What Makes A Good Cut Of Beef?

We are often asked here at Good Taste Foods, ‘What makes a good cut of beef?’ Is it the cut itself? Is it the way you cook it? Or is it the fact that it came from that gourmet meal delivery service you like? You know the one, they offer easy online ordering and they always have the best selection. While any of these factors can contribute to a really good cut of beef, the truth is that a lot of the flavour and tenderness of a steak comes from the marbling of the steak.

What Is Marbling?

What is marbling? When it comes to steaks, marbling is the streaks of intramuscular white fat that travels through the muscle fibres. Cattle can also be fed barley, corn, or other cereal grains to create higher quality marbling grade. Be aware of fake marbled steak, that’s essentially fat-injected beef. Low-quality beef cuts with injected fat may look good because they look just like naturally-marbled steaks, but they aren’t going to be as tender or flavourful. To ensure that you always get the best, most flavourful cut of beef, order from Good Taste Foods’ local food delivery service.

Proper Cooking

It is recommended to choose steak with fine marbling, with plenty of thin streaks of fat among muscle fibres. It’s easier for smaller flecks of fat to melt, adding to the tenderness and juiciness of the meat. Cheaper marbled steak may have less evenly distributed fat with thicker streaks. These may affect eating and cooking experiences negatively. It will take longer to liquify and render the marbling, making it harder or impossible to cook a medium rare steak. Medium well or well-done steaks are not as juicy or tender as medium rare. Improper cooking techniques may cause uneven rendering of fat, with juicy edges, while the centre is tastes slightly waxy.

When cooked at above 54 degrees Celsius, the steak’s marbling starts to melt and muscle fibres are coated by rich, buttery fat. This enhances the beefy flavour, resulting in an incredibly delicious steak. It’s not recommended to cook marbled steaks rare, because unmelted fat may cause an unpleasant and slightly waxy texture. The recommended way to cook marbled steaks is medium-rare, between 54 and 60 degrees Celsius. This ensures that the intramuscular fat fully melts, resulting in more flavourful and juicier steak, while keeping the centre of the steak tender and pink.

Contact Good Taste Foods

To learn more, contact Good Taste Foods today and shop a wide selection of high-quality food delivered to your door!

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