Why Is Marbling Desirable In Meat

Producers selecting for quality may already know marbling is moderately to highly heritable averaging near 45.

Why is marbling desirable in meat.

Marbling melts while the meat cooks carrying flavor throughout the meat and while keeping it tender and juicy. 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. Desirable ribeyes will exhibit an adequate amount of finely dispersed marbling in a firm fine textured bright cherry red colored lean.

The marbling keeps the meat moist so natural juices don t evaporate in the pan. As an animal matures the characteristics of muscle change and muscle color becomes darker and muscle texture becomes coarser. This produces a rich buttery texture and enhances the bold beefy flavor of the meat. Prime beef has the most marbling interspersed throughout the lean meat.

Excess calories from the cow s diet get stored here in the form of fat. When cooked hot enough usually upwards of 130 f the marbling in steak begins to melt and coat the muscle fibers surrounding it. Fat is far more tender than muscle fiber in steak. As the meat cooks the fat melts.

When you have heavy marbling and it s the right kind of marbling you have a superior steak on your hands. Firmness of muscle is desirable as is proper color and texture. Marbling is important to steak because it adds flavor the right kind of flavor juiciness as it melts into the steak when cooking and tenderness because the fat is much more tender than the muscle fiber in the steak. Marbling is so named because the streaks of fat resemble a marble pattern.

Steaks and other cuts of meat with a lot of marbling mostly come from the loin region of the animal. This is on the back of the animal where the muscles get very little exercise in comparison to the legs shoulders and rump. Also called intramuscular fat marbling adds flavor and is one of the main criteria for judging the quality of cuts of meat. The presence and type of marbling in meat is important for several reasons.

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. Because marbling is added fat between the muscle not the kind that you cut off the edge it impacts your steak s juicy flavors. Marbling keeps the meat moist during cooking so natural juices don t evaporate in the pan. The result is a far tastier steak.

In general the more marbling it contains the better a cut of meat is. Marbling is what gives good beef its desirable silky texture.