Important Points About Beef

Important Points About Beef 

When I eat beef I want it to taste great, be juicy and tender every time, whether it's off the grill or out of the oven. It's disappointing to buy a steak at a restaurant only to find it tough, dry, or not very tasty. Now I know it is important how you cook beef because cooking it carelessly can ruin an otherwise good cut of meat

But there is a big difference in beef. The USDA has 8 grades of beef (from most to least desirable): prime, choice, select, standard, commercial, utility, cutter and canner. Within each of these grades are sub-grades depending on the quantity of marbling, tenderness, age, color, fat, and other considerations. For instance, a choice piece of beef could be much closer to select than to prime or visa versa depending on the specifics of its grade.

The three USDA grades usually referred to in retail sales are:

Prime - is from young, well-fed beef cattle. Less than 2% of the beef in the U.S. makes Prime. It has abundant marbling and is generally sold in the best restaurants and by special order because of its flavor, tenderness, and juiciness, scarcity and high cost

Choice - is high quality, but has less marbling than Prime. Choice roasts and steaks from the loin and rib will be very flavorful, tender, juicy. It can be found in better supermarkets and meat markets. Certified Angus Beef is from the top 23% (prime and upper 1/3 of choice), so you can trust it will be good.

Select - is much leaner, with almost no marbling, usually coarser and tougher than the higher grades. 

There is also a widely popular brand called Certified Angus Beef and it is from grades Prime and the upper one third of Choice. This is what we are targeting for our beef.