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Steak Cut Primer for Dummies

Finding a good quality steak cut is the first step to enjoying one of life’s simple pleasures. Grilling it to perfection will take some practice to get it right. But once you’ve got it down, you will be able to grill steaks every bit as good as what you’d get at a high-priced steak house.

Before you fire up that grill, you need to first make sure you are picking the best cut of meat available out there.

Have you ever stood in front of the meat counter at your local supermarket wondering about all these grades of beef? I have, so here’s a quick FAQ for you. There are eight beef grades specified by the USDA, four of which are commonly found in the butcher’s case. Meat grading is voluntary, but most producers participate for the consumer’s benefit. The grades are a good gauge of what you can expect in terms of flavor and tenderness. Grades are based on the animal’s age (younger is better) and the marbling in the muscle. Marbling’s are these flecks of fat visible in the meat.

Prime Beef
This is the best cut that your money can buy. The marbling is excellent and only 2 percent of beef qualifies for this grade. Most Prime meat is sold to fine restaurants, but you can find it at a good butcher. If it’s a special occasion, you have to go Prime. It’s tough to beat in terms of taste and juiciness. It has become easier to get this for the past couple of years, mainly because the recession has impacted the restaurant business, steakhouses included. This resulted in a supply surplus for this special cut of meat, so on a lot of occasions, you can even buy it now from your neighborhood Costco.

Certified Angus Beef
Although not an official USDA grade, this is reserved for meat which meets strict standards for tenderness, juiciness and flavor. Only 8 percent of beef meets this standard. A lot of people prefer it over other types mainly because the marbling comes close to Prime. It is also widely available in supermarkets and much more affordable than Prime.

Choice Beef
This is the most widely available cut and you can consider it as your second choice.  The meat comes from fairly young cattle and has moderate to small amounts of marbling. Choice is an excellent value for the grill.

Select Grade Beef
This is leaner and less expensive than Choice grade. Since the marbling is less, the meat tends to be tougher and has less flavors. It is a good idea to marinate this cut before grilling or you can just go and buy the Choice cut.

Now that you have chosen the cut you like, let me give you a quick note about aging. If you happen to visit this famous steakhouse in New York called Peter Luger, and was fortunate enough to sample their steaks, and you wonder  why it taste so much better than your backyard version, one of the major reasons for it is aging. Steak, like wine, is of the few things that get better with age. There are two types of aging for beef, dry aging and wet aging. Both types of aging make the cuts more flavorful and tender. In the process of dry aging, beef is hung unwrapped in a refrigerated cooler for 3 to 6 weeks. During this time two things happen, the muscles lose up to 10 percent of their weight from moisture evaporation, concentrating the beef flavor in the meat, and the fibers in the muscle break down, making the meat more tender. Wet aging has a similar storage process except the meat is put in airtight bags so there is no loss of moisture. Wet-aged or dry-aged, it’s a matter of personal preference, but both enhance the flavor of steak.

And that concludes our primer. Now go out there and get that Prime cut and start grilling!

About the Author

Ashley works in technology at an investment banking firm and has been in the rat race for the past 10 years. In an effort to save her sanity, she has gotten into IM, setting up a varied collection of sites such as providing info on the Stratosphere Hotel Las Vegas and the Imperial Palace Las Vegas, her fave hangouts at the strip when on a tight budget.

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