An Ideal Meat for TodayÂ’s Diet
Elk meat is an ideal protein source for todayÂ’s health-conscious, fat-avoiding, calorie - and carb-counting eaters.
Watertown, SD (PRWEB) February 22, 2005
What has more protein, less fat and fewer calories than turkey, chicken, beef, pork, buffalo or salmon?
No, it’s not tofu. This meat has much more protein – and taste – than tofu. And it’s leaner than deer meat or beefalo, according to the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Nutrient Database. Farmer Linda Karber wants you to know that elk meat is an ideal protein source for today’s fat-avoiding, calorie - and carb-counting eaters.
“I’ve been raising elk for almost 30 years,” Karber said, “and it’s amazing how today’s health-conscious eaters are becoming aware of elk meat. It’s not only healthy, but it tastes great and is environmentally friendly, because elk farming has a minimal impact on the land.”
Karber sells elk meat from her website, www. elkmeatshop. com, as well as from some South Dakota butcher shops. Most of what she sells comes from elk she has raised. For internet orders, the frozen meat in cry-o-vaced packaging, which will keep up to two years as long as the seal is not broken, is placed inside a Styrofoam cooler, usually along with dry ice, frozen gel packs or both, and shipped inside a heavy cardboard box. It generally arrives at the purchaserÂ’s home in two or three days.
What cuts of meat can you buy? Various cuts of steak and roasts, elk burger, brats, breakfast and summer sausage, pickled Polish sausage, jerky, pepper sticks, liver, ribs, soup bones. Many of her customers have started buying half or whole elk, butchered to order.
“Elk meat tastes like mild (almost sweet) beef,” Karber said. “Elk can be substituted equally for venison in most standard venison recipes.”
Elk meat is leaner than the meat of domesticated animals like cattle, which have been bred to encourage the marbling of fat, Karber explained. “But the tenderness of elk meat is similar to that of domesticated animals as long as it’s not overcooked,” she added. “The elk meat should be cooked slowly in moist heat.” The elkmeatshop. com website contains numerous recipes and cooking instructions. The site also offers jewelry and other gifts made from elk antlers and the animal’s two ivory teeth, which are its uppers.
Elk are members of the deer family. The North American elk, similar to the “red deer” of Europe and Asia, were called “wapiti” by the Shawnee Indians until the English settlers gave them their current name. The bulls stand about five feet tall and weigh from 700 to more than 1,000 pounds. The females are smaller and lack the antlers of the male.
Elk farming grew in North America in the last two decades of the 20th Century, in part because of the demand from Asian countries for the antlers, which are used in traditional medicines there. More recently, elk meat is becoming recognized as a tasty and healthful alternative to other meats on the family dinner plate.
# # #
