Get to Know Bison

Your questions answered

By Roxanne Webber

Bison is showing up on menus and in grocery stores, but what exactly is it? We’ve put together the bison basics: the difference between buffalo and bison, where to get it, and how to cook it.

Click in the Bison for answers!

What Are Bison?

Bison are North America’s largest indigenous animal. The terms bison and buffalo are often used interchangeably, but the National Park Service says this is incorrect, because bison are not in the same family as Asian and African buffalo. The Latin name for North American Plains bison is Bison bison. The National Bison Association encourages sellers to label their meat as bison to avoid confusion.

Ken Lindner, co-owner of Lindner Bison, a small ranch in California, says, “They are very gregarious animals and like to have a good time.” Bison bulls weigh around 2,000 pounds, cows about 1,100 pounds. They’re surprisingly quick and agile for their size, able to run up to 30 miles per hour.

The National Bison Association estimates that about 70 million bison ranged from Canada to Mexico before the 17th century. As people moved west, hunting took a drastic toll on the species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that there were fewer than 300 wild bison left in the United States and Canada by the early 1900s.

The first major step toward conservation was the Lacey Act, which outlawed all hunting in Yellowstone National Park in 1894, including bison. Between 1905 and 1930 efforts were made to reintroduce herds throughout the United States. Estimates put today’s combined U.S. and Canadian population at 500,000—both ranched and wild.

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Get to Know Bison

Your questions answered

By Roxanne Webber

Bison is showing up on menus and in grocery stores, but what exactly is it? We’ve put together the bison basics: the difference between buffalo and bison, where to get it, and how to cook it.

Click in the Bison for answers!

How Are Bison Raised?

There are more than 4,000 bison ranches in the United States according to the 2002 USDA census. The majority are in the western U.S., but there are ranches in every state. It’s a relatively small industry: In 2007, about 47,000 bison were processed under federal inspection, a fraction of the 33.7 million cattle processed.

Bison take between 18 and 30 months to reach maturity, yielding about 450 pounds of meat per carcass (a cow yields about 540 pounds). Some bison spend their whole lives (roughly two years) on open pastures eating grass. Most, however, spend their last six months on feedlots, like those in the cattle industry, where they’re confined and fed a grain and alfalfa diet for up to six months before slaughtering. Ken Klemm, a rancher in Kansas, estimates that around 75 percent of bison have been to feedlots for finishing.

This is a point of controversy among ranchers: Some feel passionately that bison should never be given grain, while most large-scale producers rely on grain finishing to provide a consistent and constant supply of meat to markets and restaurants that carry their products. (Because bison meat is so lean, it doesn’t marble, rancher Klemm says, so grain and grass finishing make very little difference in taste and texture.)

Mike Duncan, chairman of the board of directors for the National Bison Association and owner of Diamond Tail Ranch, a large producer in northern Colorado that provides bison meat to Rocky Mountain Natural Meats (which distributes to markets like Whole Foods, Albertsons, and Safeway), explains that a grain supplement is necessary for some ranches because grass only grows during certain times of the year.

Yet many ranches still raise and finish bison solely on grass by relying on dried bales of hay and alfalfa for feed during the winter. Others use a “salad bar” finishing technique in which grain is placed in the pasture for the last 90 days before slaughter, leaving bison to choose whether or not they eat it.

“We will not put our animals in a feedlot,” says Ken Lindner of Lindner Bison. “It is absolutely not sustainable. The way we do it is using sunlight and grass.”

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Get to Know Bison

Your questions answered

By Roxanne Webber

Bison is showing up on menus and in grocery stores, but what exactly is it? We’ve put together the bison basics: the difference between buffalo and bison, where to get it, and how to cook it.

Click in the Bison for answers!

Why Should I Eat Bison?

Bison meat—and the raising of the animals themselves—is considered healthy and sustainable. Because most of the animals’ lives is spent on open pasture, bison are rarely (if ever) given antibiotics—unlike cattle, which are often fed a constant supply of antibiotics to prevent disease in crowded feedlots. Growth hormones have not been approved by the FDA for use in bison.

The meat also has a unique nutritional profile. Three and a half ounces of bison is leaner than the equivalent serving of chicken, beef, pork, or salmon, and has more iron, less cholesterol, and fewer calories according to USDA nutritional comparisons.

Bison ranching has a relatively low impact on the environment because the animals are raised mostly on open pasture, rather than on industrial feedlots. Mike Duncan says that their strong herd instinct leads bison to graze differently than cattle, eating down one area intensively, then moving. This enables ranchers to rotate them to different pastures and let grazed land replenish.

