It’s a New Year!: Let’s Get Those Orders In.

January 11, 2019January 11, 2019 / jcox812 / 1 Comment

Hello readers!

It’s so good to be back to our normal routine. The last month has been very hectic with marketing, communication with customers, finalizing orders, communication with the butcher (we’re BFFs at this point), picking up and delivering beef. It’s been great but I’m ready to get caught back up and start a new year.

2018 was a success! It was our first year reaching out to the public with our beef and spreading the word about Grant Creek. We, especially I, learned a lot about the process and I feel we had a pretty smooth year. Now we’re ready to tackle 2019 and expand our customer base. My New Year’s resolution is to get us even more out in the world and continue to bring you more exciting articles and recipes!

Speaking of, I owe you a recipe. I was very excited to try a cut I have never personally made before. It was great, but you’re going to have to wait to find out the details.

So what was the first dish I made in the new year with my new batch of meat?……

….Nachos. Not very exciting. I wanted to share this picture below though. I am admittedly horrible at remembering to thaw meat ahead of time. I’m not sure it’s something that will change anytime soon. I don’t love defrosting in the microwave but I made an exception this time. This picture is AFTER I defrosted. The first thing you should notice is the plate isn’t full of liquid! Store bought beef is so often loaded with extra moisture and half of it escapes during the thawing process. It was so nice to know that I got a pound of beef and a true pound was my end result. I didn’t pay for weight I wasn’t getting in the end.

1lb of ground beef AFTER defrosting.

So now we’re starting over and want to explain what exactly that means for us. Obviously by now you’ve picked up on some aspects of our process through our blog posts and you’re familiar with some of the pros and cons of purchasing locker beef. Pros: Cost efficiency, availability and convenience, and health. Cons: Upfront Cost, can’t pick and choose, only available for purchase at certain times.

Let’s focus on that last one. We are not a retail store in which you can pick and choose what you want when you want it. Our beef is only available once or twice a year. This is something we will definitely expand on as we grow, but for now it is crucial that we know the interest of our customers early! Below is a better explanation of our process, timeline, and why we must know in advance if you are interested in placing orders.

Calves are Born

We have two separate herds of cows, one group calves in the spring (February and March) and the other group calves in the fall (September and October). About two months after they are born the new calves are gathered up and given identification ear tags. The calves remain with the herd, drinking their mother’s milk and grazing, for at least 6 months. After this time, they’re gathered up and weaned from the herd.

Calves are Weaned

The weaning time for the spring calves is November (they are approximately 8 to 9 months old at this time) and for the fall calves is May (they are approximately 7 to 8 months old at this time). At weaning time, we have to make a decision to either retain the calves or to sell the calves. For the November weaning time we will retain calves for our beef program based on the interest that we have received from our customers. The remaining calves are sold. Our usual market for the calves being sold in November is either the Eureka Sale Barn or the El Dorado Sale Barn. The retained calves are taken to our Carney, Oklahoma pre-conditioning ranch where they are weaned and then wintered. Wintering refers to the care and feed that the calves receive during the winter months when there is no available grass. These cattle will graze forage left over from the summer, they will be given hay, and they will be given protein supplements. There is a rather high cost to wintering cattle (cost of labor, cost of hay, and cost of supplements), and we only choose to winter cattle that we know can be sold later in our beef program.

We take the fall calves weaned in May to the pre-conditioning ranch where they are weaned and then put out on Bermuda Grass pasture for 45 to 90 days. After this period these calves are either sold or retained for our beef program. Again, any retained calves will have to be wintered, so we only retain those calves that we know can be sold later in our beef program. For these calves, this decision making time is July or August.

Retained Calves

Retained calves are pastured in Carney, Oklahoma over the winter and following summer. All of our grass-fed beef is harvested approximately 1 year after the calves are weaned. Fall calves would be available in June the following year and the Spring calves would be available in November of the following year. Our beef supplies are very limited since we only retain what we know we can sell. Knowing customer interest helps us to be able to determine how many of our calves to retain at weaning time.

