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USDA Beef GradesBeef is graded for quality by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) graders according to standards established by the USDA. | Grades are based on the amount of marbling (flecks in fat within the lean) and the age of the animal. | These quality grades are an indication of palatability characteristics such as tenderness, juiciness, and flavor. |
| While there are eight quality grades for beef, the top three Grades available to most consumers are: | Amount of Marbling | Prime
[Moderately Abundant Marbling] | Choice
[Moderate Marbling] | Select
[Slight Marbling] | 
| Prime | Choice | Select |
More Detailed Information on USDA Prime and Choice Graded Beef | PRIME [The Moderately Abundant Picture Above]
This is the grade of beef that contains the greatest degree of marbling (small flecks of fat that are interspersed with the lean muscle, which contributes to tenderness, juiciness and flavor).
It is generally sold to finer restaurants and to some selected meat stores. It is usually higher priced because it is produced in very limited quantities. 
| | Choice [The Moderate Picture Above]
This is the grade preferred by many consumers because it contains sufficient marbling for taste and tenderness. It is usually less costly than U.S. Prime.
Choice falls between Prime and Select. | | | Select [The Slight Picture Above] This is generally a lower-priced grade of beef with less marbling than U.S. Choice. Select cuts of beef may vary in tenderness and juiciness.
Select has the least amount of marbling, making it leaner than, but often not as tender, juicy and flavorful as, the other two top grades. | | Click on any jar below to go to that seasonings web page where
you can read more about that seasoning and place your order.
Prime Steak and Beefburger Seasoning (Formerly Meyers Roast Beef Rub) is our most popular shake-on seasoning. 
| Most markets today offer a selection of Choice and Select cuts. Wal-Mart normally only carries USDA Select Beef. | | | USDA Grading is optional and is paid for by meat processors. The cost is ultimately reflected in the price of the meat. Since Ask The Meatman does not sell any meat over the internet,
we HIGHLY recommend you purchase the absolute best beef from My Butcher.com! My Butcher.com offers the top USDA grade of beef: USDA Prime Beef, plus Premium Black Angus, and more - so you can buy exactly the kind of meat you want!
ONLY 2% of ALL beef is graded USDA Prime! All the beef My Butcher.com sells has been carefully aged for a minimum of 21 days.
This is very important to insure that the steaks have the proper level of tenderness and flavor. All of My Butcher.com's meat is freshly cut when we get your order, rather than pre-cut meat being stored frozen like many other steak sellers. Your steaks are always hand-trimmed to your order by highly experienced meat cutters. All of the hand picking, hand trimming, and vacuum packaging of your ordered items is done in a fully USDA inspected facility. Not only do you get the freshest possible product, but this also allows us to take special orders. | Ask The Meatman's Own
"How To Process Beef" DVD!! 1 Hour & 14 Minutes of Learning How To:Make The Primal Beef CutsMake Sub-Primal Beef CutsMake Retail Beef CutsFreezer Wrap Beef CorrectlySharpen Your Knife CorrectlyUse A Steel Correctly
| The Extension Services of Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin and
North Dakota have an EXCELLENT article on
Quality and Yield Grades
for Beef Carcasses!
Click here to read it. |
We have a FREE PDF article on Beef Grades. To view it, just click here.
If you would rather download the FREE PDF Beef Grades article and save it to your computer, just right click here., and choose "Save Target As"  You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this file.
If don't have it already on your computer,
you can download from the Adobe website by clicking here.
| Last Updated: Friday, October 16, 2009 04:59 PM |
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