Carrie Oliver Rating: Outdoor Adventure Beef™
These deep-timbered, meaty steaks and burgers from Northeastern Oregon reminded me of being on a brisk trek through a cool forest. They say the dog fits the owner. This unique beef certainly reflects Pat Mallon’s woodsy, energetic, gregarious personality.
Tasting Notes:
Both the steak and burger had a some chew Texture, adventurous Personality with earthy tones including fresh exotic and button mushrooms and hints of surf and gravy. This full-flavored beef left a medium Impression.
Meet The Ranchers
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Pat is eager for feedback from his customers and has been known to trace back to a particular head of cattle in an effort to continuously improve the flavor and texture of his beef. You can find the Mallons on their Pat~n~Tams Web site, through Shop The Northwest, and in Pasco and Pendleton. You can also learn about specials and Pat~n~Tams events over on their Facebook page
Tasting Overview:
| Taster: | Carrie Oliver, Ashlyn Forster |
| Date Tasted: | February 2010 |
| Cut Tasted: | Rib-Eye, Ground Beef |
| Diet/Feed: | Grass & Hay with Vegetable Screenings (peas, carrots, peas, corn, lima beans & potatoes) |
| Cooking Method: | Flat Bottomed Cast Iron Pan |
| How Served: | Medium (oops!) |
| Seasoning: | Kosher Salt |
| Previous Cut Tasted: | None |
| Previous Date Tasted: | None |
| Previous Taster: | None |
Quick Facts
| Breed: | Angus & Angus Cross |
| Growing Region: | Stanfield, Northeastern Oregon |
| Farm/Ranch: | Rocking TP Ranch |
| Farmers/Ranchers:lllllllll | Pat & Tammy Mallon |
| Diet/Feed: | Grass Fed, Vegetable & Mineral Supplements |
| Raising Protocols: | We run our cow/calf pairs on irrigated pasture. In the winter we feed hay and frozen vegetable screenings. Calves are finished on pasture and free choice mix of vegetable screenings and hay. We harvest at about 18-22 months of age. |
| Finishing Protocols: | Our pastures are mixed species grasses and clovers. It varies as we run on rented ground. We feed free choice vegetable screenings (peas, carrots, peas, corn, lima beans and potatoes) mixed in a supreme mixer with alfalfa hay. |
| Slaughterhouse: | Primarily Buxton’s Meats, Sandy, OR (USDA) |
| Butcher: | Buxton’s Meats, Sandy, OR (USDA) |
| Aging Technique: | Dry-Aged as split carcass |
| Aging Time: | 21 to 28 days |
| Packaging: | Cryovac |
| Never Use Antibiotics Ever: | We doctor our sick cattle and them mark the ear tag. These cattle are sold outside of our beef program. |
| Use Vet Approved Spot Treatment Antibiotics: | See above |
| Never Use Feed Antibiotics | X |
| Never Use Added Growth Hormones: | X |
| Never Use Ionophores: | X |
| No Animal, Fish, Fowl By-Products in Feed | X |
| 100% Vegetarian Feed | X |
| Practice Rotational Grazing | Mostly |
| Practice Managed Intensive Rotational Grazing | No |
| USDA Natural | Yes |
| USDA Naturally Raised New Voluntary Certification | No |
| Third Party Certified Organic | No |
| Third Party Certified Humane | No |
| Other Third Party Certifications | No |
| Other | Some of the roasts and hamburger will come from mid-aged cows and some of the seasoned products/hamburger may include beef from our fleshy bulls when we are done using them for breeding. |
I created the concept of Artisan Meat and evaluate, rate, and create professional tasting notes for individual farms, ranches, and butcher teams. Some call me the Robert Parker of Meat, others Beef Geek. 
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
We are offering Hanging enders and Cheek Meat now. LOL, kinda reminds me of Liver and Heart. The fans of those cuts do the Happy Dance while those who don’t know kinda wish we used a French Term so they don’t really know what it is they are eating,
;-}
Hi, Pat. Well good for you for selling Cheek Meat and Hanging Tenders. A lot of people ask me if I know where to get these, especially Cheek Meat. As for the names of the cuts, the whole meat industry is wrought with lame terminology. Two of my personal favorites are “Shoulder Clod” (doesn’t that sound yummy?), Flatiron Steak (which sounds like something that would break your teeth – even though it’s very tender) or with pork, “Pork Butt” (which comes from the shoulder, not the rear).
Great to see that Pat and Tammy have been tasted! I have been thinking about how I can become qualified as a beef taster by some other means than the size of my jeans. I am confident in my ability to know good beef but I’m not sure I can learn how to compare it to wine. “Deep-timbered and meaty” I wouldn’t have thought to write that but I could learn. I am sure it was great steak though. I especially like that they just used kosher salt as a seasoning That should be enough and I am sure it was.
Great article,
Tim
Hi, Tim,
Pat and Tammy’s beef is good! That’s interesting feedback, too, on the words I’m using to describe beef. The short story is I’m trying to avoid making it sound intimidating or snooty as with wine, to inject a little fun and spirit into it. If it’s not coming across that way, I’ll have to get better at it
Pat struck me as really down to earth, gregarious, and open. His beef really did remind me of him.
It so happens that I’m starting a formal training program for tasting beef (and other meats). I’ll send you an email about this! The fact that you’re in Nebraska helps, actually.
If anyone else wants to be trained as certified beef tasters, let me know!
I am sure the meat was great. I am going to have him send me some and see if I can taste what you did. Actually, the way you described the taste made me want to try it myself. I just never thought of using deep-timbered to describe something. It makes sense though. I am always curious to see what a region throws into the taste of beef that is different than I am used to.
I am a Restaurant specialist in commercial real estate and I represent chefs, restauratuers and national restaurant chains in procuring location sites. The reason for the note is to ask how is your sales and distribution set up.
Paul, I’ll send you an email. We’re not in the meat distribution industry but perhaps I can point you in the right direction.
I am a chef and Pat is one of my beef providers. Pat provides some of the best beef in Oregon. His method for feeding is reflected in the flavor and texture of the final product. I highly recommend Pat-n-Tams beef.