Recently Bear Farm Outdoors adventured to Colorado to meet our new grandson Woodrow, the latest addition to the Bear Farm clan. On the way, we stayed at locations we found with Harvest Hosts, which is a yearly subscription service that gives you access to 5,000+ locations across the US where you can spend the night in your self-contained RV for free. We will be writing more about Harvest Hosts.
One of the places we wanted to stay at but could not make the drive-miles-per-day logistics work was the Memphis Bison Ranch in Carr, Colorado, a short way south of Ft. Collins.
The ranch looked like a place with a fantastic western night sky view and a herd of buffalo. Even though we could not stay there, we did decide to swing by and pick up bison steaks to cook for our daughter and son-in-law. It was one of the best moves we made.
The Memphis Ranch Meat Company sits at the end of a long country road lined with prairie sunflowers. We wandered far off the interstate, following Google Maps to get there. The drive was scenic and pastoral, down miles of gravel roads through vast, open pastures, and grasslands.
The Memphis Ranch operation is small and modest. A house, a meat shop, and a large barn. We pulled in behind the main house to the RV row, where we could see a small herd of buffalo [OK, bison] in the distance behind an iconic starred gate.
Greg Nott, the owner of Memphis Ranch, came out of the main house as we arrived. We introduced ourselves and explained our mission to secure some fantastic steaks. They had recently butchered a bison and had many cuts available. Greg walked me into the meat shop, a small building that had once been a garage. My first impression was how clean everything was. I mean spotless, as in extremely well cared for. In my teens, I worked in a meat market in greater Chicagoland and remember what a prep room can smell like. There was zero odor here. The whole space was tight and right.
Greg and I discussed the operation and how the ranch pasture raises bison. We discussed what we were looking for, and he showed me a few cuts of meat. Raising bison and delivering quality meat is his inner bear. He and his wife left corporate life to pursue their dream of regenerative farming, and everything they do is based on their respect for these amazing American icons. They designed the operation from the ground up to ethically raise healthy animals, representing the best that bison meat can be.
The meat was a deep red and well-marbled and vacuum-bagged air-tight. We settled on a set of five, 16. oz. ribeyes. We had some sticker shock at the price but were on board for the experience, so we cried once and prepared for some fine dining. We were not disappointed.
We thawed them out the next day. When we grill exceptional cuts of meat, we do them Florentine style, which is sea salt and a squeeze of lemon, before we put the meat on high heat over coals. We will be posting a video on how we do this soon! These were the best steaks we had ever eaten, and that is high praise indeed from this family of carnivores.
Greg opens the meat shop by appointment and sells much of their meat through regional farmer’s markets. They also have a great selection for sale online. It ships to you frozen. We will be buying meat from Greg and family. You can find the Memphis Ranch at:
(720) 713-1622
sales@memphisranch.com
If you have the desire to support small ag businesses, Memphis Ranch would be a great choice. Your stomach will thank you. Bear Farm Outdoors, peace out.