Native Breed Cattle: Aberdeen Angus

We had such a great response to our brief post about Aberdeen Angus cattle, and from this we decided to give you a bit more information about the native breeds that we have in Scotland, and that we work with at John Gilmour Butchers. 

Of course, we had to start this series with Aberdeen Angus.  

The Breed

This breed of cattle is native to Scotland, specifically the North-East and Aberdeenshire. We’re lucky to have them local to us in Scotland, although they’ve grown in popularity around the world. They’re a hardy breed (you’d have to be with our Scottish weather!), which means that they cope well with harsh conditions. They adapt well to changing weather, and are generally good natured too.  All of these together have made them internationally known, with them being the most popular breed now in places like the United States and Australia.

We work with only the highest quality breeds, and Aberdeen Angus is absolutely among the highest. We are very lucky that it is native to Scotland, having evolved to be at their best in the Scottish terrain and climate.  

The Meat

We at John Gilmour Butchers work with local, partner farmers and their Aberdeen Angus cattle also because of the quality of the beef.

Aberdeen Angus is widely considered one of the most prized breeds of cattle due to the distribution of fat. Essentially this means that the breed carries its fat throughout its body, which leads to a high degree of even marbling across the meat. For the consumer, this means a juicy, tender texture, with a deep flavour.

Other breeds of cattle (ones who are more tolerant to higher temperatures in other countries) often carry their fat in layers, as opposed to evenly marbled across the meat. These can still be delicious, but not nearly as tender as our own native breeds in the UK, especially the Aberdeen Angus.

With all of this great quality beef, the maturing process then becomes hugely important to the flavour. It arrives to us at our factory, where we then dry-age it to remove excess moisture, tenderise the meat even further, and add flavour.

To find out more about our dry-aging process – click here.

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