Graig Farm - Who We Are > The Graig Farm Meat Taste

The Graig Farm Meat Taste

One of our main aims at Graig Farm is to produce meat which has real taste - a rare quality for modern meat! Research has shown that taste in meat is due to 3 main factors:

Age of animals at slaughter - the older the animal the tastier the meat. As Graig Farm animals are grown slower than on conventional farms, they are invariably older at slaughter, and so tastier. For example, our chickens are slaughtered at around 10 weeks, compared with 6 weeks in the intensive industry;

Hanging (or natural maturing). Where appropriate, all Graig Farm meat is traditionally hung to improve its flavour and texture - a technique now rarely used elsewhere (supermarket accountants don't like it!), and unheard of in the intensive broiler chicken industry. Beef for example, is normally hung at Graig Farm for around 3 weeks.

Animal Breeds. The modern trend for extra lean meat, particularly beef and pork, have seen great changes in the dominant breeds used in the UK. For example, Continental breeds now dominate the national beef herd. Whilst the result is lean meat, it has often been at the expense of taste. Graig Farm generally ensures either pure British breeds, or a mix of Continental and traditional British breeds (such as Hereford cattle and Gloucester Old Spot or Saddleback pigs), ensuring the best of both worlds - flavour and leanness.

Further information on particular types of meat may be found under how our animals are reared.