You'll get about 175 lbs of packaged meat. The meat is dry-aged for 2-4 weeks, then cut, vacuum packed and frozen.
The meat from older animals has become popular, once again, because of the rich flavor that comes with age. Since our animals are well cared for throughout their lives the meat is tender and succulent.
In Spain "Vaca Vieja" refers to the delicious, flavorful meat from an older beef. We riffed on that and made up the name "Yaka Vieja".
We have a "standard" cut sheet we can use, but if you're ordering a whole animal you likely will have specific requests. When you order you'll get a private consultation with our craft butcher, Triny Vigil at Carnivores Meat Processing right here in Chama, NM. He'll guide you to what cuts are good to keep and which to grind, and he will make sure you get exactly what you want. Typically you'll want to keep at least the tenderloin, ribeyes, New Yorks, Top Sirloin and some stew meat with the remaining turned to ground. All vacuum packed. The meat will last for a few years in your freezer. Triny can also make some yak bratwurst for you (there's a surcharge of $50 for 10 lbs).
"Vaca Vieja" (old cow) has been a special treat for those "in the know" because of the rich flavor that comes with age. This is from yak, hence "Yaka Vieja". Here are three articles:
There's a myth that grass-fed livestock doesn't finish with a nice layer of fat. Clearly whoever perpetuates that myth doesn't appreciate the wonderful mountain grass (and hay) we have here at The Chama Valley Meat Co. (And, some meat industry folks have told us: "you are wasting grain to produce all that fat". No we aren't! We don't feed any grain. These animals just free-range, free-choice feed open pasture.)
That grass-fed fat is high in the Omega 3 fatty acids, too. Those are said to be good for us humans. The rich yellow color in grass fed yak comes from Beta-carotene, an important anti-oxidant. Unlike the majority of micro-nutrients within yak which cannot be seen with the naked eye, you can actually SEE how beta-carotene affects beef fat – from the color!
That dark red meat is tender and flavorful. Yaks are native to the high Himalayas, so they have more myoglobin than cattle, which gives the meat that delicious, dark red color.
You get all the meat from one of our yaka vieja -- Aged on the hoof:), and then dry-aged to perfection.
Our meats are the best you’ve ever tasted because we control the entire supply chain. Our yaks are bred, born and raised on our ranches.(Robert purchases all our cattle from our neighbors or from local auction houses) In the summers they enjoy the high mountain grasses and fresh spring waters on our Wolf Creek Ranch. In the winters we move the yaks to our lower elevation farm 20 miles from the ranch where they eat Timothy hay that was grown either on our farm or neighboring farms. Our processor is located right in Chama, and his craft butchery is second to none. Also, our team members all have historic ranching roots in the Chama Valley giving them a deep knowledge of animal husbandry and regenerative grazing practices of the region.
