Understanding Different Cuts of Meat: How To Choose Steak

Even if you are a master chef, there is only so much you can do if your steak happens to be of low quality. But how can you tell if the steak you purchased is good or not? In this article we will be discussing what to look for when purchasing steak and the various cuts of steaks in order to take the whole guessing aspect out of steak purchasing.

Some basic things to look for are the color of the meat, the meat should be a bright red. Stay away from brownish or grey colored steak, it turns that color from the surface of the meat oxidizing which means the steak has been there awhile. However, color is not a guarantee that the steak you are purchasing is fresh. The meat industry sometimes exposes their cuts of beef to low levels of carbon monoxide. They have found that this locks in that bright red pigment to where it simply stays red and doesn't turn brown (until cooked of course).

Another thing to look for is if the steak has good marbling, and by this I mean thin streaks of fat that run through the piece of meat. The keyword here is thin streaks of fat. If the cut of meat you are looking at has thick streaks of fat this means there will be a lot of connective tissue which is not very fun to chew. Lean cuts of meat will probably have little to no fat marbling in them so not all of them will have it. This doesn't mean they aren't worth buying though, generally the leaner the cut the tender it will be. They might just be lacking in the flavor department a bit. Proper fat marbling ensures that as you cook your steak it melts away and makes your steak more flavorful and juicy. Too much marbling though and the steak will start to be tough, so you will want to find a good balance of marbling to ensure your steak is not only flavorful but also tender.

Now I'll discuss some of the various different cuts of steak you can purchase.

Porterhouse