In this podcast episode I talk with the husband and wife team that run the Noble Elk from Northern Utah. Learn what it's like to raise elk and how the meat compares to beef or bison.
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Here is the transcript from our interview with Jon and Angie from the Noble Elk.
Eric: Hey podcast listeners. Welcome to this special episode of the Eat Shop Waste Not Podcast. I am your host Eric Samuelson. Have you ever had elk meat before? Are you curious about what it tastes like and how it compares to other types of meat? Well if these are questions that you have ever pondered today we the answers for you. I have, not 1, but 2 guests on the podcast today. Let me introduce you to the husband and wife team from the Noble Elk. Welcome to the podcast.
Noble Elk: Thanks. Yeah, it's good to be here.
π¦ What is Noble Elk?
Eric: All right. Uh, so I wanted to start out by just you guys introducing yourself and telling us about your business and how you got started.
Noble Elk: Yeah. So, uh, we're both from Wisconsin. We grew up there. Uh, we moved to Utah in 2008. Um, and we knew we always wanted a ranch. So we bought our ranch and started raising animals. Um, we. We, we both grew up kind of around cattle, um, and knew that's not where we wanted to be. And kind of got the elk idea after moving to Utah from, it's kind of a, it's not a big industry out here.
It's actually more prominent back in the Midwest, but no one would ever know, um, how many farm elk farms there were back there. I grew up there. I didn't know. Um, and we got the idea, um, from a local elk farmer. And in 2020 bought our first farm and got our first five cows. Um, and we're both big into, uh, the outdoors and we really wanted to be able to share, uh, the benefits and the taste of domesticated elk meat with the rest of the American population.
You know, a lot, a lot of people get to have it, experience it in their lifetime, um, nor know the nutritional values of it. Uh, in that regard. So yeah, I think we, we started, I mean, we started hunting, um, when we were younger, but when we moved out to Utah, we were able to to hunt elk and very much enjoyed the meat.
Wild elk has less of a gamey flavor than your wild deer would. And when we tried domestic elk, we were like, oh, wow. It's good because you can control kind of what the animal's eating for its lifetime. And we wanted to be able to share that.
Eric: Yeah, that, that's great. I mean, it's great to see, you know, you guys try trying out different things and wanting to bring something else out there that, that, you know, that is out there, but it's not like a as , widely available as you know, you know, um, as obviously beef or even bison.
I mean, that's been growing a little bit, you know, in the last decade or so. But it's still, it's still like you, I mean, you at this point, you probably can go in every store and get ground bison, at least here. But like elk is not something you find in every single, you know, you gotta hunt for that.
π How is Elk Meat Different?
Eric: So what would you want people to, um, know about , the differences between elk meat and say in beef or bison? Like what are, how do they differ in terms of flavor, texture, fat, content, all that kind of stuff?
Noble Elk: Yeah, so with with elk meat, it's, um, I mean, and you can go search this on a lot of different sites, um, with elk meat, they're even domestic elk. They're super lean. The reason they're super lean and, and they don't have a lot of the danger, the high levels of dangerous fat in them like, Uh, the other animals is because of their natural for, their wild foraging diet.
So even, um, you know, there's multiple times a year that we will add oats and molasses and barley and different things to our cow's diets, our elk cows, just because they have a lot higher energy needs when they're growing their calves, when they're lactating and growing the calves that way. And when the bulls are growing their antler, and when we go out and feed them those little extra grains, they won't eat all of it.
Um, they, they pick through what they want and then they go back to their regular diet like they would in the wild versus in cattle industry, pigs, sheep, all those.
We have sheep here. Um, and when you feed them those grains, they pig out on it, you know, and, and so, you know, in natural industry, in the cattle industry, they get a lot higher amount of fat, uh, in, in that.
Um, well, and that's, that's kind of what the industry has gone for is, you know, high production, fast, um, high muscle production. Fast. Yeah. Um, and, you know, the elk are, they're naturally adapted to surviving with less feed. So their body has adapted to using those forage as far as like grass and grains, better to better nut use the nutrients for them.
Mm-hmm. Um, whereas, you know, your more domesticated animals have lived on a diet that we've chosen for, for a longer period of time. Um, so yeah, so the, the elk is leaner. Um, it has a higher protein content and a, and way less fat than say cattle. Um, or sheep. Mm-hmm. Um, and bison and, and a little bit bison, elk is pretty similar to bison.
