In today’s ever health conscious world and taste for the exotic, the rise in poularity of the Ostrich offers a great alternative to traditional meats and boasts a very low fat content for those counting the calories or watching the cholestrol. A great array of recipies and products are developing for such dishes. A dinner party featuring an Ostrich recipe will certainly impress your guests! Or, for a talking point at the barbecue, try Ostrich burgers or Ostrich sausages!

• Standing 10 feet tall and weighing as much as 400 pounds, the ostrich is the largest living bird today.
• Its powerful legs enable it to hit a top speed of 43 mph in a short burst and it has been known to kill with one kick.
• Ostriches originated in the Asiatic steppes about 40 to 50 million years ago.
• They once occupied all of Europe and Asia, but today can only be found on the hot arid savannas of Africa.
• Ostriches eat mainly vegetation, insects, fruits, seeds, and nuts, but will occasionally feed on small mammals and reptiles.
• The ostrich lays the largest egg in the world but it is the smallest egg compared to the size of the bird. Measuring 6 - 9 inches long and weighing 3 - 5 pounds it is only about 1 per cent of the Hen’s body weight. The eggs, numbering 30-50 per communal nest, incubate for 42 days.
• The ostrich egg is highly prized for its high protein content and is the equivalent of 24 chicken eggs and takes up to 2 hours to hard boil.
• Ostrich farming is a rapidly-growing industry in the UK. Ostrich meat is lower in fat, calories, and cholesterol than skinless chicken.

Ostrich Meat is a red meat that is low in fat that can be used in any traditional red meat recipe to produce great tasting dishes and is similar in colour and taste to beef. However, it is lower in fat grams per serving compared to chicken and turkey, and much lower in fat and cholesterol than beef. Predominatly, the meat from an Ostrich comes from the leg, thigh, and back. An Ostrich has NO breast meat like the chicken and turkey.

Even though Ostrich meat tastes like beef, the Ostrich does not have fat marbling in the meat like beef. Ostriches have fat, but it collects outside the muscles and is easily removed during processing. Therefore, the cuts of meat are very lean with very low fat content – just over 1%. Ideal for weight watchers who love red meat.

Cooking Instructions

Ostrich Meat is a red meat with the characteristics of poultry meat and low in fat. It can be used as steak for frying, or any of your favourite dishes as a substitute for beef. Remember, because of the deep red colour of ostrich, the finished cooked ostrich will still have a pink colour that we would consider "not done" if it were beef! For the beginner you may find it much easier to use a meat thermometer to check to see if the meat is cooked all the way instead of relying on the way it looks. After a while you will find that you don't use the thermometer as much and will be more confident in your own judgment of how ostrich looks when it is done. Maximum internal temperatures should be 160-165 degrees and should always have a resting period prior to serving of approximately 8-10 minutes to finish the cooking process. Finally, remember, ostrich cooks twice as fast as beef or lamb, so keep a firm eye on your meat timer.

A great place to start sourcing your local supplier of Ostrich meat is the British Domesticated Ostrich Association Website – www.ostrich.org.uk where national suppliers are listed and which was founded in December 1992 to support the development of the industry here in the United Kingdom.

Cooking Tip

Do not try to cook one whole!