Why Is Marbling Desirable In Meat

Marbling is what gives good beef its desirable silky texture.

Why is marbling desirable in meat.

The marbling keeps the meat moist so natural juices don t evaporate in the pan. Looking at the upward trend in marbling expected progeny differences epds it s clear genetic selection is effective. The presence and type of marbling in meat is important for several reasons. Steaks and other cuts of meat with a lot of marbling mostly come from the loin region of the animal.

Because marbling is added fat between the muscle not the kind that you cut off the edge it impacts your steak s juicy flavors. Heritability is the part of the variance in an observed trait after allowing for environmental factors. In fact the temperature at which marbling melts is not far above room temperature. Excess calories from the cow s diet get stored here in the form of fat.

Marbling melts while the meat cooks carrying flavor throughout the meat and while keeping it tender and juicy. Choice has less marbling than prime and select has the least marbling of all. When cooked hot enough usually upwards of 130 f the marbling in steak begins to melt and coat the muscle fibers surrounding it. When beef graders yes there are people who grade beef for a living are grading beef they specifically look at amount of marbling in the ribeye muscle between the 12 th and 13 th ribs.

Marbling keeps the meat moist during cooking so natural juices don t evaporate in the pan. In general the more marbling it contains the better a cut of meat is. This produces a rich buttery texture and enhances the bold beefy flavor of the meat. This is on the back of the animal where the muscles get very little exercise in comparison to the legs shoulders and rump.

As an animal matures the characteristics of muscle change and muscle color becomes darker and muscle texture becomes coarser. As the meat cooks the fat melts. Firmness of muscle is desirable as is proper color and texture. Desirable ribeyes will exhibit an adequate amount of finely dispersed marbling in a firm fine textured bright cherry red colored lean.

Fat is far more tender than muscle fiber in steak. Prime beef has the most marbling interspersed throughout the lean meat. When cooking marbling adds flavor and juiciness as the fat melts into the steak. Also called intramuscular fat marbling adds flavor and is one of the main criteria for judging the quality of cuts of meat.

Producers selecting for quality may already know marbling is moderately to highly heritable averaging near 45. The result is a far tastier steak.