Kansas City, Missouri – Becoming a barbecue champion requires hours of hard work, just the right technique and a combination of sauces and rubs that gets the attention of judges. But when it comes right down to it, it’s all about starting with the best meat available.
One of the hottest new teams in the barbecue capital of the world attributes much of its success to Vintage Natural Beef®. John and Diane Suman, owners of A Cut Above Natural Meats in Shawnee, Kan., recommended the premium meat to the Holy Smoke BBQ team, also of Shawnee.
“The leader of the team and I attend church in the same parish,” John Suman said. “He told me he was a novice at barbecue competitions, and I offered to sponsor Holy Smoke and see how they did.”
Suman also urged that the team try Vintage Natural Beef, a natural beef program that he’d recently been introduced to. A sample of Vintage Natural Beef had made him a believer. “My distributor gave me some samples, and I cooked them,” he said. “Vintage Natural has some of the best steaks and roasts I have ever eaten. I recommended them to some of my best customers, and they really liked them.”
“The head of the Holy Smoke BBQ team cooked both the beef they had been using and the Vintage Natural,” he said. “He had a blind taste test to see which one his wife thought was best. She picked the Vintage Natural both times, and it won both times.”
In competition against dozens of top teams, Holy Smoke was named grand champion of both the Shawnee Grillers Great State Championship and the Mission Battle of the Brisket. In fact, Holy Smoke has finished first in three of the 10 competitions it has entered so far this year.
The difference between Vintage Natural and other beef is obvious from the first bite, said Brad Feaster, business manager for National Beef.
“We are happy, but not surprised, to see the success of Vintage Natural Beef in competition,” he said. “We also are seeing more and more restaurants request this premium beef for their customers. The purity of the breed genetics, the natural, humane production practices and a specially formulated diet result in meat that is extremely tender and flavorful.”
Suman reminds his customers that they don’t have to be competitive cooks to enjoy the same great taste at home.
“A lot of older customers say it reminds them of the beef they ate when they grew up on a farm,” he said. “A woman in her 70s or 80s came in recently. She said she had grown up on brisket, and Vintage Natural was the best she had ever eaten.”
About Vintage Natural Beef
Starting with a pure, single breed of cattle, Vintage Natural Beef is the product of a small group of family-owned ranches dedicated to elevating natural beef to a higher level. Vintage cattle are raised in a unique ecosystem with moderate year-round temperatures and fed a wholesome corn-based grain diet for a minimum of 350 days. Because of this tight cattle supply and one-of-kind production process, all Vintage Natural Beef grades as USDA Choice or Prime, the top quality grades for tenderness, juiciness, and flavor. To learn more, visit www.vintagenaturalbeef.com.
Kansas City metro area restaurants interested in adding Vintage Natural Beef to their menu should contact Arrowhead Specialty Meats at 816-889-9333 or visit their website at www.gamemeat.com.
Source: Vintage Natural Beef