Top Grades Of Beef

[bakaduin]

Originally Posted by BillGator97

Arguably the best steakhouse in Chicago is Gibson's, and they have their own grade of Prime Angus beef:

http://www.gibsonssteakhouse.com/usd...-pages-350.php

That is all marketing.

[hrossgator]

Costco often has Prime Beef.

[manigordo]

Just don't be lured by "premium." It means nothing. Bern's ages its own beef (and raised much of its own veggies long before "farm to table" became popular. In St Pete one can get dry aged beef at Mazzaro's market for $17.95. It is remarkable.

I get "Kobe style;" American or Australian versions of Kobe beef. A lot of people think that because Kobe can only be the Japanese beef that the same quality cannot be had here, but that is untrue. The key is in whether the method creates the proper marbling.

(This is also the key to the virtues of the American grades.)

Kobe style has 12 grades; 8-12 being very fine. Google it to learn how it works. I always make sure to grill or smoke to almost medium rare, then let it set to cool.

When shopping, always check the marbling fat; that is the key.

[Gator515151]

A little off subject but this was a little suprising. Many years ago while I was still in high school I took a summer job in the testing lab at Tropicana. Their top grade of orange juice was not packaged under the Tropicana label, there best juice was packaged under the A&P label for A&P food stores. A&P's standards for juice were actually higher than USDA grade A.

[ovillegator]

Originally Posted by manigordo

Just don't be lured by "premium." It means nothing. Bern's ages its own beef (and raised much of its own veggies long before "farm to table" became popular. In St Pete one can get dry aged beef at Mazzaro's market for $17.95. It is remarkable.

I get "Kobe style;" American or Australian versions of Kobe beef. A lot of people think that because Kobe can only be the Japanese beef that the same quality cannot be had here, but that is untrue. The key is in whether the method creates the proper marbling.

(This is also the key to the virtues of the American grades.)

Kobe style has 12 grades; 8-12 being very fine. Google it to learn how it works. I always make sure to grill or smoke to almost medium rare, then let it set to cool.

When shopping, always check the marbling fat; that is the key.

Just for my education, what are we checking for in the marbling fat?

[manigordo]

The "marbling" is the thin lines of fat throughout the meat, not the large globs of fat that sit on/in it. What you want are lots of thin veins throughout the meat itself. Look up the marbling grades of Kobe I mentioned. You can see that the best beef gets almost white with fat. When you are at the store, look for many thin veiny lines throughout.

[alphaOmegator]

Someone please explain the difference between Kobe and Angus beef. Or are there any differences?

Also what is the best cut of a steak? i.e. Porter house, rib eye, etc..can someone rate them from best to least desirable?

Thanks!

[tegator80]

Originally Posted by KendrellJones

I recall a discussion some time ago where someone said the best grades of beef all get sent to fine restaurants, etc. Is this true?

Is what we could get in say a Publix, second rate to that of a good steakhouse?

It used to be the case that all of the "Prime" beef got scarfed up by the restaurants before the supermarkets/butchers. But the lessened economy has a lot of this beef available to us. Costco sells it for a few dollars per pound more.

The two marketed beef lines (but I don't believe guaranteed superior) is Certified Angus Beef (CAB) and what some call American Kobe but is better described as Wagyu beef. The people behind these are trying to separate themselves from USDA grades but I can't say that you are getting a superior product just because the label says it is.

I have read that the best thing for most people to buy is "Choice" and dry age it themselves. There are systems that do it very well and people say it is as good as anything you can get at a high end restaurant. One thing you need to know is that the dry aging concentrates the flavor by shrinking it and removing water. And you end up with some tough, dry patches that need to be cut off before you cook it. So that cheaper cut of meat becomes rather expensive due to loss of weight and the unusable stuff you made from your original piece of meat.

[fbgator27]

Originally Posted by alphaOmegator

Someone please explain the difference between Kobe and Angus beef. Or are there any differences?

Also what is the best cut of a steak? i.e. Porter house, rib eye, etc..can someone rate them from best to least desirable?

Thanks!

Angus is the breed of cattle. It is probably the most recognized American beef. You have other breeds such as Brahman or Hereford. Kobe beef is from Wagyu cattle and is characterized by how it is raised; to increase the marbling and flavor.

As for best cut? Its all about your taste. Try them all and see what you like. Some steaks like a porterhouse are the best of both worlds you get a tenderloin and a strip.

IMO you can obsess over grades and cuts all you want, but if you dont cook it right none of this matters.

[gatorjjh]

Originally Posted by fbgator27

Angus is the breed of cattle. It is probably the most recognized American beef. You have other breeds such as Brahman or Hereford. Kobe beef is from Wagyu cattle and is characterized by how it is raised; to increase the marbling and flavor.

As for best cut? Its all about your taste. Try them all and see what you like. Some steaks like a porterhouse are the best of both worlds you get a tenderloin and a strip.

IMO you can obsess over grades and cuts all you want, but if you dont cook it right none of this matters.

this ^^^^^^^^^^

[g8orbill]

My 82 year old father in law has a cattle ranch - his cows are red limousine cows and his bull is a black angus- the meat is damned good

[Gatorrick22]

Originally Posted by TheGator

I am not aware of the restaurants aging it, it is bought aged from the food providers.

Most, if not all restaurants, do not have the ability to age it or carry it in stock for that long.

