CALF_News_December_2021_January_2022

6 CALF News • December 2021 | January 2022 • www.calfnews.net I s it a guest ranch that runs cattle? Or is it a cattle ranch that welcomes guests to its world-class accommo- dations, activities and restaurants? With Brush Creek Ranch, it’s both. And the two are intertwined in a way that makes the operation truly unique. Located near Saratoga, Wyo., Brush Creek Ranch offers guests a remarkable array of outdoor activities year ‘round. Its four restaurants offer world-class cuisine and, true to its working ranch roots, every menu – breakfast, lunch and supper – tempts guests with beef. Not just any beef, however. The beef that guests enjoy is as unique as the experiences they enjoy. That’s because the Wagyu cattle that provide the ranch’s mainstay menu item are raised on the ranch. And the beef those cattle provide is every bit as unique in its own right. Wagyu, once an oddity in the main- stream U.S. commercial cattle business, are now gaining rapid acceptance. Perhaps best known for the Kobe beef in Japan, Wagyu isn’t a breed. The nameWagyu refers to all Japanese beef cattle.“Wa” means Japanese and“gyu” means cow. In fact, there are four different indi- vidual breeds of Wagyu cattle in Japan. Of those, only the Japanese Black and Japanese Brown, or Akaushi, are found outside of Japan. Both breeds roam the pastures of Brush Creek Ranch. According to Ranch Manager Ron Hawkins, the cattle are docile and produce the Wagyu beef that guests enjoy at the restaurants for its flavor and tenderness. Brush Creek Ranch has been a cattle/ people business for seven years, and Hawkins says they’re still making adjust- ments on finding the sweet spot for carcass weights. “But I think we’re going to try somewhere between 1,600 and 1,800 pounds out of the feedlot.” Once the primals hit the fabrication table at the ranch, they’ll yield as many as 60 different cuts per side that the chefs can prepare and serve to guests. Typically in the United States, about 50 percent of a beef carcass is ground and served as hamburger. Not so in Japan withWagyu beef, says Kenichi “Ken” Katoh, a popular butcher and restaurateur in Japan. Brush Creek Ranch invited Katoh to work with its chefs to understand how to fully utilize the 60 different cuts that a Wagyu carcass can yield per side. Because of the high marbling and excep- tional tenderness inherent in Wagyu genetics, even cuts like the shank can be prepared so that a guest can enjoy a memorable dining experience. In Japan, where hamburgers aren’t as popular as in the U.S, Katoh can fabri- cate a Wagyu carcass so that he only gets about 50 pounds of trimmings that will be ground. The United States, however, is a hamburger nation and while guests come to Brush Creek Ranch expecting a great outdoor experience and world-class dining, they still want a hamburger now and then. So the Wagyu beef that is fabricated on the ranch isn’t cut exactly as it would be in Japan under the expert knives of Katoh and his butchers. “But our chefs will take big primals and they’ll start taking that meat in a different way,” Hawkins says,“utilizing a lot of dif- ferent cuts that aren’t normally used.” The answer to providing guests with an exceptional dining experience when a cheeseburger is the choice is to mix the outside fat that’s trimmed off the carcass with the ground beef, Katoh says. “So the flavor and the fragrance comes from the Wagyu fat.” Like Brush Creek Ranch, nearly all Wagyu beef producers in the United Connecting the Dots from Ranch to Restaurant Combining a Guest Ranch and a Working Cattle Ranch for Fun and Profit By Burt Rutherford Contributing Editor ABOVE: There are four breeds of Wagyu cattle in Japan but only two are found in the United States – Japanese Black and Japanese Brown, or Akaushi. LEFT: Kenichi “Ken” Katoh, renowned butcher and restaurateur in Japan, shows Drew Anderson, culinary director at Brush Creek Ranch, how to fabricate 60 different restaurant- ready cuts from a side of Wagyu beef. Continued on page 8 