Beef With High Marbling

In this article i will explain when marbling is a good gauge of beef tenderness when it is not and how else to gauge beef tenderness when marbling is not a suitable gauge of beef tenderness.

Beef with high marbling.

Feed and finishing may also impact marbling with grass finished cattle offering a leaner beefier flavor whereas grain finished beef are much milder. Beef carcass quality grading is based on 1 degree of marbling and 2 degree of maturity. And some cattle breeds simply will not produce marbled meat no matter what they are fed how fat they get or how tender their beef is. The lean muscle has a high frequency of thin evenly distributed flecks of fat.

Indeed to ensure an apples to apples comparison or steak to steak if you prefer inspectors look at the loin muscle specifically between the 12th and 13th ribs which is where the short loin primal cut meets its next. A university of georgia team says beef cows can be efficient and not impact the carcass. Wagyu beef for example can be extremely marbled due to its genetics so much so that it s prized for that marbling. Marble score or grades are a component of the aus meat beef quality grading system and is assessed within the ribeye muscle.

Cattlemen looking for both efficiency and carcass quality can have it all according to a university of georgia uga animal scientist. Although some people disagree about the quality of different types of marbling the following is the generally accepted standard. Graders evaluate the amount and distribution of marbling in the ribeye muscle at the cut surface after the carcass has been ribbed between the 12th and 13th ribs. Marbling intramuscular fat is the intermingling or dispersion of fat within the lean.

In addition to the quantity of marbling the distribution and texture of visible fat flecks within the ribeye are also considered during assessment of marbling score.