What we need from YOU

It’s so easy to wait until the last minute for most things today, however as you have read we need enough notice to know how many calves to retain. So if you are interested in ordering for the first time, or even if you JUST received an order and know you will be out by November/December, please email us! Remember, we need a deposit to actually hold your portion. The reason we ask for this is because we have too many people express interest but then disappear when it’s closer to time. While taking people at their word would be nice, we run into problems if too many calves are retained and we get stuck with the extra beef. We need that small commitment in the beginning, but rest assured the balance is not due until the cows are slaughtered and weighed. This gives you plenty of time to save and prepare. All you need to do is go to our Contact page or fill out a Purchase Request and we will reach out to you!

Questions? Just ask! We are here to help in any way we can. We understand it can be a lot of information to take in if you’ve never purchased bulk beef before and there are no dumb questions. I promise we’re all very friendly here 😉

Get Your Freezers Ready!!

December 5, 2018 / jcox812

It’s almost time! We’re scheduled to go to the butcher’s on December 7th. This means two very important things:

) If you placed an order, you need to make sure you have a big enough freezer for all that beef!
) Believe it or not, we still have a VERY small amount left so it’s not too late to put in your order, but you better do it quickly. By quickly I mean, like, this week 🙂

So let’s revisit what size freezer you need. We recommend the following:

Whole order: 15 cubic feet
Half Order: 7.5 cubic feet
Quarter Order: 5 cubic feet

These are approximate sizes. Typically, most people seem to agree, but this can fluctuate based on the final size of your order. Also keep in mind that once you have this extra freezer you may want to store other items in it! So a little extra room might not be a bad thing.

What to look for:

This is obviously a personal choice but nowadays there are tons of cool features (pun not intended) you can get. Frost-free is a good option as it will prevent frost buildup: an important step in avoiding freezer burn. There are even some with locks to keep it child-proof or away from any nosy, hungry individuals.

Energy efficient, LED lit, adjustable temperature dials…There’s something for everyone. A good place to start is simply what style do you want? An upright freezer will function much like a refrigerator you’re used to, with a few shelves, possible door space, and a swing door. A chest freezer is like a treasure chest. The lid opens from the top to reveal something better than gold…

There are a few differences between these two, mostly being space related. An upright has more organization abilities with it’s shelves, takes up less room itself, and is easier to get things out of. I’ve also read, though, that they don’t last as long as your average chest freezer and aren’t as energy-efficient. A chest freezer is typically deeper, making it a lot easier to store large, whole items. However, it also means you may be searching around a bit more for what you need and you may have to reach farther to get items from the bottom.

Either way, these are both better options than a regular refrigerator freezer because there is enough space and it won’t be opened nearly as much, keeping that cold air from escaping and food spoiling quicker.

Where do you buy your freezer?

Luckily, you can find these things everywhere. Every major appliance store carries them. You can even find a small selection at wholesale stores like Sam’s Club or Costco! You may also get lucky on Craigslist, Facebook Market, Letgo, and other secondhand websites/apps. Just keep in mind you may be getting what you pay for.

Lastly, the price:

A 5-6 cubic foot freezer can cost anywhere from $100 to about $250, 7-8 cubic feet is around $250 to $500, and anything from 9-16 cubic feet could be anywhere from $500 to $800. Of course, this all varies between what kind and other specs.

Comment below or fill out the contact form if you have ANY questions at all about freezers and storing beef!

Recipe of the Month: Meatloaf

November 30, 2018 / jcox812 / 2 Comments

Agh! I am so sorry, readers! I admit I have failed a bit and got a little behind with the recipes. To make matters worse, I don’t have pictures to share. I’ve been busy working on other exciting things for Grant Creek and let things slip a little. I’m going to justify it by saying this month was obviously taken up by Thanksgiving, so all of you have been preoccupied with other delicious foods.

I can’t believe it’s already almost Christmas! It’s definitely starting to feel like it outside. Cold weather automatically demands comfort foods and I got to thinking, what exactly constitutes a comfort food? Obviously that depends on who you are and where you’re from, I suppose. I often think of carb-loaded, cheesy, creamy, and fried foods – all with a side of bread. That could be because I grew up in the south (Technically, I don’t think Oklahoma is considered the south) but I’ve never heard a salad described as a comfort food by literally anyone. Wikipedia describes it as something that provides nostalgia – whether specific to a person or culture.

It’s not on my personal comfort food list but I know it is for many and it’s taking things down a notch from the hectic Thanksgiving cooking. This month’s recipe is meatloaf. While I have always found the name to be very unappetizing (a loaf of meat?), I can promise you this meatloaf is one of the best. It was shared with me by my wonderful mother-in-law who is allowing me to share it with all of you!

