Dispelling Beef Misconceptions on the F&D board

So, my prime rib thread, as I figured it would, brought out all the usual suspects and their “expert” opinions on beef. As someone who has worked in the industry for over 2 decades, much of which was spent selling beef for the world’s largest producer, and since I’m bored today, thought I would spread a little truth and help a few folks stop saying really dumb shite.

First, let’s talk about beef grades. There are really four general designations that you’re typically dealing with in restaurants and grocery stores/ meat markets

USDA Prime (slightly abundant to abundant marbling)
USDA Choice (small to moderately marbled)
USDA Select (slightly marbled)
And “No Roll” which means the beef is inspected, but the producer didn’t pay to have it graded.
There are other grades like standard, utility and canner, but those aren’t really sold in meat cases or restaurants in most cases

Now, it’s important to note, within each grade, there are technically hundreds of marbling scores. For example, a Prime grade of beef can be scored as Moderately Abundant 50. Or a Choice Carcass might be scored as small 20.

These grades are determined by a human USDA inspector by looking at only 1 cut in the ribeye for a few seconds as a carcass zooms by on a hanging conveyor. This is important to note for a few reasons:

Just because that carcass was highly marbled in that one cut, doesn’t mean the whole cow is highly marbled. While a Prime Grade on a price of steak makes it more likely you’ll get a good peice of meat, it doesn’t gaurantee it.

Also, it means that choice beef is a huge range of quality. A Choice steak that is scored at small 10 is technically Choice, but it’s bascially just upper select. Where as a moderate 90 is basically indistinguishable from a Prime Cut

Beef Packers and Marketing Companies have also registered other beef programs with the USDA that specify marbling scores and genetics. The one you’re likely most familiar with is “Certified Angus Beef”. CAB programs specify a cow have a certain percentage of black hide (to gaurantee its Angus genetics), it has to be of a younger age (31 months or less I think), which should make it more tender, and also have a marbling score in the upper 2/3 of the Choice Scoring (Modest 0 or higher)

The reason I’m saying all this is because I often see people claim things like “Prime is great and everything else is shite”. The truth is that Prime grade is an indicator of quality, but visually inspecting a ribeye and looking at its marbling, color, etc, are equally as important, if not more important to how it’s going to eat.

The second myth I see on here is people saying “XYZ supermarket has great beef, but ABC supermarket only sells shite”

The truth is 70-80 percent of all beef sold in supermarkets and butcher shops comes from four beef packers (Cargill [Excel], Tyson, National and JBS Swift). It may be branded as CAB, or Sterling Silver or Nolan Ryan Angus or something of that nature, but it’s being produced by one of these four companies, in one of about 12 or 13 beef plants who all buy cattle from the same exact feedlots. The butcher at Clanandro’s, Rouses, Dorignacs, etc...) tells his manager he needs x amount of y cut of beef. His manager calls ABC distributor and places the order. It’s bought from one of the aforementioned packers.

Now I’m not saying you didn’t get a great steak from your supermarket and a bad one from the other. I’m just saying there isn’t any magic that your supermarket has that the other one doesn’t. They all get beef from that originates in just a few places and NONE of them have any idea what’s in that box until they start slicing primals on the band saw.

TL:DR: Visual inspection is nearly as important as Grade and your supermarket/butcher is getting the same beef that you think is shite at the other supermarket. There are no magic cows that your butcher knows about that the other guy doesn’t.

Flame away