Grades of Beef; how many

[markk]

My local supermarket (a ShopRite) now carries 5 grades of beef!

In addition to the "regular" beef, in the main meat section, there's a separate refrigerated case that contains (in addition to veal, and a large assortment of D'Artagnan products) the following grades of beef:

• Certified Angus Beef

• All-Natural Certified Angus Beef

• "Nature's Reserve" all-natural, grass fed, free-range Australian Beef

• Dry-aged Certified Angus Beef from Buckhead Beef Co. (they may be the people who supply Ruth's Chris)

Not all cuts are available in all grades. The Buckhead Beef is only rib steaks, fillet-mignon, shell steaks, and porterhouse/t-bones, each steak individually vacuum packed in cryovac. Some of the other brands include not only those, but top round and flank steaks as well.

All this comes at a time for me when I'm trying to limit my intake of fatty meat! So I haven't tried them all. I've had the Australian grass fed, which is incredibly lean, and of course, not as good (although I recently made a rib roast from them which was really good), and I've had the flank steak from the All-natural angus beef, which was tender and delicious.

But, how many grades of beef does YOUR supermarket have? Anybody seeing anything like this?

[rooftop1000]

I shot at Shoprite too but my hubby wont eat the Australian grass fed beef, he says it tastes livery. I took the last whole filet I had and turned it into Wellingtons for company.

But remember none of those things listed are Grade names used for beef.

tracey

[saturnbar]

So what is "all natural certified Angus beef" is that grass fed as well, or just hormone free? Any better than plain old Angus? What does Angus mean anyway, I always thought it was marketing, Certified Angus? Hunh. Down here here we just have two, choice and prime. Where I shop, a prime ribeye is $12.99 a pound. I have been eating alot of those lately. ch

Edited August 30, 2006 by saturnbar (log)

[deltadoc]

The original poster's questions related to types of beef cuts, as well as origins of those cuts.

Black Angus is the result of breeding in Northeastern Scotland, and originated from Aberdeen-Angus.

Common breeds of cows in the US for milk or beef are:

Ayrshire

Brown Swiss

Canadienne

Dutch Belted

Guernsey

Holstein (Holstein-Friesian)

Jersey

Kerry

Milking Devon

Milking Shorthorn

Norweigian Red.

For beef in the store to be labeled "Angus", as I understand it from talking to Steve at VenisonAmerica.com, only 1/2 of the steer has to be Angus.

A lot of labeling means nothing. If I remember what Steve said correctly, a Certified Black Angus is 100% Black Angus.

Anyway, I get my 100% Certified Black Angus tenderloin from Venison America in Hudson, and trim the strap for hamburger, and make my own filets and kebobs from the whole tenderloin. They're raised on local farms!

One important NOTE: Don't buy cow meat, get steer meat. A lot of cow meat is passed off these days. Bull meat isn't all that good either.

doc

[Torrilin]

My local supermarket (a ShopRite) now carries 5 grades of beef!

In addition to the "regular" beef, in the main meat section, there's a separate refrigerated case that contains (in addition to veal, and a large assortment of D'Artagnan products) the following grades of beef:

• Certified Angus Beef

• All-Natural Certified Angus Beef

• "Nature's Reserve" all-natural, grass fed, free-range Australian Beef

• Dry-aged Certified Angus Beef from Buckhead Beef Co. (they may be the people who supply Ruth's Chris)

Not all cuts are available in all grades.  The Buckhead Beef is only rib steaks, fillet-mignon, shell steaks, and porterhouse/t-bones, each steak individually vacuum packed in cryovac.  Some of the other brands include not only those, but top round and flank steaks as well.

All this comes at a time for me when I'm trying to limit my intake of fatty meat!  So I haven't tried them all.  I've had the Australian grass fed, which is incredibly lean, and of course, not as good (although I recently made a rib roast from them which was really good), and I've had the flank steak from the All-natural angus beef, which was tender and delicious.

But, how many grades of beef does YOUR supermarket have?  Anybody seeing anything like this?

←

None of those are grades of meat. They are marketing terms. The grades of beef in the US are USDA Prime, USDA Choice, USDA Select, USDA Standard, USDA Commercial, USDA Utility, USDA Cutter and USDA Canner. Graded means that the meat has passed a USDA inspection and met certain criteria for marbling. The USDA grade applies to the entire carcass, and the inspection costs the meat packer money, which they pass on to their customers in the form of higher prices.

If you research the various companies providing the fancy marketed beef, you'll find that most (tho not all) of them are producing USDA graded Choice beef. Some of them will not have their beef graded by the USDA. Chances are, the regular beef in your supermarket is ungraded or USDA Select grade. If the companies providing the grass finished beef are getting the meat graded, chances are it's coming out as Select as well. The range of fancy marketed beef is quite common in upscale supermarkets. It's a way for them to cut down on having real butchers on staff, while still providing the illusion of having a good meat department.

The reason you're not seeing all cuts from all producers is because most of these producers don't bother to market anything other than the most valuable cuts. So the "lesser" cuts of beef will end up getting sold without the pretty brand name.

If you care about your beef, I strongly recommend finding an independant grocer with a good butcher on staff, or an independant butcher shop that cares about beef. Ideally such a place will have the facilities to handle whole cows, but as long as the butchers are passionate about their beef, they'll see to it that they're selling meat worth eating. Even if they work off of sub-primal cuts like my butcher, they'll be thrilled if you want to order something they don't ordinarily stock. Also, bone up on marbling and learn to eyeball beef so that you can determine what the correct USDA grade for it is yourself. The grading system really *is* a good way to tell if a particular hunk of meat is worth eating. I'd rather have the occasional treat of a really fine piece of beef than frequent meals of low quality beef.

Emily

[markk]

None of those are grades of meat. They are marketing terms...

Yes, I used the wrong word - I shouldn't have said "grade". But what I was curious about is how many other supermarkets are offering so many "types" or "brands" of beef; finding the same cut of steak with 5 different 'pedigrees' in one store seems unusual to me.

[Torrilin]

Yes, I used the wrong word - I shouldn't have said "grade".  But what I was curious about is how many other supermarkets are offering so many "types" or "brands" of beef; finding the same cut of steak with 5 different 'pedigrees' in one store seems unusual to me.

←

It's very common in some areas, less so in others. Generally, the more upscale the supermarket the more fancy marketing you'll see in the meat department. I live in a relatively lower class area of LA, and even the cheapest mainstream supermarket sells 2-3 brands of beef. The grocery stores near my parents' home in Central PA typically sell around 5, tho the most upscale store sells only 2... because they have good butchers on staff and process much of their store branded meat themselves. That place also dry ages beef on site tho, so they're a little exceptional.

Emily

Edited August 30, 2006 by Torrilin (log)