I was just talking to a co-worker this morning about the differences in recipes between my family and in-laws. I have noticed they make a lot of their foods sweeter. Deviled eggs, beans and cornbread, meatloaf. They all have a sweeter touch on my husband’s side than what I grew up with, but don’t let that fool you. I’m definitely the sweeter one. OK, just kidding. Anyway, I don’t always agree this is an improvement, but it without a doubt makes this meatloaf a winner. Instead of brown gravy or simple tomato sauce on top we’re going to make a sweet sauce using ketchup and brown sugar – sounds weird, tastes delicious. Here’s what you’ll need!

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef
1 onion – chopped
1 green bell pepper – chopped
1 sleeve of saltine crackers – crushed (fun fact: you can use crushed pork rinds for this step for a lower carb alternative!)
1 egg
1 squirt of mustard
Ketchup
Brown Sugar
Salt/Pepper to taste

Get Cooking:

Mix the beef, chopped onion, bell pepper, crushed crackers, egg, salt and pepper until well combined.
Form into a loaf and place in a greased 5 X 9 loaf pan. You can also use a larger baking dish or even smaller mini loaves. Keep in mind the size will determine how long it takes to cook.
Mix brown sugar and ketchup, adding a squirt of mustard, until you reach a desired sweetness. You will need about a cup.
Pour the mixture over the meatloaf.
Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes – or until it is done all the way through.

I served mine with a loaded baked potato and green beans. Some of my favorite sides. For a less heavy meal you can always go with a side salad or grilled veggies. Comment below and let us know what you think of this recipe and what some of your favorite comfort foods are!

Recipe of the Month: Wine-Marinated Pot Roast

September 11, 2018 / jcox812 / 1 Comment

FALL IS HERE!! This is my season. I’ve seen posts all over social media begging Fall to make it’s official appearance. Unfortunately if you’re familiar with Oklahoma weather you know how it likes to tease us. We had a beautiful week awhile back. High temperatures were in the mid 80s, there was a slight cool breeze. You better believe I was full speed into Fall mode. Sadly, the 90s visited again and everyone had retreated back inside. Fortunately for us, I think it may be back and here to stay. I knew tempting Fall with our posts about pumpkin spice and hay bales would bribe it come a little early. So doing my part to make this last I’m going to jump in with a delicious recipe I found on Midwest Living’s website.

Before I get started, I want to give a shout out to my friend and fellow blogger, Samantha, for letting me take advantage of her beautiful kitchen as well as lending her awesome photography skills. I only had to bribe her with free dinner and my company 😉 Go check out her website at www.geekedable.com for all things geeky and enjoy the upgrade from my usual recipe posts!

To start off our seasonal recipes, we’re going to use a beef chuck roast. This is another versatile cut that is perfect for roasts or stew which means a lot of savory crock pot meals. We won’t actually be using a crock pot for this dish however. It is a bit more involved and “fancier” than our other recipes. It should be fun!

The recipe will need a lot of time and dedication. It calls for marinating the chuck roast for 8-24 hours along with about 3-4 hours cooking time with some work in between. I don’t know about you but marinating is one of those things I get really excited to see in a recipe. I know there is debate about lengths of time to marinate meat, if longer than a certain time frame really makes that much of a difference, but I always feel like the meal is bound to be excellent if it takes a whole day to make. Really, marinating is not something I think to do often and only do it if I see it in a recipe rather than on my accord. I’m such an “out of the box” thinker, right? So pour yourself a glass of wine, bring the rest with you, and let’s get started!

Ingredients:

One 3-3 1/2 lb boneless chuck arm or shoulder pot roast
One 750ml Bottle fruity red wine (such as Cabernet, Sauvignon, Red Zinfandel or Merlot)
1/2 Tsp kosher, sea salt or regular salt
1/2 Tsp ground black pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
One 10 1/2oz Can condensed beef broth
1/4 Cup no salt added tomato paste
1 Tbsp Dijon-style mustard
1 Tbsp Herbes de Provence, fine herbes or Italian seasoning, crushed
3 Cloves garlic, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 large onion, cut into thin wedges
4 medium carrots, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, and halved crosswise (or 2 cups packaged peeled fresh baby carrots)
4 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces or 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut lengthwise into sixths
2 Cups whole fresh cremini mushrooms
2 stalks celery, bias-sliced into 1-inch pieces
Hot cooked noodles (optional)
2 Tbsp snipped Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
Baguette-style French bread, cut into 1-1/2 inch slices (optional)

For the detailed cooking instructions I’m going to direct you to Midwest Living’s recipe directly. They were so generous to let me share this with you! Keep reading below to follow my adventure with it. Trust me, this is a recipe you want to try.

