Breaking Down Connective Tissue

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Published 2025

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Remember that connective tissue is highest in muscles that are frequently exercised and in mature animals.

Milk-Fed, Grain-Fed, or Grass-Fed

The properties of meats are determined, in part, by the diet of the animals. Most of the beef on the market in North America is grain-fed, even though grass, not grain, is the natural diet of cattle. Feeding cattle grain enables producers to raise and fatten them for market more quickly than letting them browse on grass does. Grain-fed beef is tender and has more marbling than grass-fed beef, and it is preferred by most North American consumers. Grass-fed or pastured beef is usually perceived as less tender and less juicy, although it is lower in saturated fat and may have more health benefits. Its flavor is often described as “beefier” than that of grain-fed beef. Grass-fed beef is common in some other countries, such as the beef-eating and beef-producing nation of Argentina. In North America, producers of pastured beef are campaigning for more consumer recognition.

The effect of diet can be seen in other meat animals. Traditionally, the highest-quality veal is considered to be so-called milk-fed veal, more properly called formula-fed. The meat is light pink in color and mild and delicate in flavor. Calves fed solid food or allowed into a pasture have darker, more reddish meat with a somewhat beefier flavor. Ethical objections exist about the raising of formula-fed veal because the animals are penned and not allowed much movement. As for the flavor of milk-fed versus pastured veal, this is a matter of personal preference.

The youngest lamb is called spring lamb. It is slaughtered before it begins a diet of solid food, and its meat is light in color and delicate in flavor. Older lamb is darker in color and has a more pronounced flavor. After the age of one year, this meat is no longer called lamb but mutton, and it has a still darker color and stronger flavor. Little mutton is sold in North America. (In some markets the name mutton may also be used for goat meat, although this is not traditional English usage.)