Mm-hmm. Uh, as far as like, taste, texture, um, and nutrients lamb is gonna be fattier than elk. Um, but lamb is actually filled, and a lot of people don't know this either, but lamb is filled with a lot of micronutrients and healthy fats that help us help our body lose weight.
Mm-hmm. Um, and, as far as like vitamins and minerals, it's, it's really packed full of that because, um, of the way sheep maintain and, and. Hold their nutrients as well.
When you talk about the actual meat on the elk, I mean, the meat doesn't contain the growth hormones, antibiotics, the high steroid content, et cetera, that you'll find in a lot of the other, uh, domesticated industries because of, you know, they, they haven't gotten into that feed level and, and where it's unique.
So that's why they maintain their lean, you know, less than 2% fat, generally, uh, sometimes a lot leaner than that, uh, within their meat, 98% lean. So, or, or better. A lot of our meat is 99 plus percent lean,
Eric: Yeah, it's very interesting with the the feed thing, like, that's just fascinating that they don't pig out like pigs or cows with it. They just, they have this certain thing here and so, you know, you're kind of supplementing them, but they're still wanting to get their own natural things and stuff here.
Didn't know about that before.
Noble Elk: I was just gonna say, um, add that, I mean, they do a, a very good job. While, while we're raising them in our pastures here, they do a very good job of impacting the environment and the pasture, uh, keeping that very low, you know, because they, they forage so well compared to other animals, they eat a lot less as well.
So the, the impact to, you know, our pastures and, and just the environment is a lot lower.
π₯© What Kinds of Cut Do You Get from Elk?
Eric: That's interesting. Yeah. When it comes to cuts of elk, do you find like similar type cuts that you would find in beef too?
Noble Elk: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. The elk are as far as the butcher's concerned, the elk are cut exactly like cattle. So all of your same cuts. They tend to be smaller because the animal itself is smaller than, than a cow would be when you take 'em to butcher.
π΄ How Eating Elk Affects You
The thing that we've noticed with that though after when, I mean we've been eating elk meat for a while, um, is you don't get that. Uh, I think Angie's got a better word for it than I do. After you eat that meal of, you know, say you were eating an elk sirloin versus a beef sirloin, you don't have that, uh, what's the word you use? Um, the same, like, it's not bloating I don't wanna say lethargic or bloated, but Yeah.
You just feel fuller. You know, you feel fuller, but you don't have that, that extra fat content your body's trying to break down. It's lean, it feels like your body can use the meat better and you actually, I feel like I have more energy right after I eat a full steak than I would if I ate a full steak from a cow.
Yeah. Um, you can eat less. And, and still feel full, but your, your body isn't using its energy to break down the fat makeup in that, in that beef versus the, the elk. And so you, you retain your energy levels. That's what we've noticed anyway. Um, we've both done, some HRT hormone replacement therapy and notice, I mean, your diet impacts 80% of that.
So changing your diet and, and doing elk and lamb and, and vegetables and things it that meat. Really impacts our gut health and our energy levels day to day. You know, we don't get that three o'clock, just crash. Yeah. Your cognitive, you know. Mm-hmm. Um, health too. Yeah. So just things that we've noticed. I mean, I can't speak that way for everybody, but, um, things that we've done and, and experienced over the last year, so.
Eric: Yeah, that's encouraging. It's encouraging to hear, those kind of stories . The trying the different animal compared to that producing a positive result for you guys and making you, you know, feel more energized? And you said like, like being able to eat less, like, you know, cause first the meat is, is smaller in size, you know, so you're, you know, probably, you know, your rib eye and stuff is gonna be small, a smaller portion.
But you said it's still like, it's still filling up. You're not having to eat so much of it and you're not gonna, you know, And actually, you know, you know, most people get some ginormous ribeye steak or something from, from a, a cow are gonna, you know, they're gonna eat the whole thing.
They're not gonna like, oh, I'm just gonna quit now. You know, you're gonna go through and you're gonna eat, eat the whole thing here. Um, so that's that, that, you know, the small portion, you're still, you're still feeling like you're, you're satisfied, which is great.
Noble Elk: Yeah, and don't get me wrong, I mean, I definitely still enjoy a good, you know, a good beef ribeye, you know, like that. We're not, we're not bashing that at all. We love, we love beef. We've got some really good friends in the beef industry. My parents are still in the beef industry, you know, so, um, just talking about the differences between the meats and what we've seen.
