Located on the Palouse river near the ghost town of Elberton, in eastern Washington state. Little Canaan Ranch is a small ranch that practices sustainable beef management. We only raise as many head of beef that we can feed from our pastures and the hay we produce. More importantly, we truly love our cattle, name them, and baby them. Kim is often out with them giving them treats, rubbing their backs, and scratching behind their ears. This type of treatment creates a low stress environment which means healthy, good tasting beef.
What is Gangus Beef? – GangusTM beef is a cross between purebred Galloway cows and an Angus bull. Most people are familiar with Angus, we’d like to tell you about Galloways. The Galloway is one of the world’s oldest beef cattle breeds, the descendant of two distinct aboriginal breeds of Scotland. Galloways have been noted historically for their thick, woolly hides and for being hornless. Galloways were developed specifically for their beef and historians, as early as 1530, documented descriptions of Galloway beef as: “tender, sweet and juicy”. The merits of the breed by early cattle breeders lead to the use of the Galloway breed in the creation of the Red Poll and Shorthorn breeds, with the Shorthorn subsequently used in the development of the Angus. Of all the British breeds of cattle, only two remain free of outside blood: The Galloway is one. At five centuries, the Galloway is the oldest and purist British cattle breed in existence today. Galloways came to America in 1866. The Galloway is currently a listed breed of The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. Galloways calf easily and are good mamas. They are generally very docile but will courageously act in concert to protect their calves and the herd. The next time you see one or more of those “hairy cows” out in a field remember that they are a part of a wonderful legacy.
Gangus beef incorporates the best of these two breeds. It is a grass fed beef that is as tender as grain fed Angus but with the flavor of Galloway. “How is that possible?”, you might ask. Well, part of it is due to the thick, wooly hide that we discussed above. Because of that characteristic, the Galloway (and our Gangus cows) don’t need to put fat* on as an insulator for cold weather. Rather, when they put on fat it ends up marbling the meat contributing to flavor and tenderness.
*The ratio of alpha 6 omega oil to alpha 3 omega oil in a heart healthy diet is 3 to 1. In grain fed beef this ratio is typically 12 to 1, while in grass fed beef the ratio is typically 3 to 1.