out of shape about my “down time” being almost nonexistent. For the next six months you’ll find me shoveling mud and dodging snakes in the pasture! Until next time!

J.

Jessie has returned to her roots on her family’s commercial cattle ranch in southern Idaho after college and working on behalf of the state’s cattle producers. She’s passionate about agriculture and the western way of life. When she isn’t doing ranch work or writing, Jessie enjoys baking, golfing and drinking coffee. As a newlywed, she’s also turning a little cabin on the ranch into a home.