Bio cattle breeding

Instead of gaining valuable Bavarian milk from the udders of his cows while sitting on the milking stool every day, Steinbacher has taken the plunge into meat production. The previous stable has therefore given way to a playpen and the number of cows has been reduced to around twenty. The stable is only used in winter, however, because the cattle are in nature most of the time. But instead of just letting the animals eat the lush grass that thrives here in abundance, Stefan Steinbacher has a philosophy. And ambition to meet quality and animal welfare to the highest degree. His animals should lead a life on his farm that is worthy of that of a cattle. That is why his animals graze on the pastures on a fantastic hillside for up to three years. Whenever a field is grazed - silage or maize is not fed - the cattle are always transported in pairs with the trailer to the next pasture. Luxury, but also calculation. Because there comes a day in the life of a farm animal when it is due to be transported to the slaughterhouse. For most animals this path means sheer stress and the adrenaline rush is great. Bad for the later quality of the meat. For the animals of the Steinbacher Hof, however, the journey in the trailer is almost part of everyday life and they are conditioned not to be afraid of the transport. The philosophy of dignified livestock husbandry for the highest meat quality works perfectly.

With such a small herd and the unusually long bond with the animals for the industry, the question arises in the conversation whether the cattle have names. Here Stefan Steinbacher's gaze flits into the distance and brushes against the sturdy ox in the field in front of him. A pat on the animal's mighty back and, with a little sadness, the farmer admits that he is emotionally attached to his animals and that they therefore have no names. Despite this little emotional outburst, the passionate meat lover in Steinbacher comes back a few moments later and explains that it is a pleasure to see how the animals slowly grow up and reach perfect maturity over the years. "When you see that, you really want to prepare this meat for our guests at some point," our head chef Achim Hack is sure.

FROM THE HEIFER TO THE WIENER SCHNITZEL

The Wiener Schnitzel with potato salad has been a classic at Gut Steinbach for many years. Traditionally, veal schnitzel is used for this, which in conventional meat production comes from animals that are brought to the butcher at just under four months of age. This approach is not only against Stefan Steinbacher, but also against us as a hotel. For this reason, we usually only buy and process the heifers, i.e. the sexually mature female cattle that have not yet mated and are around one and a half to two years old. Since Steinbacher does not slaughter under two years of age anyway, this can be easily combined with our demand for sustainability and animal welfare with regard to the veal schnitzel. If you are therefore surprised that the meat is a little darker with your Wiener Schnitzel, this is due to the age at which the animal was slaughtered, but this does not affect the quality and is even a sign that the animals were fed completely naturally and without additives has been.

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