Beef Tenderness Marbling

If beef tenderness is depends on microscopic fat cells why are the visible fat streaks used instead to gauge beef tenderness in the current usda beef grading system.

Beef tenderness marbling.

However with beef steaks and roasts tenderness usually receives the highest priority. Prime has more marbling than choice and choice has more than select. Marbling and external fat crusts on meat cuts may add to the grease in the frying pan but they are not responsible for the flavor and tenderness of the meat. As a result marbling adds tenderness which is a preferable mouthfeel.

When cooking marbling adds flavor and juiciness as the fat melts into the steak. Fat is far more tender than muscle fiber in steak. Well marbling refers to the white flecks of intramuscular fat in each cut of meat. The marbling keeps the meat moist so natural juices don t evaporate in the pan.

As meat is cooked to more advanced degrees of doneness the tougher it will get. Marbling is what gives beef its flavor juiciness and tenderness. Marbling adds a lot of flavor and can be one indicator of how good the beef is. Marbling helps to insure acceptable tenderness at higher levels of doneness.

Tenderness and marbling don t necessarily go hand in hand so while the beef tenderloin is possibly the most tender cut of beef it doesn t usually have much marbling. Marbling the visible fat streaks and layers in your beef is actually not the important fat. The visible fat streaks of marbled beef have become the standard for gauging beef tenderness in north america because until recently virtually all beef in north america was. Usda s agricultural marketing service ams employs 200 highly skilled beef graders who sometimes with the help of electronic monitoring evaluate several factors that determine the grade including the amount and distribution of marbling.