Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Brasstown Beef, Ridgefield Farms – Brasstown, North Carolina



Things are not always what you think they are, or what you assume they are, or what you are told them are.  Let me explain!

I saw a segment on TV not long ago about a cow farm in Brasstown, North Carolina. Since we had plans to spend a few days in Murphy, I found that Brasstown Beef was only a short ride from our rental.

I checked out their website and found out a lot more about the company.  We are beef eaters and they have a retail shop that is only open on Friday and Saturday.  Our goal was to get there on the last day of our vacation, Friday.  

 

It is a beautiful ride though back country roads to get to Ridgefield Farms.  I had my camera in hand in the hopes of seeing the Blue Ridge from a different vantage point.  I was not disappointed.

To not reinvent the wheel, I am not going to go into the history of Brasstown Beef.  It is rather long and you can read about on their website.  But I will say that the show I saw gave my husband and I the desire to visit their store to buy some of their beef. They have a price list on their site and the prices seemed reasonable to us. 

We purchased two London Broils, three NY Strip Steaks and one Delmonico Steak. The Delmonico was fresh and the other meat was frozen.  We put the meat in the freezer of our rental, except for the Delmonico which we planned to have for dinner when we got home the next day. 

Fast forward to the following day’s dinner.  My husband cooked the Delmonico on the grill.  While the steak was flavorful and tender, it was extremely greasy.  Unlike a Rib Eye where you can see and cut away the fat, the Delmonico’s fat is throughout the meat. 

A few days later we decided to try one of the Strip Steaks.  I have to say the beef was not only not tender, it was so bad we could not eat it.  We ate veggies and the dog got the steak.  We said, “Maybe the next one will be better.” We were oh so wrong. 

It was then time to cook one of the London Broils.  We thawed it overnight and early in the morning I marinated it in soy sauce, pineapple juice and some fresh ground pepper.  Soy and pineapple are natural tenderizers but they did nothing to help the London broil.  It was as tough as the Strip Steaks.

Anyone can advertise a product/food as being the best, the ultimate, nothing better – but too many times we find this not to be the case.  We had looked forward to Brasstown Beef and were totally let down.  I would not recommend this place to anyone.  Yes, it was a beautiful ride, but you can ride for free, just don’t stop and buy meat there.

I wrote them a complaint letter.  I didn’t put my return address because I was not looking to get anything from them.  I just wanted them to know that their meat is not all they claim it to be but it is a lesson learned.


Photo belongs to AbbyG



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