Why Is Marbling Desirable In Meat

The presence and type of marbling in meat is important for several reasons.

Why is marbling desirable in meat.

Marbling is so named because the streaks of fat resemble a marble pattern. Firmness of muscle is desirable as is proper color and texture. As the meat cooks the fat melts. Fat is far more tender than muscle fiber in steak.

Desirable ribeyes will exhibit an adequate amount of finely dispersed marbling in a firm fine textured bright cherry red colored lean. Heritability is the part of the variance in an observed trait after allowing for environmental factors. The result is a far tastier steak. Marbling is what gives good beef its desirable silky texture.

When cooked hot enough usually upwards of 130 f the marbling in steak begins to melt and coat the muscle fibers surrounding it. This is on the back of the animal where the muscles get very little exercise in comparison to the legs shoulders and rump. The marbling keeps the meat moist so natural juices don t evaporate in the pan. Because marbling is added fat between the muscle not the kind that you cut off the edge it impacts your steak s juicy flavors.

Producers selecting for quality may already know marbling is moderately to highly heritable averaging near 45. 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. Excess calories from the cow s diet get stored here in the form of fat. Also called intramuscular fat marbling adds flavor and is one of the main criteria for judging the quality of cuts of meat.

Prime beef has the most marbling interspersed throughout the lean meat. This produces a rich buttery texture and enhances the bold beefy flavor of the meat. Choice has less marbling than prime and select has the least marbling of all. In general the more marbling it contains the better a cut of meat is.

When cooking marbling adds flavor and juiciness as the fat melts into the steak. Steaks and other cuts of meat with a lot of marbling mostly come from the loin region of the animal. Marbling melts while the meat cooks carrying flavor throughout the meat and while keeping it tender and juicy. In fact the temperature at which marbling melts is not far above room temperature.

When you have heavy marbling and it s the right kind of marbling you have a superior steak on your hands. As an animal matures the characteristics of muscle change and muscle color becomes darker and muscle texture becomes coarser.