The cost per pound of meat is $8.95/lb. (That's the sale price, regular price is now $10.75/lb.)
The price shown is an estimate. Your final price will be determined by the total weight of the meat you get.
You'll get between 150 and 175 lbs of meat total.
You get all the meat from one of our older yaks. Aged on the hoof, and then dry-aged to perfection. We have these available every now and then, when an older yak is ready to go to the great mountain pastures in the sky.
You'll get a private consultation with Triny at Carnivores Meat Processing right here in Chama, NM. He'll guide you to know what cuts are good to keep and which to grind, and make sure you get it cut exactly the way you want. Typically you'll want to keep at least the tenderloin, ribeye, New York, Top Sirloin and some stew meat. All vacuum packed. He can also make some yak bratwurst for you (there's an surcharge of $50 for 10 lbs).
We used to grind all the meat from these older yaks and sell it as pet food. We still do some of that, but we discovered that we were missing out on delicious, tender, meat. So now we offer these whole "Yaka Vieja" for you to enjoy.
Turns out that "Vaca Vieja" (old cow) has become popular because of the rich flavor that comes with age. These are similar, but from yak, hence "Yaka Vieja". Here are a couple of articles:
Look at all that beautiful, grass-fed fat in those pictures. There's a myth that grass-fed livestock doesn't finish with a nice layer of fat. Clearly whoever perpetuates that myth doesn't appreciate the wonderful mountain grass (and hay) we have here at Chama Valley Meats. (And, some meat industry folks have told us: "you are wasting grain to produce all that fat". No we aren't! We don't feed any grain. These animals just free-range, free-choice feed open pasture.)
That grass-fed fat is high in the Omega 3 fatty acids, too. Those are said to be good for us humans. The rich yellow color in grass fed yak comes from Beta-carotene, an important anti-oxidant. Unlike the majority of micro-nutrients within yak which cannot be seen with the naked eye, you can actually SEE how beta-carotene affects beef fat – from the color!
That dark red meat is tender and flavorful. Yaks are native to the high Himalayas, so they have more than myoglobin that cattle, and that gives the meat that delicious, dark red color.
When you order we'll take a deposit and arrange delivery.