Lean Piedmontese Beef Statistics
Piedmontese has proven to be the one carcass breed to effectively trim the fat from a cattle operation. Today’s cattleman cannot afford the expense of fat, and must recognize the preferences shown by today’s “fat conscious” consumer. However, eating quality can become a concern with ultra-lean beef, with the notable exception of Piedmontese sired beef.
Dr. Cundiff and his colleagues, of the USDA MARC Center, have worked to identify breeds or breed crosses that help improve tenderness while reducing fat.
“Piedmontese cattle are an Italian breed with 11.5 percent more lean meat than Hereford and Angus.” Cundiff says, “Their offspring produce lean, exceptionally tender meat.”
MARC reports prove, of 11 sire breeds, Piedmontese had the lowest fat thickness (.29in) and the greatest tenderness (Warner Bratzler Shear Force 11.0 lbs). In 1988 at the World Congress on Beef & Sheep Feeding in Paris, G. Renand from I.N.R.A. summarized the results from all the beef crossing experiments that were done in the 70′s and 80′s in Europe. He compared the results of all beef breeds with the Charolais breed as the standard. The results are summarized here:
| BREED | CARCASS QUALITY TRAITS | MEAT QUALITY AS COMPARED TO CHAR | ||
| BREED | DRESSING % | RIB-EYE AREA | SHEAR FORCE | TENDERNESS |
| PIEDMONTESE | +2.3 | +9 | -10 | +0.3 |
| BELGIAN BLUE | +1.8 | +3 | - 1 | +0.1 |
| BLONDE D’AQUIT | +0.6 | +3 | -1 | 0 |
| LIMOUSIN | +0.5 | -1 | +5 | +0.1 |
| HOLSTEIN | -1.9 | -13 | +9 | +0.6 |
The consumer wants lean beef but is not willing to sacrifice quality. For less over-all fat, the least amount of trim-able fat, combined with the highest tenderness levels and flavor intensity – Piedmontese is the only breed for the job – and can do it in one cross.
PIEDMONTESE – MORE THAN A CUT ABOVE
There is, simply, more beef on a Piedmontese carcass. However, the composition of this beef is also important. The Industrial Laboratories Co., Denver, Colorado, made the following analysis report on a fullblood Piedmontese, shown compared to facts released by the Canadian Beef Information Centre, 1988:
(Beef, both Piedmontese and conventional, from cross-rib roast sections.)
| PER 100 GRAMS (3.5) OZ |
PIEDMONTESE (UN-TRIMMED) |
CONVENTIONAL BEEF (UN-TRIMMED) |
ROAST CHICKEN (NO-SKIN) |
| CALORIES: | 95 | 251 | 167 |
| FAT (G) | 1.7 G | 11.3 G | 7.0 G |
| CHOLESTEROL (MG) | 36.0 MG | 68.54 MG | 75.0 MG |
The efficiency of the Piedmontese breed is even carried into the efficiency of cooking time required by the beef. Based on the years of data collected by the USDA MARC test on f1 Piedmontese, even half-blood Piedmontese cooks significantly faster:
“The strongest contrast shown in my analysis was between the Piemontese crosses, and Hereford-Angus crosses. They had equal cooking losses (31.1%) but different steak weights, cooking times, and cooking rates. The average Piedmontese steak was almost 70g heavier than the Hereford-Angus cross steak (357.1 g compared to 288.3g) which is expected due to larger rib-eye areas. The cooking rate for Piedmontese is 9.2g/minute and for Hereford-Angus is 8.3 g/minute. Applying those rates to a 12oz. Rib-eye steak from each breed, the Piedmontese steak would take approximately 5 minutes less to achieve a medium degree of doneness.” (Kay Theer, biological laboratory technician, MARC.)
If you are thinking about lean healthy beef, you are thinking about Piedmontese.
THE HEALTH ISSUES
| CHOLESTEROL CONTENT, SELECTED SPECIES (PER 3.5 OZ OR 100 G SERVING) | |
| ANTELOPE | 124.8MG |
| VENISON | 11.8 MG |
| LAMB | 91.0 MG |
| PORK | 89.8 MG |
| CHICKEN | 88.7 MG |
| DUCK | 88.7 mg |
| BISON | 81.7 MG |
| TURKEY | 75.8 MG |
| CONVENTIONAL BEEF | 85.2 MG |
| CROSSBREED PIED (F1) | 62.0MG |
| CROSSBREED PIED (F2) | 38.6 MG |
| PIEDMONTESE BEEF (PUREBRED) | 32.1 MG |
The American Heart Association recommends 300mg of dietary cholesterol per day. One serving (3.5 Oz) of F1-Piedmontese beef amounts to less than 21% of this daily allowance.