Eric: Yeah. Yeah. And then kind of a, you know, like a variety too. I think most, most of America know were kind of, you know, stuck in the, just the three, just the beef, chicken, and, pork and those, like the three ones who don't focus on the most here. And then you have fish.
Um, you know, although I know a lot of people that are just like, Talking to friend yesterday, he's like, I can't stand seafood. No seafood for me, nothing at all. Um, so you kinda limit that way. So it's neat, you know, to be able introduce like these other things like elk and bison and, and see, know their and stuff here.
π₯ How to Cook Elk
Eric: Um, so since Elk is a leaner meat, what are some of the ways you like cook it cuz um, you know, when you do have leaner meat, there's always that kind of more risk. You could overcook it or it could be dry. So like, like what things do you guys recommend in that case?
Noble Elk: Oh yeah, we, we experienced all of those things. Um, you know, so it, uh, it, it cooks fast. We, what we've found is generally speaking that when you, when you cook it, whether it's. I'm a smoker in a fry pan. Wherever you're doing, it's about half the time of beef. Um, what, and, and whether you're cook, you know, if it's a ribeye and you you're googling a ribeye recipe that you wanna follow or, or whatever it might be, cook it in about half the time.
Get a meat thermometer and check it. I generally try and pull the steaks and the ribeyes off at about a hundred thirty five, hundred forty degrees and then let 'em set and rest and they'll come up another little, little bit just like beef would. And that's perfect.
A lot of uh, high-end restaurants that do serve elk, the chefs tell you, you need to eat this rare. We will not, you know, if you want us to cook it more for you, we can. But eating it rare gives you that. It just breaks it down faster. It's easier for your body to digest. Um, and the flavor and, and everything about it. The texture is just better. So, yeah, I feel like too, When I order like a medium rare steak that like a beef steak, I feel like it has, you can almost taste the blood.
Like it, it almost has an irony flavor. Right. I don't feel like elk has that. No, because I, I tend to like to eat my elk steaks with a little bit of pink or more pink in the middle than I, than I would beef and I don't feel like I get that same flavor that maybe somebody wouldn't like about a rare No mistake.
And it's completely diet related for the animal.
Eric: Yeah. That's interesting. Yeah. Um, yeah, I'm gonna have to totally do that comparison, um, to see that too. Yeah. Um, and you also brought, brought up a very good point about the, like, the thermometer. , I'm big on that. We had an episode with, a guy from Thermoworks, they're located in Utah, like you guys are.
They have some really, really amazing thermometers. Really top of the line stuff. That's like one of the best things I think you can do to invest, um, in, in cooking good meat is to know, like cook the temperature so that, you know, you don't overcook it. You know? And I think some people feel like, oh, you know, it's cheating or something here.
π§ Listen to Why a Thermometer Will Save You Money
But like, even, even chefs will, they sell their products to chefs, so like they're doing it too, you know.
Noble Elk: Otherwise, you're wasting your time. Yeah.
Eric: Yeah. Yeah. Um, so that's one of the things too, I think like you invest, you know, when buy meat in a good thermometer. Um, so that's really good help, um, with
Noble Elk: Right. No, I, we won't cook without one. Um, it's just, otherwise you're wasting your time. Yeah. Yeah. And I've, I've found that like, roasts in a crock pot. Mm-hmm. Um, if you're gonna use like a beef brisket roast, but you have an elk, um, definitely cut the time in half. So, like, I think a beef brisket is like an eight hour cook.
It would be more of like a five to six hour cook. At most, yeah, more like five probably. Yeah.
π What's Raising Elk Like
Eric: Yeah. So. Yeah, that's good. You know, definitely a good option if you're, if you're more impatient, wanting get your food faster, you're not going with elk and Yeah. Um, so let's discuss some of things about the different qualities of elk and stuff too. So, if there's like one thing you'd want people to , understand about elk that you think like people don't or are misinformed about, like what would that be?
Noble Elk: Hmm. I think, um, the fact that there's people raising domestic elk is, is really not out there. Like, you know, I feel like sometimes people will be like, oh, so do you...
Do you go and shoot these wild animals and then bring them in and butcher 'em? Like no, you know, No. These are animals, they are livestock. We raised them. They're behind fences. They're behind fences their whole life. They've never been wild. I think sometimes people don't know what they're, what they're looking at. So we, we have to get state licensed and state inspected by two different agencies every year.
