Tips: Buying Good Meat

Buying Good Meat – About Butcher Shops – Cuts of Meat

Cuts of Meat

Here is a chart of where cuts of meat are from. Click on the cow to get an enlargement of the graphic. Click again to browse up close and personal. Thanks to www.BusinessInsider.com for providing this chart.

Buying Ground Meats

You can usually ask your butcher to grind your meat for you. That way, you know you are getting 100% meat without fillers. The exception to this could be chicken. Because of the potential for contamination, small butcher shops may grind chicken only one or two days per week. Larger shops will have a dedicated grinder. Call before you go.
Ground beef is NOT hamburger. Beef fat may be added to hamburger, but cannot be added to ground beef. Ground beef is usually made from the less tender cuts of meat, but the marbling and grade is the same as the higher grade steaks.
Chuck steak s a good choice for grinding. A good hamburger is made using 80/20 ground beef that has been ground on a fairly coarse plate. It is usually about 78-84% lean.
Round steak is OK, and is about 85-89% lean.
Sirloin steak is about 90-95% lean and would be better as a steak. It would not produce a very juicy hamburger.

Buying Quality Meats

I think it is safe to say that you have all had a $4 steak from the grocery store, and wondered why it doesn’t taste as great as those that you pay $15 for in a restaurant.
The reason is not only atmosphere, it’s quality of product. Here in Arizona, you can go to The Meat Shop to preorder restaurant-quality cuts of meat. Another good source is Hobe Meats at 16th Street and Bethany Home Road.
A much more convenient option is to buy from Omaha Steaks. You will pay a bit more than a quality local grocery store, but your meat will arrive at your front door step the day after you order it.
YES, they cost you more than what you would pay at the grocery store, but you are worth it. The old adage You get what you pay for really comes true in this scenario.
Sterling Beef is one of the top quality meats available to consumers. One of the chief factors is the inter-muscular marbling. Good quality meats will be under 2 years of age.
Grading of meat is very important based on how you will be cooking the meat.
Steer are young male cows that usually never see three years old. Older cows and steers are kept for milking or breeding.
The grades for steer meat are:
- Utility Grade – Steers that are about 3 years old. This is good for raw dishes such as carpacio or steak tar tar, because eating raw fat is not something we do often in America. Usually entirely grass fed.
- Select – This is good meat, but it is fairly lean, so will not be as fall-apart tender as meat with marbling. 30 months old or less. (about $5/lb) Sear and keep center about medium. Cut against grain for something like fajitas.
- Choice – Bit more marbling. A very good choice for home grilling. (about $8/lb) A top quality home steak. Fed its final days on ground corn, so it can be easily digested. This is the best cut for home-cooking.
- Prime – Lots of marbling, lots of fat. Represents only about 3% of the meat available for purchase. (about $12/lb) Seared over very high heat, leaving the center rare to medium rare. Must be young (between 18 and 24 months) Many restaurants get this grade.
- Wagyu or Kobe Beef – Even more marbling… almost too much for some people. (can be as high as $25/lb or more) Usually slice VERY thin and then seared briefly, not cooked as a steak. Usually about 30 months of age. Matsusaka is another high quality beef.
- There are visual differences: Check them out BY CLICKING HERE

CLICK ANY OF THE IMAGES BELOW

HERE IS A GOOD GRAPHIC. While there is not much detail here, it does give a good representation of how the marbleing affects the grade of the meat.

Buying Fish

CLICK HERE FOR TIPS ON BUYING FRESH FISH

Meat Jokes

What do you call a cow on a hill? Answer: lean beef
What do you call a cow lying down? Answer: ground beef
What do you call a cow with with twitch? Answer: beef jerky
Why can’t a bankrupt rancher complain? Answer: he has no beef
What is a cow’s favorite musical note? Answer: beef flat
Why don’t cows have any money? Answer: the farmer has milked them dry,
and they are udderly broke.
What happened to the lost beef shipment? Answer: nobody’s heard
Why did the boy give the cow a pogo stick? Answer: he wanted a milk shake
Where do cows go for lunch? Answer: the calf a teria
Why did the boy buy a brown cow? Answer: he wanted chocolate milk
Why do milking stools only have three legs? Answer: the cow has the udder
Where do steers take their cows on dates? Answer: the moo-vies
Why do cows wear bells? Answer: because their horns don’t work
What does the invisible man drink? Answer: evaporated milk
And then there was the lady riding the train through Vermont when she noticed some cows.
“What a cute bunch of cows!” she remarked.
“Not a bunch, herd”, her friend replied.
“Heard of what?”
“Herd of cows.”
“Of course I’ve heard of cows.”
“No, a cow herd.”
“What do I care what a cow heard. I have no secrets to keep from a cow!”

Cooking Meat – Tips and Tricks

During pan roasting process, baste with marinate
Rest on a rack for about 10 minutes after cooking to avoid loss of juice
Cut against grain – ALWAYS
Porterhouse is the tenderloin on one side, and a sirloin on the other side

Nieman Ranch Meats

Neiman Ranch has a reputation for quality meats. They are based out of Colorado.
Within Phoenix, the Corporate offices are at Sterling Food Service at 920 Grand Avenue, Phoenix, AZ, 85007 – Ph: (602) 252-7345
To find a store near you, USE THE STORE LOCATOR
- Near Grandpa’s Place, you can go to Sprouts Farmers Market at 8375 W Thunderbird Rd or 5130 W Peoria Ave.

Mexican Meatball Soup

Studded with zucchini, corn, and tomatoes, this hearty soup is comforting, especially on chilly evenings. Oregano flavors both the liquid and the meatballs.

