What Makes a Good Piece of Beef?
Brisket
Chunk Short Ribs
Eye of Round
Knuckle
Outside Flat
Ox Tail
Ribeye
Shank
Shank Meat
Short Rib
Striploin
Top Sirloin
T-Bone
Colour
Surface colour of fresh meat is highly unstable. Depending on how much air the product is exposed to the pigment of the meat will be different. Meat that is protected from air contact like vacuum packed has a purple-red colour, while meat that is in plastic wrap which lets oxygen pass through keeps the colour bright red. In addition, store lighting as well as extending exposure to oxygen will make the product turn a darker red color.
When meat darkens in the refrigerator it is due to oxidation. In addition the interior of package meat may be grayish-brown due to the lack of oxygen penetrating below the surface. This does not mean that the meat has gone bad.
Surface colour of fresh meat is highly unstable. Depending on how much air the product is exposed to the pigment of the meat will be different. Meat that is protected from air contact like vacuum packed has a purple-red colour, while meat that is in plastic wrap which lets oxygen pass through keeps the colour bright red. In addition, store lighting as well as extending exposure to oxygen will make the product turn a darker red color.
When meat darkens in the refrigerator it is due to oxidation. In addition the interior of package meat may be grayish-brown due to the lack of oxygen penetrating below the surface. This does not mean that the meat has gone bad.
Marbling
Marbling refers to the fine white steaks of fat running through lean beef. Marbling enhances the eating quality of beef by increasing tenderness, juiciness and flavour. A well marbled piece of beef does not mean it is "fat" . Unlike marbling "fat" is not evenly distributed throughout the lean meat, looks like translucent ribbons, doesn't dissolve easily when cooked, is hard to chew, and requires moist heat to tenderize or soften.
Marbling refers to the fine white steaks of fat running through lean beef. Marbling enhances the eating quality of beef by increasing tenderness, juiciness and flavour. A well marbled piece of beef does not mean it is "fat" . Unlike marbling "fat" is not evenly distributed throughout the lean meat, looks like translucent ribbons, doesn't dissolve easily when cooked, is hard to chew, and requires moist heat to tenderize or soften.
Grading
Grading depends on how much marble that piece of meat has. The more marble the piece of beef has, the higher the grade. Canadian beef is graded from "A" which contains a trace of marbling to "AA" which has slight marbling, to "AAA" which has small amount of marbling and "Prime" which has abundant marbling. American Beef although grade on the same criteria only has two Grades, "Select" which is equivalent to Canadian "AA" and "Choice" which is equivalent to Canadian "AAA".
Grading depends on how much marble that piece of meat has. The more marble the piece of beef has, the higher the grade. Canadian beef is graded from "A" which contains a trace of marbling to "AA" which has slight marbling, to "AAA" which has small amount of marbling and "Prime" which has abundant marbling. American Beef although grade on the same criteria only has two Grades, "Select" which is equivalent to Canadian "AA" and "Choice" which is equivalent to Canadian "AAA".