Charley's Steak House ages their own beef. You can even see it aging if you get a tour.






Fixed the spelling.

[bakaduin]

Originally Posted by alphaOmegator

Someone please explain the difference between Kobe and Angus beef. Or are there any differences?

Also what is the best cut of a steak? i.e. Porter house, rib eye, etc..can someone rate them from best to least desirable?

Thanks!

As others mentioned there are different breeds of cattle that have different qualities. Angus are great beef cattle as far as yield, Brahman have great heat tolerance, Brangus (a cross between the two) take a bit from each, and Wagyu cattle (which is what Kobe beef comes from) have remarkable marbling. There are other breeds like Hereford and Shorthorn as well as a ton of crosses like Braford. All in all breeds are about getting a good yield, high quality meat, that survives well in whatever climate you subject it to.

Kobe beef is Wagyu cattle who have been raised in Kobe, Japan. If you bought the same beef from a Wagyu cattle from the U.S. you wouldn't call it Kobe (but perhaps Kobe-style). This is analogous to Champagne being sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France.





The top picture is from Wagyu beef and the bottom from Angus. The marbling differences are obvious. It makes for a very tender piece of meat but it also has a very different flavor profile.

In general, there are a ton of things that effect taste and enjoyability of a steak. Grass fed vs corn fed yield different tastes, dry age vs. wet age, grade, and breed. Now I will say the whole black angus thing is pure marketing, but a hell of a good job.

As far as cut of meat, it is personal preference. I like bone-in ribeyes cooked on an extremely hot flat surface to get a nice crust on the outside and rare on the inside.

[Jaggator]

You eat your steak rare bakaduin?

I like mine medium.

[Jaggator]

Originally Posted by hrossgator

Costco often has Prime Beef.

Best kept secret that many don't know. A relative of mine is a Publix store manager and he puts his stamp of approval on the good quality of meats bought at Costco.

[adamgator96]

I really enjoy the grass-fed beef from Whole Foods. Very tender and just a different flavor than other store bought steaks in my experience.

[bakaduin]

Originally Posted by Jaggator

You eat your steak rare bakaduin?

I like mine medium.

If I'm at a fine steakhouse where I know the meat is high quality then rare every time. If I'm getting a steak somewhere else then medium rare at most.

I like um cold to slightly warm in the center and nice and red.

[anstro76]

and there is a technique to cooking american style kobe or real kobe..it's more than just slapping it on the grill. and if you buy "kobe" burgers just flush your money down the toilet

Sent from my mind using esp

[Gator515151]

Originally Posted by bakaduin

If I'm at a fine steakhouse where I know the meat is high quality then rare every time. If I'm getting a steak somewhere else then medium rare at most.

I like um cold to slightly warm in the center and nice and red.

I knew a guy who used to tell the waitress to cut off his horns, cut off his tail, wipe his ass, put him on a plate and bring him to me.

[LAGatorDoc]

Originally Posted by TheGator

I would double check. I think that is a marketing gimmick.

I have worked in high end steak houses that sold aged beef. It comes from the food providers. Maybe they do, but their food costs would go through the roof.

It is not cost effective for a restaurant to do that.

To age beef, it has to hang from a rack, and/or sit on a rack for 21 days, or however long they are stating. That is a lot of beef for a restaurant to just sit in storage.

That is expensive for a restaurant to buy coolers that can age that amount of beef. It is also sq ft that is added to their lease space, which could be used to for more tables.

Restaurants buy the cuts of beef directly from the producers individually wrapped. It creates less spoilage and it is more cost effective.

To keep food costs down, typically restaurants do not store food more than a few days and certainly no more than a week.

You guys need to watch the travel channel. They have shows on steaks, steakhouses, Man vs Food where people pig out, and it is very entertaining. There are a lot of top end steakhouses that they "go behind the scenes with" and lots have their own meat locker where they age their beef.

The reason to age meat is to break it down. Once an animal dies it releases enzymes that help break down the meat. I have eaten in Yugoslavia un-aged "fresh" beef, pork, and chicken from my family farm, and the beef and the pork were so chewy because they were not aged. The chicken actually was fine, and that is the reason we don't age chicken. In fact it was the best chicken I ever had, because it was allowed to roam around the farm and ate corn, grains, wheat, hay, which imparted great flavor to the meat. The chicken in America is very blame compared to this.

Back to the beef. There's two ways to age the beef. The "dry aged" and the "wet aged." Dry aging is more traditional, and few steakhouses use the dry aging process. It tends to dry the meat a little, which concentrates the flavors, but generally, the meat isn't as soft as with wet aging. I have had dry aged beef, at Peter Luger's and one steakhouse in Chicago (blanking on the name), and Berns in Tampa, and they are indeed very "beef" flavored. Chains like Morton's, Ruth Chris, etc, have dry aged and wet aged steaks, but generally the dry aged ones are more expensive whereas (at Morton's in LA, it can go up to $200 a steak, but you don't see it on the menu) whereas wet aged steaks are the ones that you find on the menu for $45-70.

All beef at the grocery store is wet aged and most steakhouses get wet aged steak as well. This generally is faster than dry aging which decreases cost, resulting in less cost to the producer than dry aging. It generally produces more tender meat than the dry aging, but its hit or miss how concentrated the beef flavor is.

Personally, I prefer the more tender wet aged steak for the price (I don't think one piece of meat should cost more than $50-60).