Beef Tenderness Marbling

Marbling is what gives beef its flavor juiciness and tenderness.

Beef tenderness marbling.

Prime has more marbling than choice and choice has more than select. Hence the practice of wrapping tenderloin steaks with strips of bacon without it the steak would lack flavor and moisture. Marbling adds a lot of flavor and can be one indicator of how good the beef is. Fat is far more tender than muscle fiber in steak.

When cooking marbling adds flavor and juiciness as the fat melts into the 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. However with beef steaks and roasts tenderness usually receives the highest priority. It impacts the tenderness moistness and overall flavor and has become one of the most well known elements of steak evaluation.

Well marbling refers to the white flecks of intramuscular fat in each cut of meat. As a result marbling adds tenderness which is a preferable mouthfeel. 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. 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.

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. The marbling keeps the meat moist so natural juices don t evaporate in the pan. 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.