Beef Tenderness Marbling

It impacts the tenderness moistness and overall flavor and has become one of the most well known elements of steak evaluation.

Beef tenderness marbling. When cooking marbling adds flavor and juiciness as the fat melts into the steak. The visible fat streaks of marbled beef have become the standard for gauging beef tenderness in north america because until recently virtually all beef in north america was. If beef tenderness is depends on microscopic fat cells why are the visible fat streaks used instead to gauge beef tenderness in the current usda beef grading system. Fat is far more tender than muscle fiber in steak.

Tenderness and marbling don t necessarily go hand in hand so while the beef tenderloin is possibly the most tender cut of beef it doesn t usually have much marbling. Marbling is what gives beef its flavor juiciness and tenderness. Marbling adds a lot of flavor and can be one indicator of how good the beef is. Marbling and external fat crusts on meat cuts may add to the grease in the frying pan but they are not responsible for the flavor and tenderness of the meat.

As a result marbling adds tenderness which is a preferable mouthfeel. Prime has more marbling than choice and choice has more than select. The marbling keeps the meat moist so natural juices don t evaporate in the pan. Well marbling refers to the white flecks of intramuscular fat in each cut of meat.

Hence the practice of wrapping tenderloin steaks with strips of bacon without it the steak would lack flavor and moisture. Marbling the visible fat streaks and layers in your beef is actually not the important fat. Marbling helps to insure acceptable tenderness at higher levels of doneness. Although marbling or the intermingling of fat with lean has been equated with palatability and tenderness for years increasing concerns regarding animal fat in the diet has caused the perceived health benefit from fat reduction to receive greater.