INGREDIENTS

Your choice of 12 meatballs
1 TBL cooking oil
1 small sweet onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeds and ribs removed, chopped
1 medium zucchini – cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 1/4 tsp dried oregano, or 1 TBL chopped fresh oregano
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 TBL lime juice
1 QT chicken broth or homemade stock
2 C water
1-1/2 C drained canned diced tomatoes
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh-ground black pepper

STEP BY STEP

Start oil heating in a large pot.
Add the onion and half the jalapenos and saute about 5 minutes.
Add the zucchini, half of the oregano, and the cumin
Cook about 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, make your meatballs.
See Grandpa’s Meatball Recipes and choose which meatball you want to create.
Our preferred meatball for this recipe is a Mexican Meatball.
Add the broth, water, tomatoes, salt, and pepper
Bring to a simmer, and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the meatballs and corn to the soup and simmer until the meatballs are just done, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the lime juice and the remaining oregano.

Carne Asada Tacos

INGREDIENTS

1-2 LB Flank steak or Skirt steak
2 TBL Lime juice
2 TBL apple cider vinegar
1 small bunch cilantro – chopped
4 cloves garlic – minced
1 onion diced
1 jalapeño – diced
2 TBL Grandpa's Thunder Powder or Arghhh Powder
2 TBL EVOO

STEP BY STEP

Pound (pallard) steak to about a quarter of an inch in thickness
Marinate overnight in the refrigerator in a plastic bag filled with lime juice, garlic, onion, Thunder Powder, and EVOO – Bare minimum 2 hours if you are in a rush.
Approximately 20 hours later, let meat come up to room temperature for about 30 minutes.
press gently between paper towels to remove much of the moisture that may have been absorbed into the meat. Flavor will still remain.
Cook streaks over very high heat (450-500º) for only about two minutes per side
Let rest 5 minutes to allow juices to reabsorb, then cut against grain in very thin strips
Serve with warm flour tortillas with a side of grilled onion strips and grilled bell pepper strips

A great recipe for your lower cuts of beef.

Tips: Grilling Burgers (Beef)

See also Tips: Steaks and Cow Parts

Buying your Hamburger

80/20 lean has the best fat to meat ratio for grilling
What does 80/20 or 85/15 mean? If ground beef has 20 percent fat and 80 percent lean beef, it is good for grilling, but not necessarily good for you. To be called “lean,” ground beef, it must have a lean point of 92% lean (or higher) and only 8% fat . “Extra lean” ground beef must have a lean point of 96% lean or higher.
Another good meat option is 1/2 LB ground chuck mixed with 1/2 LB ground brisket
MARBLING EQUALS FLAVOR
– SELECT is right around BMS Grade 3
– CHOICE is right around Grade 4
– PRIME is right around Grade 5
Select a piece of chuck with lots of marbling and have your butcher grind it (yes, there are people behind those doors — just ring the bell).
Ask for a “coarse” grind.
You can also grind the meat yourself with a meat grinder or chop in the food processor (cut into 1- to 1½-inch cubes first).
An advantage to this is that there are fewer worries about contamination and you can safely cook your burgers medium-rare, if that’s how you like them. A chef’s favorite that I see on TV a lot is 1/3 chuck, 1/3 shoulder and 1/3 short ribs.
Try different combinations of meat. Almost any kind of ground meat can be used to make burgers, or mix together different ones. I’ve heard of mixing pork with beef, chicken with lamb, or even buffalo with beef. For flavor, try mixing some fresh sausage in with another type of meat.
A good combination is half short ribs, half brisket with an extra handful of fat thrown in.

Prepping your Meat for Cooking

When making your patties, don’t handle the meat too much. It will become mealy. The heat from your hands begins to melt the fat and makes the patty too dense. Move it lightly from hand to hand and loosely make a patty no thicker than one inch, or you will have to cook it too long).
When adding other ingredients to ground meat, use a spoon or spatula to avoid heating the meat with your hands
Make an indentation in the center of the meat. Have you noticed that your burgers tend to form rounded tops when cooking, causing the condiments to slide off? If you push down slightly in the center, creating a round area about ¼ inch lower than the surrounding meat, your finished burger will come out flat.
Many people just want great beef, straight up with salt and pepper. But it’s also fun to add flavors, and if you are using leaner meats, or leaner cuts of beef, you can add moisture at the same time. Finely minced vegetables such as onion, mushrooms, or mild chilies are especially good for this.
Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce are common liquids to add to burgers.. About 2 tsp per pound of meat is good.
You can also take a lean cut of meat and add some olive oil for good fat, or butter for flavorful bad fat; although this will cook faster than meats that are naturally fattier like 80/20 hamburger
If using lean meat, add moisture or fat to your meat.

Cooking your Meat

Start charcoal in center in a pyramid, then move to one side
• Direct Heat: Things that cook quickly or to get a sear (steak, chicken skin)
• Indirect Heat: Finish cooking. Also use for flare ups
• Spread out coals for thin hamburgers, zucchini, asparagus, hot dogs, skewered seasoned shallots
Press down gently, but firmly, at the very beginning to get a good sear on the meat. After that, don’t press down on the burgers when cooking. This compresses the meat, making it denser, and also squeezes the juices out of the meat.
Salt and pepper are a must, but consider garlic powder or onion powder. I personally recommend Grandpa’s Thunder Powder.
Once your burger is on the heat, don’t move it until it naturally releases. Once it does, flip it. Flip it twice more so that both sides get two cookings each.
A thermometer is a must-have. I have a page of Kitchen Gadgets with a link to Thermoworks. I recommend both an infrared (or IR) thermometer and an instant read ThermaPen. Cook your meats at least to 145º internal temperature, unless you have ground the meat yourself.