A fine steak is one of life's simple pleasures, but grilling it to perfection requires a little information and skill. Once you have your grilling techniques perfected, then you will be able to grill steaks that are as good as in any of these fancy steakhouses.
Before you fire up that grill, you need to first make sure you are picking the best cut of meat available out there.
Have you ever stood in front of the meat section of your local supermarket figuring out the grades of beef and what they mean? You're not alone. Here is the scoop. There are eight beef grades specified by the USDA, four of which are commonly found in the butcher's case. The grading is a voluntary process but producers implement it for the consumer's benefit. These grades offer you a good guide on flavor and tenderness of the meat. The grades are based on the age of the animal and the marbling of the meat. Marbling, as the term implies, refer to the white flecks of fat that you see all over the meat.
Prime Beef
This is the best cut that your money can buy. This is so good and has so much marbling only 2 percent of beef earns this title. Most Prime meat is sold to fine restaurants, but you can find it at a good butcher. If it's a special occasion, you have to go Prime. It's tough to beat in terms of taste and juiciness. It has become easier find this because of the downturn in the economy, meaning less folks are dining out. This resulted in a supply surplus for this special cut, so on a lot of occasions, you can even buy it now from your neighborhood Costco.
Certified Angus Beef
Although not an official USDA grade, this is reserved for meat which meet strict standards for tenderness, juiciness and flavor. Only 8 percent of beef meets this standard. A lot of people prefer it over other types mainly because the marbling comes close to Prime. It's widely available in the grocery stores and meat counters and is an affordable alternative to Prime.
Choice Beef
This is the most widely available cut and you can consider it as your second choice. The meat comes from fairly young cattle and has moderate to small amounts of marbling. Choice is an excellent value for the grill.
Select Grade Beef
This cut is cheaper than Choice and is also much leaner. Since the marbling is less, the meat tends to be tougher and has less flavor. Unless you plan to marinate your steak, you are better off opting for a Choice cut for the grill.
Now that you have chosen the cut you like, let me give you a quick note about aging. If you happen to visit this famous steakhouse in New York called Peter Luger, and was fortunate enough to sample their steaks, and you wonder why it taste so much better than your backyard version, one of the major reasons for it is aging. Steak gets better with age. There are two types of aging for beef, dry aging and wet aging. Both types of aging make the cuts more flavorful and tender. In the process of dry aging, beef is hung unwrapped in a refrigerated cooler for 3 to 6 weeks. As you age it, the meat loses up to 10 percent of their weight due to evaporation, resulting in more concentrated flavor. At the same time, the muscles in the meat breaks down making it more tender. Wet aging has a similar storage process except the meat are put in airtight bags so there is no loss of moisture. It's really just personal preference when it comes to wet-aged or dry-aged beef, both enhances the quality of the meat for grilling.
And that concludes our primer. Now go out there and get that Prime cut and start grilling!!
Author Resource:
Lakshmi is a student who has gotten into IM in her spare time, promoting a varied collection of sites, such as providing info on the best dog nail clippers you can buy for your pet or finding the hottest baby halloween costumes for this coming halloween.
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