Raised with care, the Kilnford way
Jock Rome, our owner and his family have been farming beef cattle in local Dumfries & Galloway for almost 50 years.
During that time we have enthusiastically tried different breeds, different feeding methods, different rearing systems and continually tried to improve the quality of the product. We’ve sought advice from butchers, processors, chefs and beef connoisseurs and now they have been able to finally retail our own product, few things have given Jock as much satisfaction as the very high proportion of customers who come back and say:
“It’s the best beef I’ve ever tasted”
Jock tells us: “I’ve often asked the question of a butcher “What breed of beef would you choose for your own home freezer?”
Without exception it has always been one of the native breeds and in this South Westerly. corner of Scotland it is almost always The Galloway.
This made it an easy and logical decision for us to develop our Galloway herd and retail Galloway beef.”
What makes great beef?
The 3 most important things we all look for in good beef are
- TASTE (and Flavour)
- TENDERNESS (and Texture)
- MARBLING ( and Cookability)
Producing good beef has much in common with producing good wine.
Both are often nurtured on poorer soils, slowly and careingly reared and every little detail is deemed important to achieve a top class product.
TASTE
Galloway beef excels in taste because the cattle are grown slowly. They are allowed to almost reach maturity before leaving the farm.
Kilnford’s cattle graze on rough pasture on the hill and only receive a limited amount of concentrated cereal feed as they reach maturity to encourage marbling in the meat. This natural low input system which utilises rough grass is friendly to the environment and produces a product that has a flavour all of its own.
TENDERNESS
The most important action in achieving tenderness is the hanging process. Our butchers insist on the traditional method of dry ageing the meat for 3-4 weeks and this allows the natural enzymes to start to break down some of the fibres in the meat.
Native cattle, and Belted Galloways in particular, are much smaller at maturity than their continental cousins. This means that the fibre strands within any particular cut of meat from Galloway cattle are often finer giving a superior texture.
At the Kilnford Fam Shop our team of skilled Butchers proudly show off the home reared galloway beef produce they sell in the shop.
The cooking process also has a vital role in the tenderness of the final product. Our butchers and chefs are always happy to give advice on the cooking of any particular cut – please ask!
MARBLING
By marbling we mean the small specks of fat which are dotted and striped throughout the meat. A Galloway steak will not have a large strip of fat on the edge of the steak. It is distributed throughout the muscle.
Many scientific studies have shown that native breeds, and the Galloway breed in particular, have a natural marbling of the fat through the meat. The marbling is a result of the natural survival methods of Galloway cattle which require that they store fat within their tissues to help survive the long, cold winters.
That marbling of the fat within the tissues is the key to the “cookability” of the meat, producing a succulent joint that is just bursting with flavour.
Try it. You may just find
“It’s the best you’ve ever tasted”
