Prime Grade BeefU.S. Department of AgricultureA great grilled steak begins with a great steak. But how do you tell a great steak from a regular steak? You go to the butcher whether it’s the corner meat market, supermarket or online store and find what can appear to be an unending row of steaks. There are a couple of things to look for when buying a steak. First there is the grade. The grade tells you about the quality of the meat based on marbling and age. The second factor is the cut. Different cuts have different qualities. Finding the right cut for what you want to grill is probably the most important part of an excellent steak. Grades
Grading is typically performed by a third party organization or by a government agency like the USDA in the United States. The age of the animal and the marbling of the meat determine the grade of the meat. Beef are graded whole so you will find some variance in grades of an individual cut. In the United States grades are prime, choice and select with prime being at the top and select being the bottom. Actually, the lowest rated meats are not for general retail distribution and become things like meat by-products.
Prime grade beef makes up about 2% of all the beef produced in the United States and typically ends up exported or sold to fine restaurants. What you will normally find on the shelves at the store is choice and select. Since prime is difficult to find your best option is to purchase a choice cut. I suggest you try it because you will notice a difference. Since choice is superior to select you can buy a less desirable cut to compensate for the higher price.
One thing to remember about grading is that these designations are designed to by friendly to the multi-billion dollar Beef Industry. There is a considerable amount of thought into brand names and marketing that shows up on that label on the meat you so carefully read.
Marbling is an important factor in steak selection. To visually determine the marbling of a steak take a good look at the texture of the meat. If the meat is free of all fat then the cut has no or little marbling. Though this is leaner and often more tender, it is not as flavorful. Small streaks of fat through the meat will produce a more flavorful steak. When selecting a steak always take a look at the marbling. Remember, generally the more marbling the less tender but the more flavorful. This creates something of a balancing act to find the steak that is both tender and tasty.
Marbling should be thin streaks of fat. Thick lines of fat mean the steak contains a lot of connective tissue that will make it tough. What to look for in a good steak is the color. The meat should be bright red and the fat a creamy white and evenly distributed through the meat.
Cuts
Cuts of steak can be broken down into three sections. Starting on the upper back and moving down to the mid-back you have the rib, the short loin and the sirloin. The rib contains cuts such as the Rib Roast, the Rib-eye Steak and the back ribs. This is the least tender section of the three. The short loin produces the T-bone, Top Loin Steak, Tenderloin and the Porterhouse. The Sirloin gives the Sirloin Steak, and the Top Sirloin. Other steaks like the chuck, round and flank steak come from those respective areas and tend to be tough cuts of meat. Strips steaks, like the New York Steak is cut from the T-bone portion.
The tenderest cut of beef is the tenderloin. From this area you will get cuts like chateaubriand, filet mignon and tournedos. Though these cuts are tender they are less flavorful. The rib-eye, or rib steak are less tender but far more flavorful. The same holds true about the sirloin cut.
