Goofball Meat "Grading" Systems

[Chris Amirault]

So I bought this yesterday:

It was tasty meat and all, but "Premium"? What the heck does that mean? Really, "Black Angus" is bad enough. What's "Premium"? Sounds sort of like prime with a few extra letters -- heck, it IS prime with a few extra letters. But I don't see USDA prime on there.

Any other hinkey meat grading systems out there? Meanwhile, for shame, Joe, for shame.

[Todd in Chicago]

So I bought this yesterday:

It was tasty meat and all, but "Premium"? What the heck does that mean? Really, "Black Angus" is bad enough. What's "Premium"? Sounds sort of like prime with a few extra letters -- heck, it IS prime with a few extra letters. But I don't see USDA prime on there.

Any other hinkey meat grading systems out there? Meanwhile, for shame, Joe, for shame.

Chris...

Let us know how they turn out. Based on the pic I'm seeing, they look very nice and marbled.

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

[Chris Amirault]

Yeah, that's why I grabbed them. They were tasty and all -- you can see them over here -- but they weren't prime. Of course. But I suppose they might have been premium....

[heidih]

I see this goofy stuff at the Safeway derivative (Vons/Pavillions) - "Ranchers Reserve" extra tender and the like.... As the butcher's daughter I was taught to go with what the USDA inspector grades and use my experience and judge visually. Marketing mania.

[Moopheus]

But I don't see USDA prime on there.

USDA quality grading is an optional service that processors pay for. Presumably it is cheaper for TJ's to make up their own grading than pay the USDA for theirs. This is separate from the required "wholesomeness" inspection ("it didn't smell too bad when it left the plant").

And there are red angus.

[weinoo]

I think these grading system are better known as "marketing" systems.

[jsmeeker]

All marketing. Really, I think even the UDSA grades are basically used for marketing, too. As was stated previously, that type of grading is optional. And I'm sure a lot of us realize that not all "Prime" or "Choice" or whatever is equal.

[BadRabbit]

I had a friend the other day telling me about these "prime" grass finished ribeyes he's been purchasing. I told him that I really doubted you could get prime graded grass finished steak as it would be nearly impossible to get the required marbeling without some sort of grain (or other fattening diet) finish. Well I went to the market where he'd been buying and sure enough they were "premium" grass finished steaks.

I ended up buying them and trying them out and just like most of my past experiences with "grass fed" I thought they were just OK.

[Moopheus]

All marketing. Really, I think even the UDSA grades are basically used for marketing, too. As was stated previously, that type of grading is optional. And I'm sure a lot of us realize that not all "Prime" or "Choice" or whatever is equal.

In fact, the unit of the USDA that produces the grading is the Agricultural Marketing Service. I'd guess the main advantage for the producer is that it is a widely recognized standard. The USDA spells out in gruesome detail what the grading means.

[OliverB]

means nothing, just as "all natural" or "natural" or "cage free" or "uncured" (oh, look, celery juice!) means nothing. Just an other word play to get people to buy it.

Costco sells some prime beef at times, but sometimes I wonder even there. I'm not a meat inspector, but I've seen many photos of prime beef, some in those blue trays would not qualify IMO, others are way excellent. And in the regular selection, sometimes I find pieces that I'd grade prime and jump on them. Overall their meat quality is quite excellent actually.

Too many of these labels are not regulated at all and have little (cage free) to no meaning.

But people fall for it, as for so many other things~~

[JBailey]

There seems to be a branding effort for 'certified angus beef' at many stores for the last several years. 'Premium black angus' just may be another variable on this, whether it is the store or the packer or the people who raised the cattle. While it may be nice to promote a type of cattle, I am not certain angus is superior to many other types of beef. There are so many variables in where it was raised, what it was fed and at what age taken to market.

Overall, I have been pleased and surprised with the consistent quality of Costco beef. Both their 'choice' and 'prime' offerings are great to use. They can only sell items labeled as 'prime' if that is what the packer was told and the USDA inspector stamped on the meat. From what I have read, it would be illegal to take a cut of 'choice' and package it as 'prime' if the original meat shield stamp were otherwise. It does not matter if that cut could have been graded better,once it is out the packer's door, the inspection rating cannot be modified. The variable may be that Costco is such a big and good customer of packing houses that they are getting the best cuts and the best meat and what may really be 'prime' that day the inspector only graded it 'choice'. They probably get the best of the best. Somewhere there was a prior thread here where the son of a retired butcher indicated that his father was buying Costco beef because it was vastly superior to meat from other souces-unfortunately I cannot find that quote quickly.

[DickL]

Maybe I'm just cynical, but I'd guess the "premium" in "premium black angus" refers to the price.

[ojisan]

This article explains what CAB (Certified Angus Beef) really means, and why Prime/Choice/Good was renamed Prime/Choice/Select.

http://www.steakperfection.com/grade/

Another article describing the reclassification of beef grading - Choice became Prime, Good became Choice etc.

http://bit.ly/ivcNuZ

[qrn]

The strange grades don'tbother me as much as what it really is,I have had a running hassle with the butcher at kroger,because they sell the ugliest stuff imaginable as"Beef Tenderloin",, takes way to much time to trim it up so its usable...

Bud

[thirtyoneknots]

My wife, a large animal veterinarian, has let me in before on the little secret that to qualify as "Black Angus" the beef in question legally only has to have come from a black cow--no Angus pedigree of any sort is required.

So yes, you are quite right to be skeptical of that little bit of marketing. Which is not to say that it can't mean something good in some cases.

[heidih]

My wife, a large animal veterinarian, has let me in before on the little secret that to qualify as "Black Angus" the beef in question legally only has to have come from a black cow--no Angus pedigree of any sort is required.

So yes, you are quite right to be skeptical of that little bit of marketing. Which is not to say that it can't mean something good in some cases.

I have been strolling through Molly O'Neill's One Big Table - A Portrait of American Cooking and happened upon this quote by Jim McAllen of the McAllen ranch in Texas - the oldest continuously operating cattle ranch in the United States (1791):

Regarding Angus beef-

"That's not a cattle breed, it's a cattle brand and it's got no business in Texas. They can't take this heat.... You've got to hand it to them. These guys invented a brand that is basically nothing but a black cow with a trace of Aberdeen-Angus genetic matter and they marketed it to the point that it's all Angus, all the time, everywhere you look."

He goes on to state that they hope this trend will create a space at the top of the market and they are working with Akaushi cattle from Japan as a possibility.