USDA Prime is the highest grade of beef in the US, but there has been a shift towards labels that designate breed, ranching style, or location. The USDA voluntary grading system ranks beef based on maturity and marbling, with only 2% of carcasses reaching Prime level. Lower grades are rarely used in food service. The system is criticized for not measuring tenderness directly. Designated luxury beef, such as Black Angus or Kobe Beef, is becoming more popular.
USDA Prime is a type of beef, graded in the United States. It is considered the highest grade of domestic meat on the USDA scale and as such tends to be the most expensive. Beef grade is just one way of labeling beef, and in recent years there has been a shift from labels like USDA Prime to labels that designate a particular breed of cattle, a particular style of ranching, or a particular location where the cattle were raised .
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not require any meat producer to have their beef graded for labeling. It is an entirely voluntary scheme and as such tends to only be undertaken in cases where the meat will rate high enough on the scale. Producers who choose to have their meat graded pay the input of a certified grader and grade whole carcasses, which are then labeled according to their grade. The company can then label the graded meat in a variety of ways, including direct printing on the cuts, a USDA shield, or a label on the container or package itself.
There are eight different types of meat in the USDA system, with USDA Prime being the highest. They are ranked according to two different metrics: the maturity of the cattle at slaughter and the amount of marbling in the meat. Some people have criticized this system, as it doesn’t actually directly measure the tenderness of meat, although both of these metrics are usually tenderness factors. Some groups have suggested an alternative classification that directly measures the tenderness of meat. However, the USDA system is widely regarded, and similar systems exist in most major beef-producing countries.
USDA Prime carcasses have the highest absolute amount of marbling, or intramuscular fat, of all carcasses in the United States and are generally considered the best. Directly below USDA Prime is USDA Choice, which is considered very high quality. Below is USDA Select, formerly known as USDA Good, and this type of carcass tends to be quite lean, and therefore less tender than USDA Choice and USDA Prime.
Under USDA Select is USDA Standard, then USDA Commercial, then USDA Utility, Cutter and Canner. Little of these lower grades actually makes its way into food service, with USDA Select being the most commonly used affordable type of meat. USDA Standard can be used in large, low-quality kitchens and USDA Commercial can be used in extremely economical operations, but the lower three grades are generally only seen in heavily processed products, never as actual cuts of meat.
The system is quite demanding and only about 2% of all carcasses are USDA Prime level. Because of the costs associated with grading, few carcasses that may fall below USDA Select are ever actually graded, and even USDA Select can go unlabelled. Although USDA Prime continues to have a great deal of recognition and strengths, and many cuts served in gourmet restaurants or fancy hotels may be labeled as such, it is beginning to be supplanted by designated luxury beef by increasing style or breed. , such as Black Angus or Kobe Beef.
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