I was trying to find my packages of Bison steaks but all I could find was fish: two packages of Atlantic Salmon fillets and one of Steel Head Trout!?
If I do find the Bison - I gather that’s exactly the same as beef?
Yes… and no. Is it wild bison or farmed? I cook quite a deal of water buffalo and treat it the same as beef for farmed buffalo. In fact, I treat farmed buffalo the same as I treat grass fed beef. It needs longer than grain fed/finished beef because it has had to work harder to get its food. But wild buffalo would have potentially traveled much longer distances in its range, so it would require longer cooking for tenderisation.
1 Like
Hi @LoralieF
It might be helpful to mention where in the world you are located! When when I hear “Buffalo” or “Bison” I immediately think “American Bison” as I live in the United States. @Ember lives in Australia and so Water Buffalo comes to mind for her.
Assuming you are talking about American Bison - yes most treat it pretty much the same as beef and consider its taste very similar to beef. It is leaner than beef, so keep that in mind when you cook it.
Good luck!
Isn’t the American Bison the only bison? I suppose I assumed that they could be farmed.
There’s a “European Bison” too…though I’m really only familiar with the American Bison.
In the United States there are both wild and ranch raised Bison. Nowadays there are close to 2000 Bison ranches in the US. I still find it a bit weird to see Bison available at the supermarket…when I was little a kid they were still on the “endangered” list!
@Ember - these are farmed Bison / American Buffalo. But I get your point about the wild vs farmed; I hadn’t taken that into consideration.
@Mirozen, I’m in Canada so in the same boat as you; and I also remember them being endangered. It sound like conservation efforts have been successful in creating sustainable wild populations - and farming has helped in that sense.
@Mirozen - as a follow-up. Never did find the package of Bison tenderloin; so it’s fish for supper tonight. Kind of unhappy about that - I was looking forward to cooking those up; I hadn’t tried them via sous vide before.
I’m guessing there’s probably a lot of freezer archeology going on around the world at this time.
@Ember I think you are so right! My mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and brother-in-law have a freezer that is packed absolutely tight and full with food, and they are not even sure what a lot of it is it’s been in there so long. I don’t think I’d be too surprised if they found a Mastodon roast deep down in there! 
Who knows what they might discover if forced to eat what they’ve squirreled away!!!