SoCal Meat Grading

[Smokeat]

For this moment I will not dwell on beef prices, I bitch about them continually, and the absolute absurdity of the reasoning behind them.

Right now I am going a little batcrap crazy about meat grading. Just read that the 3rd local major chain grocery will be selling only USDA Choice grade(or better) beef. Now Ralph's(Kroeger), Von's(Safeway, for now), and Albertson's all sell USDA Choice grade beef, or better.

My Father taught me about choosing meat at a young age. I have been conscientiously meat shopping for over 40 years. I do understand that sides of beef are graded whole, using the rib adjacent muscle to mostly determine the grade of the whole side. Some retail cuts can be hard, or nearly impossible to determine marbling in retail packaging.

But when choosing rib roasts, or ribeye steaks or spencer steaks, the slab is out there for all the world to see. Other cuts are also crosscut, leaving the marbling out for inspection. But for me, using the rib steaks is a standard for comparison.

When I now shop for ribeye steaks, they are almost all Choice grade, and almost exclusively are so lean that virtually NO fat graces the center portion of the steak, you know, the part we want the most. I(we) know what a properly marbled steak looks like, droolworthy, and the stuff at my stores does not remotely resemble that.

I used to buy USDA Choice ribeyes when they rarely went on sale, and those sales were few and far between. But those steaks were special, and I stocked up accordingly. Back then(not that long ago), the stores sold USDA Select beef exclusively, and those Select ribeyes were considerably more marbled than the "Choice" stuff they are pedaling today. I don't think cattle are being raised to be more lean, because you can always sell your cattle for more $$ the higher it is graded.

I have not mentioned the noticeable differences between USDA Prime grade meats from different sources. Look at a "Prime" ribeye at your custom butcher or high-end steakhouse versus a "Prime" ribeye at Costco. No resemblance whatsoever.

For a while, before Von's market was acquired by Albertson's, their advertising featured "USDA Tender" beef! The USDA blue and red logo with "USDA Tender" right on the ad! What the he77 is that? My wife queried the USDA about this "new" grade designation, and got a form reply that meat grading was voluntary and that markets paid to use the "USDA" label as they saw fit.

Does anyone know what changed, and where did all that "Select" grade meat go? I'm not that bright, and I can tell the difference, and meat professionals have to be able to acknowledge the change. I really would like to be able to find a reasonably decent steak without all the "Hocus-Pocus" that is being played right now.

Thanks for allowing my rant, I would love to see some meaningful discussion and perhaps answers to these perplexing dilemma's. Dave

 

[landarc]

For starters, in regards to the answer about USDA, and paying to use the designation, that is not exactly true. All meat that is graded, and not all meat is graded, but, all meat that is graded by the USDA has the right to bear a stamp stating such. There will be the blue stamp on the fat, but, an additional sticker can be added. The addition of the word tender, because it has no meaning or definition, is just a marketing term. Obviously, this is not really fair, as many folks do not understand that.

In terms of grading, yes, the entire side is graded based upon a single but, made at the 12 rib, I think. There are grades within grades, so Choice-, Choice 0 and Choice+ will all have varying levels of marbling. added in to that is the age of the carcass, not actual age, but, observed age. That means a younger animal will get a different rating than an older animal. It has never been all about marbling.

all that being said, I agree, that supermarket beef and butcher shop beef appears to be quite different, I suspect this has to do with how each supplier opts to purchase certain grades. Clearly a butcher shop, since it has to charge more, might opt to get the Prime+ or Choice+, and not compete on price.

Further, there is no-roll, some companies, Niman Ranch, Painted Hills and Harris Ranch come to mind, market a significant amount of their production as "no-roll" beef, so it is USDA inspected, but, not graded.

 

[Smokeat]

Thanks landarc, I do somewhat understand that, but what happened that allows meat that is the same as before, or worse, to be "Universally"(loosely used) graded higher than just a short while ago?

 

[landarc]

If you really want to know LINK

The reality is, that meat does not have to be really marbled in the eye of the rib sub-primal to be graded Choice- and the retailer can call Choice- as Choice, just as easily as Choice+ as Choice. Meat color, bone maturity, all manner of things go into the grading. There could be minor differences in each cut, that we don't see.

 

[captndan]

In the last 40 years beef has changed to meet the customers demands. Grading has also changed. A lot of markings on the package of meat is merely advertizing ploys. Best example is 'certified CAB'. Try to remember what your father taught you to look for. It's the best grading yet.

 

[HB-BBQ]

I would check in your area for a Stater Brothers market as they are still privately owned and based out of Yucaipa. The stores around here all carry select grade beef and advertise the fact. They will run sales periodically on their select ribeyes for $3.99# to 4.99# which is when we fill the freezer up.

I also like that fact that they have butchers working all day long (who are actually trained butchers, not untrained, high school kids). If you don't see the cut you want just ask and they will pull a roast and custom slice it for you. I also use them for fresh ground beef...our local store will grind it fresh for you and blend it in any ratio you wish for no extra charge.

Disclaimer: I do not work for nor am affiliated in any way with Stater brothers. I just know a good deal when I see one and have shopped there for a solid 30 years due to their excellent service and quality.

 

[Smokeat]

Awesome link landarc, truly thanks for that. Difficult determining maturity, also to do in a timely fashion.

But have these standards changed recently? Although the paper was dated 2013, I assume not. And when using the final eating quality of a ribeye steak, I'm not sure it matters.

What I find so very offpissing is that the ribeye that I buy(if I did in fact buy them), is the same eating quality, at best, or as I find actually less tender and tasty. And these big chain grocers are telling me these steaks are certified better quality.

Southern California is a huge population base. These 3 grocers are the overwhelming heavyweights in this market. If all 3 of them started buying only Choice grade carcasses, and stopped buying Select grade stuff, it would seem to have quite an effect all the way up the distribution chain. Even if the change was only from Select+ to Choice-, which I would seriously question the quantity available in these small incremental gradation differences.

I am not arguing about if the meat is correctly graded. I just want to know why the steaks are being sold as better eating quality, while my eyes and taste buds say differently. And I trust my eyes and taste buds, and I don't trust my local chain grocers(to have MY best interests above profits).

 

[Smokeat]

Thanks HB-BBQ, I used to really like Stater Bros. meat dept. The meat used to be better quality than the other big chains around and the butchers are very customer friendly. Around 10 years ago the meat quality slipped to pretty much match the other chains, although I do appreciate they sell as Select grade. These same changes happened to the El Rancho and Howe's markets, before their demise.

Stater Bros. is to be commended for trained Butchers and their exemplary customer service. The fresh ground beef(not chubs) is better than the comparable graded(%) product at their competitors, except sometimes Albertson's in-store ground beef. Stater Bros. also has not been struck(?) by the grocery labor unions, and are active in the local community.