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| Bison |
The buffalo do roam again on many farms and ranches in central Alberta. Tame plains bison graze the rolling hills of open grassland and poplar bluffs most months of the year –supplemented with hay when necessary in winter.
Bison usually calve in the spring with very few problems. The fluffy babies are gold-cinnamon and don’t begin to get their dark brown adult coloring until three months of age.
Bison are very well adapted for Canadian winters – they have seven times as many hairs per area than beef animals! They can look pretty shaggy in the spring when they are shedding their winter coats, but in August as they begin to grow their next winter’s coat they are truly magnificent.
Bison is lower in fat than beef, pork or chicken and high in protein, iron and zinc. It is quickly becoming known as the “healthy red meat”.
Since bison meat is so lean, it must be cooked as you would cook wild game: lower temperature and/or shorter cooking time, It continues to cook a bit when it is removed from the heat, so remove it from the “cook fire” when it is still a bit pink inside or when your meat thermometer reaches rare or medium for beef. Overcooked bison will be dry but when done correctly, it is juicy tender and delicious.
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