When having a special dinner at an upscale steakhouse the filet, strip or ribeye that is on your plate will be USDA graded Choice or if you’re lucky, Prime. What do these grades mean? Why is it graded, and what do the grades actually represent?
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has highly-skilled USDA meat graders who visit meat processing facilities in the United States to inspect those facilities to make sure they are clean and meet the USDA processing facility codes of business. Using a subjective characteristic assessment process and electronic instruments to measure meat characteristics. These graders decide what quality category the beef falls into.
Beef is graded in two ways: quality grades for tenderness, juiciness and flavor; and yield grades for the amount of usable lean meat on the carcass.
Prime beef is produced from young, well-fed beef cattle. It has abundant marbling which is the amount of fat interspersed through the lean meat. Prime beef is distinctively superior. It is almost never found in grocery stores. The beef is tender, juicy and showcases a buttery richness. It has a very fine texture and has the highest degree of fat marbling throughout the cut. They are also excellent for dry-heat cooking like broiling, roasting or grilling.
Choice beef is high quality, but has less marbling than Prime. Choice roasts and steaks from the loin and rib will be very tender, but less juicy and flavorful. These may need more seasoning than their prime counterparts and must not be overcooked.
Our Exclusive Premium Angus is a small step below prime and has a little less fat marbling and tends to be less juicy and tender verses prime beef. Premium is still a top quality steak especially if it is cut from the loin and rib areas of a carcass such as the filet, strip or rib steak.
Of all beef produced in the United States, only 2% of the beef grades are prime. It is extremely difficult to find prime steaks as they are in such great demand. Exclusive, upscale restaurants is where the majority of prime beef is sold and is why prime steaks are more expensive.
