If you’ve dined at a local steakhouse recently, you may have seen USDA Prime Beef advertised on your menu. What does this mean? Is prime beef better or healthier than other beef?

Prime is a designation given by the USDA and is a label that producers can choose to pursue, to distinguish their meat from lower-quality products. However, in the case of USDA meat grades, “quality” refers to the amount of flavor, the juiciness, and the tenderness of the meat. It has absolutely nothing to do with the level of nutrients within the cut, nor does it refer to how the animal was raised or what that animal ate during its lifetime (as organic, non-GMO, or grass-fed food labels or designations do).

It’s also important to note that any cut of meat can receive any grade, no matter how sought-after or expensive that particular cut happens to be. For example, a ribeye can be graded as prime or standard, a lesser-quality grade.

Finally, the quality grade has nothing to do with health or sanitation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) ensure all meat sold within the United States — either locally or nationwide — is inspected for safety, diseases, and other necessary measures. Once again, the quality grade is entirely optional; producers actually pay the USDA to grade their meat so they can price and sell the cut accordingly.

What are the different grades of beef?

There are two different ways to “grade” a cut of beef. The first, and better-known method is the quality grade. There are eight different USDA quality grades, evaluating the steak or roast for tenderness, flavor, and juiciness.

The second method doesn’t grade the actual cut — it grades the entire carcass. Yield grade measures how much lean meat can be used compared to the amount of marbling (fat). Yield grades are given a number between one and five, with one being considered “the best,” with the highest portion of lean meat; and five the lowest quality, with the lowest portion of lean beef available.

Prime Grade

Less than two percent of all meat in the United States is graded “Prime.” Viewed as the highest quality grade, prime beef is produced from young, well-fed beef cattle. Prime beef is known for its abundant marbling, as 11% (or more) of the cut is from intramuscular fat.

The only time(s) you’ll cut into a prime cut of beef is either at a steakhouse or an upscale hotel. You will rarely (if ever) find prime beef at your local supermarket — although they can be found at a few chains.

Choice Grade

One step down from prime is “Choice” grade. USDA Choice is still considered a high-quality grade; it just has less marbling than prime (only 9.5-11% intramuscular fat). A tender cut of meat, like a ribeye or filet mignon, will still be very tender and juicy (honestly, you probably won’t notice the difference from prime). A less tender cut could dry out, so it’s best to use a meat thermometer while cooking.

Select Grade

“Select” grade is considered of lesser quality than choice or prime, but still higher than the average steak you’ll find at the supermarket. Select beef has less marbling than either choice or prime, making it a leaner cut of meat. It’s still reasonably tender, but since it contains less fat, it might lack some of the juiciness found in the two higher grades.

Standard and Commercial Grades

“Standard” and “Commercial” are the two grades you’ll typically find at the meat counter as “store brand” meat. As you probably guessed, it contains less marbling than the three higher grades, thereby lacking some of the juiciness and flavor. Many times, these grades will be packaged as “store grades” or “un-graded” at the grocery store.

Utility, Cutter, and Canner Grades

You won’t find filet mignon labeled as utility, cutter, or canner. These three, lower grades are reserved mainly for ground beef and processed products. You won’t find a cut of steak with any of these three grades.

How to cook different grades of beef

Since the amount of fat varies so much between the quality grades, it’s important to know how to cook them. The less marbling in a cut, the higher your chances of overcooking it. Consider using a meat thermometer to prevent drying out your dinner (Remember: our recommendation is 125°F for medium rare).

When dealing with the two highest grades — prime and choice — almost any cut can be cooked by any method. Even if you’re cooking a less tender cut (like a rump or round roast), you should be able to cook with dry heat, such as roasting, broiling, or grilling.

When cooking a select steak or either of the store grades, you should only cook the tender cuts (those from the loin, ribs, or sirloin) with dry heat. Any other cut, you should consider marinating the beef prior to cooking. You could also consider braising — or cooking with another form of added moisture — to keep your meat nice and tender.

 

Grades for Poultry

Unlike beef, there are only three grades for poultry: A, B, or C. There are no yield grades for poultry, so the three grades apply whether you’re purchasing a whole chicken or a single, boneless skinless chicken breast.

Grade A

Grade A poultry ensures the meat is free of bruises, feathers, or other defects. If it’s a bone-in product (like bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs), the bones should not be broken. For “whole” products, like your center stage turkey at Thanksgiving, should not have any tears or exposed skin that could dry out when cooking.

Grade A is, in all likelihood, the only label you’ll ever see in a store. It applies to all chicken, duck, turkey, and other poultry products if they meet the above standards. The few exceptions are gizzards, wing tips, tails, necks, and ground meat, which are not graded — no matter their condition.

Grade B and C

To our knowledge, poultry labeled grade B and C is not sold whole in stores. Typically, poultry that falls under either one of these grades will be saved for further-processed products, like ground turkey.

Grades for Other Types of Meat

There is no USDA grade for pork, the only other meat we sell on this site. However, we thought we’d share two other types of meat graded for quality by the USDA.

Grades for Veal

Veal is beef produced from a young calf. The grades are similar to that beef quality grades, with fewer options: prime, choice, good, standard, and utility. Like beef, prime and choice are considered the highest quality and suitable for almost any cooking method. Good, standard, and utility decrease in quality and marbling, with standard and utility usually being reserved for ground veal.

Grades for Lamb

Similar to veal, lamb has five quality grades. The highest quality grades, prime and choice, are typically the only grades found in grocery stores. Good, utility, and cull grades are rarely labeled as such.

What Grade Comes in Your ButcherBox?

None of them.

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with quality grade standards, it has nothing to do with the health or well-being of the animal a cut of meat came from. We would rather ensure our meat came from animals that were humanely raised, grazed on grass, and were never given growth hormones or antibiotics than simply measure the amount of marbling within a cut.

Grain-fed cattle are raised to get fat quickly, which enhances their marbling. Grass-fed cows are leaner, and therefore have less intramuscular fat within each steak. While the USDA beef grades consider this a disadvantage, we look at it as a selling point. We prefer grass-fed beef because they were fed a healthy diet of grass and forage, resulting in a cut of meat that is lower in bad fats and higher in key nutrients.

The purpose of USDA meat grades is to evaluate a cut of beef for flavor, but we happen to prefer the taste of grass-fed beef. But hey, don’t take our word for it.