Wine and friendship makes cooking so much more exciting. This may have to become a monthly tradition. With my ingredients and pre-marinated chuck roast in tow I headed to Sam’s house ready to get cooking and dream of the Fall days upon us.

Sadly, I’m not a wine connoisseur. When looking at the recommendations on the ingredient list I singled out the red zinfandel. I thought, I like white so I’ll probably like red too, right? Yes, that is how my mind works. Picking the first bottle I found I ended up with this 2015 California Zinfandel from Peachy Canyon. When drinking I tend to select sweeter wines but this was yummy and worked perfectly for the recipe. I tell you what, that roast looked amazing just after marinating it. Did you see that deep red color??

Reserving the wine used to marinate the beef, I made a fragrant wine base with garlic, herbes de provence and other flavorful ingredients. I lightly browned the roast at the same time and was already ready to eat. The kitchen was filled with so many wonderful smells. I had never used herbes de provence before but instantly fell in love with the aroma. I’ll definitely be keeping in stock.

Once the wine base reduced it was time to put the roast in the oven for a few hours. This left plenty of time for philosophical talks, rants about life, discovering new shows on Netflix – all while dying to eat the amazing meal we knew was cooking.

Finally, it was time to work on the next step so we got started on cutting up the veggies. Here’s a tip for you: Don’t drop most of your mushrooms on the floor. However, the jokes on you mushrooms. I don’t even like you. I didn’t consider this a huge loss in my book but if you do you might want to avoid sharing your ingredients with the floor.

After cooking for another hour it was time to pull out the finished product. Oh. My. Goodness. The roast was literally falling apart as I transferred it to another dish. It was so tender and had great flavor. If you are hesitant about trying anything cooked with wine, don’t worry. It didn’t have a strong taste at all. It was subtle but perfect. The potatoes were the exact consistency I like. My friend had nothing but nice things to say about it as well. I think we both gave this meal an A+. Honestly, it probably could be just as good throwing everything in a crock pot for a few hours, but sometimes there is just something so satisfying about taking your time and knowing you went that little extra mile for the noticeable big flavor.

I would love to know what you think of this recipe! Please leave a comment below when you give it a try. It is sure to be a big hit with your family or your next dinner party.

Recipe of the Month: Chicken Fried Steak

August 6, 2018August 6, 2018 / jcox812

The amazing thing about purchasing a whole/half/quarter cow is the order is so customizable! You get to choose, within reason of course, what cuts you get, how much fat is trimmed, how thick you want your steaks, if you’d rather have more ground beef, etc. It can be overwhelming at first, which is why we want to help as much as we can. We are always available for ideas, tips, and suggestions. If you’re anything like me before I got into this, you have probably had to google what kind of meat to use for a recipe. What’s the difference between certain cuts? Is a Porterhouse and T-Bone steak the same thing?

Did you know you can get your grass-fed round roasts cut into tenderized fillets instead of individual roasts? This opens up many recipe options like the all-time favorite Chicken Fried Steak! Others include philly cheese steaks, pepper steak and rice, fajitas, and grilled round steak. These tenderized fillets are ideal because they require no additional tenderization from the cook (think pounding with a meat mallet – although a great stress release after a bad day). These fillets have been cross-cut tenderized at the butcher and then packaged in groups of two or four steaks. They have great flavor by themselves and are very lean.

Preparation of the Chicken Fried Steaks is easy! Let’s get cooking!