To do it. Just to own them. Yeah, just to own them. You know, it's not something that you can just jump into tomorrow and do. Uh, and it's regulated. No. Yeah. Yeah. Every spring when we get calves, we get people that stop and go, oh, can I buy one from you and take it home? And we're like, no, you can't. Nope, you can't do that.
It will grow up and get big eventually. So, yeah. And the other thing too is, is because we're state regulated, all of the animals, from birth to death are tracked so we know exactly where they've went, where they've been. Mm-hmm. Um, all of that stuff is, is, um, on the state records. Yep.
Eric: You don't really drive through the countryside here. You don't see like a lot of like just elk farms sitting here. You know? We see, you know, it's easy for us from, you know, vision. Yeah. There's cows. We see cows everywhere. I mean, any type of drive you do out in the country, you're gonna see cows.
Especially like you guys were from Wisconsin before too. I mean, it's hard not to see cows. Um, you know, they're everywhere. So, you know, we're seeing that here. So I guess, you know, we kind of like, don't, you know, mentally think, okay, there's someone doing that. On a different, you know, and obviously your scale's gonna be different.
You're not, I mean, you guys aren't, you're not. You're, you're not, you know, like I've seen out, although was, we were camping near a farm in Arizona now, um, near Phoenix. And, you know, you drove, you know, you could start getting that small. And we drove by like a humongous operation, and they're just like jammed damn, you know, like that.
You're not seeing that with, you don't see that with elk or bison. You're not seeing all like jammed in like that. It's more, um,
Noble Elk: No. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and I think that's a lot, has a lot to do with the, the animals themselves. You know, if we put a bunch of elk in a pen, like they just, they're mean to each other. Yeah. You know, it would be really unproductive of us to do that, you know, if we want the benefit of our animals to be healthy.
Right. Um, I was also gonna say, you know, one of, I mean, our, our product is priced pretty high, um, compared to beef or, uh, well I guess pork is coming up a little bit. Yeah. But, um, and, and that is basically because of demand. Like, there's not a lot of elk farms out there, there's not a lot of people, there's not a lot of places to get elk meat.
Um, So it's. Well, there's, it's a supply issue. Um, really, so it's because there's less animals out there to do it, so they cost more to harvest. Right. So for, for us to, to do this, it actually costs more so the, it, it increases the price. So with beef, they're always the last ones to come up on that spectrum.
Right. You know, and the farmer gets paid the least all the time. Um, so we do have a lot of cost involved in doing it. It's not let you know, and, and we're trying to give back, um, what we, what we do make. So we're definitely not the. The highest price out there with people that do sell elk meat. Um, but we're, we're trying to make it competitive for the normal consumer to be able to buy it and, and get it delivered to their door as well.
Eric: Yeah, I think I said a good point. Either like, you know, you were saying like, okay, we don't necessarily eat all the time either. It could be something you supplement with, you could do like, you know, Do, do a more mixer. You're gonna have maybe cut down some of the beef and do some of the elk and instead and kind of like, you know, um, just, just mix up your diet more here, you know?
Cause I'm sure that, you know, there's benefits in each thing here, so it's good to, you know, be able to, you know, to do that here. You don't have to like, start eating elk burgers every single , night of the week.
π Where to Get Your Meat
Um, so yeah, I think it's, that's one of those things. Um, so if people wanna try to find your products here, um, how could they do so?
Noble Elk: I just go to our website, https://thenobleelk.com/. Um, you'll, you'll see us there on the homepage, uh, write up of us our story, our family. Um, one of the things that we're, we're both very driven people, so we love to encourage people to do the best they can. Doesn't matter where if you're making, you know, $20,000 a year and you're, you're trying, you're just getting started, well, hey, let's, let's help you work together and get you to, to your goals.
You know, how do you wanna help the community and help people. Um, and we're trying to be, you know, that's why we came up with the name the Noble Elk. Um, A lot of inspirational quotes and sayings on there. We're both very active in trying to help people just better themselves, and their community.
So go there. All of our meat's on there. There's some recipes. We're gonna continue adding recipes to it. Um, we plan on trying to do some seasonings and other things as well this year, um, it's on Instagram page. Oh yeah. And you can go follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, uh, we have all those as well.
Eric: That's great. Yeah. Thank you guys for, um, educating us. And so, you know, reach out to me or them and, you know, you wanna learn more about, uh, about elk and trying to get that into your diet. Um, and so all that, um, so thank you guys for coming on. I appreciate you sharing with us today.
Noble Elk: Thanks for reaching out and inviting us.
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