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Montana Ranch Piedmontese Beef – an Angelo Caputo’s Exclusive
The naturally leaner Piedmontese cattle have been an important part of Italy's beef industry for over a century. Now, they are available here at Angelo Caputo’s Fresh Markets.

We call it Montana Ranch Brand™ Certified Piedmontese Beef. Why is it better? For one, the Piedmontese cattle are naturally lower in fat and cholesterol and naturally higher in protein-dense meat. The breed isn't genetically altered, or given growth hormones - it's just blessed with a leaner physique.

We've taken these naturally superior characteristics and enhanced them through our strict growing conditions, which emphasize a natural environment. We make sure their diet is healthy and organic, full of quality grains and forages, and positively free of exogenous growth hormones and implants.

We hold to these rigid standards through every stage of the process to assure unsurpassed product safety and quality.

Better Standards
How can you be sure that you are getting true Piedmontese beef? Look for Montana Ranch Brand™ Certified Piedmontese Beef. Our cattle are not simply USDA inspected; they also must pass the Montana Ranch Brand Certified Piedmontese Beef Program standards. This certification program assures that you are getting only superior Piedmontese beef.

Angelo Caputo’s is proud to guarantee our customers peace of mind by offering the finest, “authentically natural” meats available - Montana Ranch Brand™ Meats.

Montana Ranch Brand™ Meats assure peace of mind because all of their animals are born and raised on open rangelands where they enjoy peaceful surroundings and the finest resources nature has to offer. To maintain a high level of wholesomeness and consistency, they enforce strict ranching standards that include:

• Raised without the use of antibiotics – ever!
• Raised without the use of added growth hormones or steroids – ever!
• Raised only on vegetarian feed - no animal by-products – ever!
• Source verified to working family ranches for traceability – always!
• United States country of origin – always!

All Montana Ranch Brand™ products are “Branded with Integrity”. This assures that every product is handled with the absolute highest ethical standards. Through our partnership with Montana Ranch Brand™, we believe the combination of excellent taste and peace of mind is the only way to deliver meats that are Authentically Natural.

Be an informed consumer - The USDA allows the "All Natural" label to be placed on meat which is "minimally processed and contains no artificial ingredients." This statement has nothing to do with how the cattle are raised or what they are fed. It simply means that nothing has been added to the beef after processing, such as carrageenan, MSG or sodium phosphate.

TTo be an informed consumer, you must make sure that you are buying meats raised without antibiotics or growth hormones. It is important that consumers read the product label.

Unlike meats which bear only an "All Natural" label, Montana Ranch Brand™ Certified Piedmontese Beef is produced under a program through which we track what our cattle are fed and what is administered to them. This way, you, the consumer, are assured of getting the safest, the purest, and the absolute best beef!

IIn a world of unidentified alternatives, it becomes increasingly important to consistently verify your food sources. Where can you achieve this level of security from beef products? At Montana Ranch Brand™, we can guarantee that your beef will be absolutely SOURCE verified. In other words, we track exactly where your beef was born, raised, and fed-to-market. We track and document exactly how, what, and where your beef was fed. But, we don't stop there! We also strictly monitor our cattle through the entire process so that we can guarantee that your beef was not administered antibiotics or given growth hormones, ever!

How can we do this? We work as a cooperative network of family-owned ranches to closely monitor our cattle at every step. Never forget, our families eat this beef too. We believe that beef is best the more natural it is! With Montana Ranch Brand™ Certified Piedmontese Beef, you are assured an all-natural product with the rich, hearty flavor you love.

Finished-fed a diet of high-energy grains and forages, our beef develops a deep, succulent flavor that is sure to please. All-natural feeds assure an all-natural product.

Each step of our process is strictly audited for compliance with our CERTIFICATION seal of approval. Close monitoring is never a problem to producers, who through their own integrity want to produce only the finest products.

Montana Ranch Piedmontese Beef has less fat than other cattle breeds
“Steaks from Piedmontese crosses contain less marbling and chemical fat (3.8%) than those from other breeds (eg. 4.1% for Charolais and Gelbvieh crosses; 5.6% for Hereford-Angus crosses) we have evaluated.”
Dr. Larry Cundiff, Research Leader, USDA MARC

Since fat contains about 225 calories per ounce and lean contains about 31.5 calories per ounce, beef from Piedmontese crosses... has relatively low caloric content. Caloric content of beef increases about 2.2 calories per one percent change in chemical fat or about 3.3 calories per degree of marbling.

As fat content of beef increases, percentage of protein and water decreases. Thus, protein content is slightly greater in low fat beef with a low fat content."

Beef Tenderness – a natural occurrence in our Montana Ranch Brand™ Piedmontese Beef
A A great deal of research has been conducted on ways to improve “beef tenderness”. In the USA, where cattle are fed grains and other supplements to lay down extra fat within the muscle ('marbling'), consumers often choose the most 'marbled' cuts as an indication of tenderness.

Yet marbling accounts for a mere 10% of the variation in tenderness. Many lean carcasses that testing has shown were tender have received lower grades because they don't have enough visible fat marbling to be classified as 'USDA choice' or higher.

And yet, marbling is a very poor predictor of tenderness. Marbling (that is, the visible specks of fat in the lean) is still a factor used in determining the USDA quality grade. However, information in the last decade indicates that marbling exerts only a small influence on tenderness of meat, primarily by acting as a lubricant during chewing.

Certain breeds of cattle that naturally produce leaner beef have been proven to also produce more tender beef when compared to other breeds. The reason for this may well lie in the amount of collagen in the beef.

A recent study conducted by Swiss scientists evaluated the composition and meat quality of six different breeds of cattle, to compare intra-muscular fat (marbling), collagen content and tenderness ratings. A total of 138 steers, an average of 23 per breed, were used in the study. Results are presented in the following table:

* Shear Force is a measure of the pounds pressure required to cut through a core of meat; the lower the pounds of force needed, the more tender the meat is.

This study supports research conducted by the USDA at the Meat Animal Research Center (MARC).

As shown above, the major differences were in % IMF, collagen (connective tissue), and shear force. As expected, Angus steers had the highest IMF, followed by Simmental and Charolais; Limousin, Blonde, and Piedmontese steers had the least. Interestingly, collagen content followed the same trend as IMF. Piedmontese steers had the lowest shear force. This would be expected, because Piedmontese carry the mutated myostatin gene, which results in increased tenderness.

More Great News - Montana Ranch Brand™ Piedmontese Beef is healthy as well.
Not only does our Montana Ranch Brand™ Piedmontese Beef taste great but it’s healthy for you as well. Depending on the cut of meat and how it’s prepared, our beef is lower in calories per serving than traditional beef and pork, and compares favorably to fish and poultry in fat content.

Montana Ranch Brand(TM) ranges listed above represent the most conservative results to date for individual, raw, -0- trim retail cuts. Comparison Source: Composite Analysis of Raw traditional 1/4" Retail Cuts USDA Handbook #8 Montana Ranch Brand(TM) Results Source: Warren Analytical Laboratory

The Certified Piedmontese Beef Signature profile (USDA select) has been documented by the USDA as being more tender than traditional USDA choice beef, with all the same juiciness & flavor.

At Angelo Caputos Fresh markets we sell Montana Ranch Brand™ Piedmontese Beef USDA Choice product which is significantly better than USDA Choice Certified Angus.

* Montana Ranch BrandTM: USDA Certified Piedmontese, Raw, -0- trim retail cuts.
**Traditional Beef, raw, 1/4" trim retail cuts.