Ingredients:

1 package of tenderized round roast fillets
2 eggs
1/4 cup of milk
2 Cups of seasoned flour (I season with salt, mild paprika or a little cayenne pepper, and lots of pepper)
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Canola Oil

To Prepare:

Beat the two eggs in a shallow, wide bowl (you are going to dredge the steaks in these bowls so they should be large enough to fit the steak in them) with milk until very well mixed.
In a second shallow, wide bowl add the seasoned flour (Instead I used a ziplock baggie to use the good ol’ shake and bake method. This is not recommended, however, as the steaks are thin and flexible and fold in on themselves. I ended up having to work with it a bit)
Pat the steaks dry with a paper towel and then season generously with salt and pepper (What’s your preference? More pepper or more salt?)
Take the seasoned steak and dredge it in the flour bowl, forcing flour into the meat with your fingers.
Remove the steak from the flour bowl and then soak it in the egg mixture.
Repeat the flour coating one more time. This is important to get that good thick breading we all like.
Put the steak on a rack and repeat this process for all the steaks.
Pre-heat a cast iron skillet with approximately 1/2 inch of oil covering the bottom of the skillet.

The Cooking:

Once the oil is hot, add a steak or steaks to the frying pan. Be careful not to crowd the steaks, there should be space between each steak in the skillet.
Fry over high heat for approximately 2 to 5 minutes per side until the coating is golden brown – be careful not to burn the coating by leaving the steak too long. Flip the steak and cook for half the amount of time on the second side or until golden brown.
Remove the steaks to a plate and place in a warmer until ready to eat.
These chicken fried steaks should be medium rare to medium. If you want them more well-done then you can place them back in the skillet, and then put the skillet in a 350 degree oven and bake for 15 to 30 minutes.

Grass-Fed Chicken Fried Steak is a great way to serve round steak and it is very fast to prepare once you have mastered the recipe. These steaks are great served alone with mashed potatoes and a salad, This time I went completely southern with it and paired the steak with mashed potatoes/gravy and fried okra and squash. They make great steak sandwiches. We like to have ours on a large hamburger bun, with mustard, pickles, tomatoes, and lettuce. Yum!

Let us know what you think below! Also, share your recipes using round roast fillets.

Two Places at Once: Our Locations Explained

July 31, 2018 / jcox812

You might be wondering, or even confused, about our process and how we do things at the ranch, especially since you might have noticed I throw out Kansas and Oklahoma a lot. Why multiple locations? Let me explain.

As I have mentioned before in Ranch Day!!, our main ranch (Grant Creek) is in Cedar vale, KS. It is about 1,400 acres of beautiful pastures and creek. We also own some farm land in Carney, OK. Technically, these are all owned by Riverview Property Co., LLC. Riverview is an affiliate company of Marjo Operating Co., Inc., a small oil and gas company out of Tulsa, OK. This is where the blog magic happens. Mark and Brian run ranch operations with the help of a few guys both in Kansas and Oklahoma while I pass on all the information I hope you all enjoy reading. Then there are the other office duties like Accounting that go on at our Tulsa office as well.

All of our cows and bulls live at Grant Creek Ranch and all of the calves start out there. When calves are born, they stay with their mothers for about 6 months. During this time they roam free and are only caught once when they are tagged with ear tags. After this period, the cows are separated into two groups: Those that will be raised for meat and those that will be sold as calves.

Raised for meat

The calves that are kept to raise will go to the ranch in Carney, OK after they have reached 6 months old. The pastures they will graze are mostly Bermuda grass fertilized with nitrogen. This is safe for the cows and the meat and causes the grass to grow extremely fast, giving the calves plenty to eat. Of course there is a weaning period first. The calves are kept in a smaller area only for about a week. They are fed hay and supplemented with protein, similar to what we have to do in the winter. This is an important step because unfortunately this can be a stressful transition for calves and it can make them susceptible to certain health conditions. We want to make sure they are watched closely and kept calm. As you know we treat our cows well so we have never had any issues with their health or well-being. After this transition time, they are released into the pastures to continue grazing and grow.

Our current calves were born in February/March and will go to Carney in September. They will remain until they are about 1 1/2 years old, gaining approximately 3 pounds per day.

Calves to sell

All of our calves go through this similar process. The ones that are selected to sell will be weaned and then taken to Oklahoma City to be sold. It is better to sell them after the weaning process to ensure they do not develop any issues. This means they can be sold for a higher price and at less risk for the buyer. What happens to these calves next is up to the buyer. Some are sent to feed lots, others are probably sent to other pastures. Who knows, some might even be used for therapy. Yes, this is a thing. Read about it.

Delivery and Processing

Because we have farms locally in these locations, we focus on processing and delivery in these areas only. Someday we hope to grow to be able to branch out our business and offer our meat to a larger demographic. The cost of keeping the meat cold during shipping makes this at a challenge at the moment.

