Bison Stampede? Not Exactly.
The Boston Globe offers a small glimpse of the American bison industry. The article notes the irony of saving bison herds by raising them for slaughter (technically, buffalo species come from the Old World, bison from the New), but it’s not so strange: The strategy has worked well for Heritage Foods and their famous turkeys.
Bison’s advantages over beef are more about health and ethics than a superiority of taste. The meat is leaner than your standard cow’s flesh, though I don’t know how it compares to grass-fed beef, and bison are almost by definition raised in more ethical surroundings. Feedlot economics don’t scale down to the minuscule production levels for bison. If you want to try it and can’t find a local vendor, I’ve had good luck with the meat from Prather Ranch.
It is leaner than even grass-fed beef, by a long shot, with less saturated fat, Derrick.
I actually like the flavor of it as well or better than beef–certainly better than stnadard grocery store beef. (Which I don’t eat anymore, anyway, but that is another story.)
However, it is so lean, you either need to cook it low and slow with a bit of added fat (olive oil works really well, surprisingly) in a braise or some such, or you need to cut it very thinly and either grill it quickly or stir fry it.
If it is cooked to take into account its leanness, it is amazingly good. If someone cooks it like a piece of well-marbled beef, it will be sawdust and shoeleather and when it tastes that bad, who cares how good it is for you?