BEEF Of the treats of the grill, nothing gets me ...
/b>Of the treats of the grill, nothing gets me salivating like a nice juicy steak, charred on the outside and luscious on the inside. The real trick is knowing the cuts or grades of meat and how to cook them. How do you know what's good, and what to do with what?
The USDA has several grading categories for meat, which is important to consider when choosing your beef. The grading is based on the degree of marbling (the fat in the meat) and the age of the animal. Based on that information, the meat is labeled when it's butchered and packed. The USDA's meat grading system is voluntary for meat packers and costs them money that, in turn, costs you money. It's a process separate from the sanitary inspections.
Prime and Choice are the two premier grades of meat. These titles are given to grade A or B (more youthful) animals with higher amounts of marbling, which produce meat that is more tender and juicy. Prime meat has more marbling than Choice. Select, the next step down, has a bit less than Choice, and so on. Prime beef is what is usually served in fancy steakhouses and is difficult to find. Try to stick with Choice, or, if your budget insists, Select. Standard winds up as supermarket brands, or is often unlabelled; the grades below are usually saved for commercial purposes.
There are a few other important steps you can take to make your grilling a success. Before you fire up, make sure you have an accurate, instant-read meat thermometer. Become familiar with the temperatures at which meat is cooked (135-140 degrees puts a 3/4-inch steak in the medium-rare range) and how the meat looks and feels at various stages on the fire. You stand a much better chance of producing juicy results.
Also, tell your butcher how you intend to cook the meat. A good butcher can tell you what's good for braising, what works best roasted, and so on.