We do offer free delivery in Tulsa and can even make arrangements to have the meat processed at a closer location to you to make ordering easier and more convenient, depending on where you are.

Spread the word so we can start reaching more people and make the delivery process easier and more available for everyone!

Cow Appreciation: Treat ’em right!

July 10, 2018July 10, 2018 / jcox812

HAPPY COW APPRECIATION DAY!!!

We definitely appreciate our cows at Grant Creek Ranch. Beef is arguably the best meat out there…at least it’s my favorite.

Cows sacrifice a lot for us and in return we treat ours with the best care.

We do not inject our cows with hormones. Again, our main goal is not to produce giant animals. Our goal is to produce healthy, flavorful meat.
Our cows roam freely. Feedlots are usually a stressful environment for an animal. If a cow is stressed it will produce adrenaline and other hormones that will affect the meat. Remember, we don’t want extra hormones.
We are a closed herd. We are not bringing cows in from just anywhere. We are careful in our selections. Doing this drastically reduces diseases and illness that can develop and be easily spread in a herd raised with less discretion.
We do not use unnecessary antibiotics. Feedlots are usually crowded, which leads to more sickness and disease, which leads to the need for antibiotics, which affects the meat. If we do not use these methods, it would make sense that we do not need unnecessary antibiotics, and frankly why would we waste the money on them just to be proactive? Now, just like if you are sick, sometimes it is a necessity to ensure the health of our cows, but we try to keep this to minimum.
We are never cruel. If a cow is in a stressful environment, it’d be natural to associate humans with that emotion meaning they are not as receptive to humans. Our cows are only handled a few times a year. What exposure they do have to us is always pleasant, therefore they are not scared and are very tame. Connect this to the points above and you can come to the conclusion that they will produce much more tender meat.

If you noticed, all of these points lead to another. Not all beef is the same and every aspect of their care absolutely has an impact on the product you are buying.

Plain and simple, it just makes sense this way.

Recipe of the Month: Smoked Whiskey Bacon Burgers

July 3, 2018 / jcox812

Happy July! The month of patriotism, fireworks, and summer. Naturally, for this month we’re sticking to a 4th of July classic: Burgers. Perfect for your family gathering before you blow stuff up. This recipe combines good ol’ grass-fed beef with whiskey and bacon…’Merica!

I had actually come across a video from the BBQ Pit Boys a few times and decided to try my own take of their whiskey burger. This was just used as inspiration. I left out and added quite a bit, strayed from their method, and as much as I would’ve liked to be doing this in the woods with the perfect smoker like they do, I stayed on my front porch with my average, tiny smoker (Can you guess what’ll be on my Christmas list this year?). But you know what? There’s nothing whiskey, bacon, and cheese can’t make better.

Ingredients:

Seasoning (or any seasoning of your choice)
- 2 Tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon onion powder
- 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 Tablespoon ground mustard
- 1 Tablespoon smoked paprika (love the smell of this!)
- 1 Tablespoon ground black pepper
2 Pounds Grant Creek Ranch grass-fed beef (Makes 4 burgers)
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 Tablespoons BBQ sauce
Crispy onion strings (Store-bought or make your own!)
1/2 Cup Whiskey
8 Slices Bacon
4 Slices Swiss Cheese

*Disclaimer – These measurements are an estimate. I eye-balled most of it. There’s lots of freedom (pun totally intended) with this recipe.

Make It!

First, mix all the seasoning ingredients together. This recipe actually makes quite a bit and you can use as much or as little as you like. I had a lot left over to use for future recipes.
Mix some of the seasoning mixture into each 1/2 pound of beef along with a 1/4 of Worcestershire sauce each, and then form your patties. Because grass-fed is leaner, it sometimes helps to add that extra moisture you get from the Worcestershire, even if you can’t pronounce it.
If you have rings you can form the patties in, that’s great. If not, you can make one out of aluminum foil, although this step isn’t completely necessary. It just helps to hold everything together, especially when you pour the whiskey on top.
Poke holes in your patties and put a layer of brown sugar on top. You can also use more of the seasoning mixture above. I personally would use more brown sugar than I did next time.

