What’s Your Beef – Prime, Choice or Select? (2024)

FAQs

Which is better prime Choice or select beef? ›

USDA Choice is the second-highest grade, with flavorful, tender cuts but with less marbling than USDA Prime. USDA Select is the most widely produced but doesn't have the tenderness and marbling of beef in the other classifications.

Prime. Prime is known as one of the best beef grades on the market because of the meat's abundant marbling. USDA Prime beef comes from young, well-fed beef cattle that contain lots of evenly distributed fat.

In order of descending quality they are Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter and Canner. Beef graded USDA Select is generally the lowest grade you'll ever see at the supermarket. Unlabeled cuts of meat are either commercial or utility-grade, or more likely were never graded in the first place.

This sub-category includes only the upper ⅔ of the grade, meaning USDA Choice steak with moderate or modest marbling as noted by USDA beef graders. Just 20% of all Choice meat makes the cut for Top Choice, which is often Angus beef.

The beef quality grades in order from best to worst are USDA Prime, USDA Choice, USDA Select, USDA Standard, USDA Commercial, USDA Utility, USDA Cutter and USDA Canner.

These cuts—ribeye, New York strip loin, and filet mignon—can certainly be dubbed the best, and few will disagree. “Filet is the most tender cut, but has the least amount of flavor. Ribeye is the most flavorful, but the least tender of the three, and New York is in the middle.” Flannery explains.

The marbling in Prime beef is abundant, resulting in enhanced juiciness and a melt-in-your-mouth texture. Due to its superior quality, prime beef commands a higher price point compared to USDA choice beef. USDA choice: USDA choice is a high-quality grade of beef that offers excellent flavor and tenderness.

The difference between choice and select beef is that choice grade beef has 4-10% fat while select has 2-4% fat, making choice grade beef more tender and juicier than select. Choice beef will often be used in chain restaurants while select beef is sold for retail and residential use.

According to USDA, quality grades are contingent on two main criteria– the degree of marbling or intramuscular fat in the beef, and the maturity or estimated age of the animal at slaughter. In total, there are 8 quality grades: Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter, and Canner.

There are 8 main primal cuts of beef: chuck, rib, loin (consisting of the short loin and the sirloin), round, flank, plate, brisket, and shank. Divided by groups of muscles, the meat from each primal has its own unique flavor, texture, and level of fat and marbling due to how hard the muscles were worked.

What is a prime cut of beef? ›

The "prime" grade will be given to meat that comes from the youngest beef with the most abundant marbling. When you're choosing your beef, the tenderest cuts of beef are ones such as the rib-eye steak, tenderloin, and anything from the short loin, including strip steaks, T-bones, and porterhouses.

We use 100 percent USDA premium beef in our seasoned beef. We prepare it much the same way you prepare taco meat at home: after simmering, it is drained of excess fat and pre-seasoned with our signature blend of 7 authentic seasonings and spices.

This grade is typically reserved for high-end restaurants and gourmet butchers. The marbling in Prime beef is abundant, resulting in enhanced juiciness and a melt-in-your-mouth texture. Due to its superior quality, prime beef commands a higher price point compared to USDA choice beef.

Typically, ground round is leaner than ground sirloin, while ground chuck is fatter than ground round or ground sirloin. Since ground sirloin comes from the loin-sirloin area of a beef carcass, it is usually more expensive than ground chuck or ground round.

is the yield of closely trimmed, boneless retail cuts that come from the major wholesale cuts of carcass. Maximum age of Standard, Select, Choice or Prime grades is: 42 months.