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Get to Know Bison

Your questions answered

By Roxanne Webber

Bison is showing up on menus and in grocery stores, but what exactly is it? We’ve put together the bison basics: the difference between buffalo and bison, where to get it, and how to cook it.

Click in the Bison for answers!

What Does It Taste Like?

Duncan says bison meat has a “cleaner, maybe fresher taste [than beef] and no real aftertaste.” The CHOW test kitchen called it “the tofu of meat” because its mild flavor, with a touch of gaminess, picks up whatever it’s cooked with. It’s not as assertive as venison but has a little more flair than beef.

Get to Know Bison

Your questions answered

By Roxanne Webber

Bison is showing up on menus and in grocery stores, but what exactly is it? We’ve put together the bison basics: the difference between buffalo and bison, where to get it, and how to cook it.

Click in the Bison for answers!

How Do I Buy It?

Bison are classified as a nonamenable species by the USDA (like other wild game), which means that the meat does not receive a mandatory safety inspection by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. Instead, ranchers have the option of paying out of their pocket for a voluntary inspection. But many feel it’s worth it for their customers. This meat will have a “Passed and Inspected by USDA” seal on it.

Some of the small operations can’t afford inspection but still turn out a high-quality product. If you’re buying from one of these, do a little research before committing. Ask your local butcher if he’s heard anything about the producer’s meat, look for feedback about it online, and request a few references from the ranch to make sure it has a reputable product. If grass-fed is important to you, inquire about the ranch’s finishing process.

Also, bison meat does not have a grading system, so there are no terms such as Choice to go by. This is another reason it’s important to know the reputation of both the ranch and the processor.

The most likely cuts you’ll find are New York, sirloin, tenderloin, and rib-eye steaks; stew meat; short ribs; roasts; ground meat; and sausages.

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Get to Know Bison

Your questions answered

By Roxanne Webber

Bison is showing up on menus and in grocery stores, but what exactly is it? We’ve put together the bison basics: the difference between buffalo and bison, where to get it, and how to cook it.

Click in the Bison for answers!

Where Can I Buy It?

The National Bison Association’s vendor locator map is a good resource. Many ranches also offer mail-order bison, sold in individual cuts or as eighths and quarters.

Bison is now sold in many chain markets, too, depending on the region. Shaw’s, Albertsons, Safeway, Wild Oats, Hannaford, Whole Foods, Market Basket, Waldbaum’s, Fry’s, and King Soopers carry bison products in select stores.

Get to Know Bison

Your questions answered

By Roxanne Webber

Bison is showing up on menus and in grocery stores, but what exactly is it? We’ve put together the bison basics: the difference between buffalo and bison, where to get it, and how to cook it.

Click in the Bison for answers!

How Do I Cook It?

Bison’s low fat content causes it to become tough and dry when cooked past medium. Pam Clark, co-owner of Observatory Rock Bison Ranch in Colorado, warns that “you can really screw up bison if it’s not prepared properly; because of its leanness, it’s very unforgiving.”

She says the best way to get started is to “just kind of take it real easy, and until you figure out your grill or oven, baby it.” She suggests cooking bison 10 degrees under the standard beef temperatures (which are 145 degrees Fahrenheit for medium rare and 160 degrees Fahrenheit for medium), to achieve the equivalent qualities of doneness.

Ken Klemm says that the leanness also causes bison meat to cook in about half the time of beef because there isn’t much fat to insulate it. He recommends “low and slow” cooking, but says you can sear cuts like steaks at high heat as long as you turn the heat down to finish cooking them.

But people who like meat well done can still enjoy bison. Clark says that if you grill steaks to medium and finish them in the oven for two to three minutes per side, “it’s going to take you to the aesthetic and texture of well done, but it doesn’t dry it out.”

Ground bison is the most common (and economical) way you’ll find the meat. It’s a pretty straightforward substitute for ground beef with the bonus that you won’t have much (if any) fat to drain off before using it in recipes. It makes a killer burger. George McKerrow Jr., president, CEO, and cofounder of Ted’s Montana Grill, says that his restaurants cook bison burgers on a griddle instead of a grill and place a dome over the burgers to keep them moist. Try this technique at home with a cast iron pan and a small lid. The U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service advises that ground bison be cooked to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, which brings the meat to medium well.

Roasts do well in slow cookers, and can be removed, sliced, and served like roast beef, or shredded for tacos or sandwiches. Short ribs also fare well in slow cookers, or by braising, and are meatier than their beef counterparts.

Because the bison industry is still small, you won’t have to contend with many specialized cuts like you find in beef. “The very specific cuts [like skirt steak] go into the grind for hamburgers,” says Klemm. “Same with something like tri-tip.”

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