(Please ignore the poor quality of my photos. We’re in a remodeling process and my lighting is not the best)

Drizzle a tablespoon of BBQ sauce over each patty. (I forgot this step)
Pour a tablespoon of whiskey over each patty.
Let sit for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
This is the time I used to get my charcoal going for the smoker, fry up some bacon, and make my crispy onion strings.
When your smoker is ready to go, put the patties on, close the lid, and wait. Then, go ahead and sneak that shot of whiskey and slice of bacon. No judgement here.
I smoked my burgers for about an hour. When I got them out they looked smoky, glazed and beautiful.

Next, build your burger however you like and pair with your favorite BBQ sides (which I was lacking at the moment).

Overall, I thought this burger was pretty delicious and had a very deep smoky flavor. Very moist and cooked perfectly, I will definitely be making this again!

Let me know if you gave it a try in the comments below!

Ranch Day!!

June 8, 2018June 13, 2018 / jcox812 / 1 Comment

Last Friday, we took a company outing to the Ranch in Cedar Vale, Kansas! What we thought was going to be a miserably hot day turned out to be quite nice and tons of fun.

To give you a bit more background, we actually are primarily a small oil & gas company out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, but we also own Riverview property Co., LLC, which has some rental houses in Midtown Tulsa and farms near Tonkawa, OK and another cow-calf operating in Carney, OK. As part of these ventures the owners’ dream of owning a ranch finally came true, bringing you Grant Creek Ranch: 1,420 acres of beautiful land in the Flint Hills of Kansas.

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Unfortunately, Ranch Day happened to fall on the hottest day we’ve had so far this year. Being in Oklahoma, the crazy weather never comes as much of a surprise. With a forecast of 95°, a heat index of 110°, and 70% humidity we honestly were expecting the worst. We packed up the cars with our lawn chairs, sunscreen, and bug spray and made the hour and a half long drive to Grant Creek.

What did come as a surprise was how nice the day actually ended up being. The huge tree in front of the ranch house provided the perfect amount of shade for our group accompanied by a nice cool breeze. We picked up BBQ from Buck’s BBQ in Sedan for a lunch of brisket, pulled pork, red potato salad, pies, and other goodness. This place is HIGHLY recommended if you’re ever in the area. Delicious food, cold beer, and great friends: what else could you ask for?

Next, we took a tour of the ranch to see the many pastures, shady creek, and of course…our cows. There are so many kinds of birds and flowers to admire, old structures left on the property made our imaginations soar, and the views are spectacular with nothing but land and sky for miles and miles.

Most of our employees are not directly involved with the ranch so it was great for them to be able to finally see what it’s all about and all the work that is put into it. I was particularly excited to see everything as I am involved in more of the background work, this blog included. To finally be able to physically experience it made my already amazing job that much better. Heck, I even learned how to drive the tractor! They’ll be putting me to real work in no time.

I’m drivin’ a tractor!

Mark, one of our fearless leaders

Brian, the other owner, and his dad.

At the end of the day, we were all thankful for the road trip and can’t wait to do it again soon.

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Update on Beef Sales

May 10, 2018July 1, 2018 / grant606

2018 Grass Fed Beef Sales – Tulsa Area

Our beef will be ready to be picked up from the processor in late December 2018. The hanging weight should still be the same as discussed in the sales page and the price will still be $3.99/lb hanging weight plus processing. We still have some beef left to sell, so if you are interested in beef for 2018 please take a look at the sales page for details on reserving your beef. There is a form that you can fill out to get in touch with us. We will get in touch with everyone who has reserved beef in about a month to discuss payment of your deposit which will guarantee your beef for 2018.

2019 Grass Fed Beef Sales – Tulsa Area

We are already planning for 2019 beef sales and if there is enough interest we may have beef sales in July 2019 and November 2019. Our normal beef sales time is late in the year, but we understand that some people may want beef before this date. If you are interested in beef for either date in 2019 then please fill out the form on the sales page and in the comments section let us know that you are interested in either summer or winter 2019 beef purchase.

Update on Calf Purchases – Oklahoma City Area

We have for sale 1 year old weaned calves that have had one round of shots and are eating out of a trough. These calves are located at our Carney, Oklahoma pre-conditioning facility and may be delivered from here if you are interested. If you are interested in purchasing these calves please fill out the form on the sales page and let us know. We will then be in touch with you to arrange a time for you to take a look at the calves and to discuss pricing and delivery of the calves.