If you want to end up eating a great steak, there is no other way to do it than by starting with one that is already great. Unfortunately, it can be rather difficult to determine whether or not a steak at the market is of high quality. There are plenty to choose from, but if you don’t know what you’re looking for, finding the best one will be pretty tricky. Here are a few things to look for when you go steak shopping that’ll help you get a better result.
The first thing you will need to pay attention to is the grade of the meat. Grading is performed by a government agency or third party organization, and is determined by fat marbling and the age of the animal. Remember that the carcass is graded whole, and then the individual cuts are made, so there may be some variance across different cuts. In the US, the major grades are prime, choice, and select. Prime is the best and select is the lowest grade available to most consumers.
Prime is responsible for about two percent of beef production in the US, and you will not find it in most stores, since it is often sold to restaurants or exported. Select and choice are more commonly found on store shelves. You may notice a difference between them if you take the time to try them, however.
Marbling helps determine the quality of a steak from a traditional point of view, since higher marbling means more taste, while less fat means a more tender steak. However, this is not the only factor that influences taste. Whether the cattle have been grass or grain finished can have a big effect, since grass adds more taste, though the marbling is often less attractive.
There are lots of different cuts of meat available on the market, with some making better steaks than others do. Steak comes from three major portions of the animal - the sirloin, short loin, and rib, and each cooks a little differently. The rib is less tender, and needs more attention and longer cooking than you’d use if you were deciding how to cook boneless top sirloin steak.
The short loin brings us the top loin steak, Porterhouse, T-bone and tenderloin, while the sirloin produces sirloin and top sirloin steaks. You may see round, chuck, and flank meats also labeled as steak, but do not put them on the grill unless you want really tough beef. Try them in stews instead, since the quality is much lower. Pick the best steak to begin with, and then find the best way to cook it, since a good marinade will not make a bad steak any better. A good one will improve even a great steak, however.
Do you like venison? A good deer steak marinade will add a wonderful depth of flavors to the already rich taste of the venison. It should be treated like any other piece of steak. Take the time to try one of the marinades at EasySteakMarinades.net on your next meal of venison. It will be delicious.
