Big Poppa
Administrator
The grading of meat started in the late twenties. It is a voluntary program run by the USDA. It is used to determine the sales price of various carcasses... but really is a marketing tool for the beef industry. Many believe that it is health related or mandatory grading...it is simply a way to determine relative quality and value. Prime designation is usually based on the age of the cow when slaughtered (18-24 months is ideal) and the degree of marbling, firmness, muscle color.
There are seven grades of meat but you dont usually see those grades. The hint that it is a marketing program is that the names do not imply negativity...Prime...Choice...Select. Select would imply that it was great...select right? Now there are some that get rated Top choice which is the top 15% of choice. There is Prime Plus Prime and Prime Minus. Wagyu uses a standard called BMS score from 1 to 12. US prime is a 5 on the BMS scale. The stuff that is twelve is so marbled that it looks like 95 percent fat and is a delicacy for the Japanese but is considered way to rich for our palates. THe is standard Wagyu which always exceeds US prime marbling but the next general category is Mishima which is super crazy prime. In Japan is is a 5 level grading system coupled with the BMS.
Usually Prime is the top 3 percent of cattle raised. Many people say it is the top two percent but according to a chart with the usda is can run as high as 4%.
What confounds me is that everywhere I go they advertise the meat as prime...how can every high end steak house and restaurant serve prime meat when it is only 3% of the slaughter.
There are seven grades of meat but you dont usually see those grades. The hint that it is a marketing program is that the names do not imply negativity...Prime...Choice...Select. Select would imply that it was great...select right? Now there are some that get rated Top choice which is the top 15% of choice. There is Prime Plus Prime and Prime Minus. Wagyu uses a standard called BMS score from 1 to 12. US prime is a 5 on the BMS scale. The stuff that is twelve is so marbled that it looks like 95 percent fat and is a delicacy for the Japanese but is considered way to rich for our palates. THe is standard Wagyu which always exceeds US prime marbling but the next general category is Mishima which is super crazy prime. In Japan is is a 5 level grading system coupled with the BMS.
Usually Prime is the top 3 percent of cattle raised. Many people say it is the top two percent but according to a chart with the usda is can run as high as 4%.
What confounds me is that everywhere I go they advertise the meat as prime...how can every high end steak house and restaurant serve prime meat when it is only 3% of the slaughter.