A Quilty grade for beef is a composite evaluation of factors that affect the palatability of meat. (tenderness,juiciness and flavor)These facrors include carcass maturity,firmness,texture and color of lean,and the amount ofmarbling in the lean.Beef carcass quitlty grading is based on 1 degree of marbling and 2 degrees of maturity
The marbling is the intermingling of fat in the lean. Graders evaluate the amount and distrabution of marbling in the ribeye muscle at the cut surface after the carcuss has been ripped between the 12th and 13th ribs.the degree of marbling is the primary way of determining a quility grade.
The degrees of marbling are divided into 100 subunits but in general they are done in tenths.In prime you have three levels Abundent moderatly abundent and slightly abundent in choice you have Moderate,modest and small in select you have slight and standard you have traces and pracitically devoid (stay away)! In addiction to marbling there are other ways to determan muscle quility,firmness proper color and texture good ribeyes will show a good amount of well dispersed marbling in a firm,fine textured,bright cherry-red colored leans the animal matures the characteristics of muscle change,and muscle color becomes darker and the texture becomes coarser.there is so much thats goes into grading beef that it's mind boggling!!!lets not start talking about Ossification. I'll be here for a week...
Like I said in my intial post look for how much marbling is in the lean.that is really the easyest way to determen the quility
cc
PS. I got this info from my main supplyer who has 45 years at hunts point
[This message has been edited by cape chef (edited 02-06-2001).]
02-06-2001, 02:10 PM
