It was on a recent Friday morning, anyway. That’s how much I couldn’t wait to resolve the burning question: Can grass-fed beef taste as good as grain-fed?

I had spent the previous afternoon at the bucolic M and J Ranch outside Lawrence, Kan., (www.mandjranch.com ). Owners Mel and Joyce Williams raise Angus beef using organic methods (although they are not certified organic) on 520 acres. Calves are born on the ranch and spend their whole lives there, grazing on brome, clover and alfalfa.

Joyce invited me to tour the property on a ‘‘mule.’’ I agreed, trying to block out memories of harrowing horseback rides on my uncle’s ranch in Wilmore, Kan. as a kid. Dragging visiting city kids under low-hanging tree branches was a favorite diversion for the hard working horses of the Bar X ranch. So it was a huge relief when the mule turned out to be a gasoline-powered Kawasaki vehicle.

We motored up gentle hills that dropped off into rolling valleys offering spectacular vistas of pastures framed by stands of tall trees. A large group of cows (the mothers that will give birth to the next batch of calves) was taking shelter from the afternoon sun in a grove of walnut trees. The huge black animals walked up to Joyce when she cooed to them.

It was a beautiful scene. In theory, this is how I want my beef to be produced. But how would it taste? Driving back to Kansas City with eight frozen ribeyes Joyce sold me for $14.99 per pound, I wondered if they would taste like the grass-fed beef my husband and I ate when we lived in Germany. German beef was just OK, not nearly as rich and tender as the grain-fed American beef I was used to.

I wanted to fire up the grill and test the steaks as soon as I got home, but they were still rock hard and I didn’t want to risk compromising their quality by defrosting them in the microwave. Hence the ribeye breakfast. I got up half an hour earlier than normal to pan fry one of the 2-inch-thick steaks.

A pan-seared steak never tastes as good as one grilled over a charcoal fire, in my experience, but I didn’t want to mess around with the grill before my morning coffee. So I put a heavy-bottomed stainless skillet on the range on high and seared the steak 4 minutes on each side, then took it off the heat and tented it in foil for 5 minutes.

It tasted delicious. It was not as buttery rich as grain-fed beef, but the beef flavor seemed more pronounced, and it wasn’t the least bit dry or tough.

This is definitely a choice I am willing to make: paying a premium but fair price for beef raised nearby in a way that is easy on the land and easy on the animals.

McClatchy-Tribune Information Services