Usda Choice Marbling

Marbling the amount of intramuscular fat in the section of ribeye inspected by the usda.

Usda choice marbling.

About half of all beef is marked usda choice. View the marbling image for slight jpg. Usda select has only slight marbling. Beef cuts with less marbling such as usda select can be cooked on the grill just like usda choice or usda prime grades but may need to be monitored a little closer and cooked a little less to keep it as tender as possible.

It has at least a slight amount of marbling. The ribeye muscle may be slightly soft and in carcasses having the maximum maturity for this class the ribeye is moderately light red in color. For the select. Marbling is described by one of the following classifiers.

About 2 to 4 fat. Just over half of the beef graded each year earns this grade. It is fairly tender but because it has less marbling it may lack some of the juiciness and flavor of the higher grades. Our program has been assigned a usda g schedule number g 22 and can be reviewed through usda s ams service record.

If you know what you are doing you can make this stuff tender. Select beef is very uniform in quality and normally leaner than the higher grades. Noticeable marbling but not a lot. Usda prime beef has the highest marbling score or fat content followed by usda choice.

Otherwise get a higher grade. For the choice grade the minimum degree of marbling required is a minimum small amount for carcasses throughout the range of maturity permitted in the bullock class. Yield grade the amount of fat between the outside of the ribeye and the skin fat that would basically turn to gristle when the steak is cooked.