As many of you know, I’ve shifted my focus away from raw grass fed beef and to beef jerky products. Right now, I only market 4 flavors of a grass fed beef stick, but I hope to add beef jerky to my line of products soon. I’ll probably add more BLAISTIX flavors before I get to the jerky, however.
One limitation regarding the jerky is the tight supply of grassfed beef and the fact that good jerky is made from good whole muscle meat like the brisket or the round. Each side of grassfed beef might yield 15 – 20 lbs of brisket and round combined whereas a side yields up to 150lbs of beef used for either hamburger or beef sticks.
Some people have suggested I use culled cows for making BLAISTIX. These are cows, literally females (many use the term ‘cow’ generically for all bovine), that are past their prime milking years. I have always ruled out this meat for the off-flavors that are often present. Others argue that since I season, cook, and smoke the meat, it really shouldn’t matter. I disagree.
BLAISTIX is a gourmet product that is made with high quality beef from black angus crosses. The meat I use makes a great burger and the same cattle from which my beef comes also produces excellent steaks.
Some people have a hard time getting their mind around a beef stick as a gourmet product. Well, get used to it. We went from burnt diner coffee to starbucks, hershey’s chocolate to Godiva, and Kraft Parmesan in the ‘green container’ to parmesan reggiano. For so much of the food we eat, there exists a much better version in stores already or forming in some entrepreneur’s mind. That’s what BLAISTIX is – an idea that became a reality and is now sold as a premium product where only commodity beef sticks like slim jims were sold before.