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> Home > Beef Flavor > Marbling
Beef Flavor Factor #3: Marbling
Fat, Flavorful FatFat—we have a love-hate relationship with it. We crave its flavor yet are told to keep our intake to a minimum. This dichotomy was illustrated in a recent Beef Checkoff funded study conducted on behalf of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board by the University of Nebraska.
The study revealed that over 70% of consumers visually preferred low marbled steaks. However, high marbled steaks were rated more juicy, flavorful and acceptable by a taste panel than low marbled ones.
Clearly the flavor and juiciness fat imparts is one of the major reasons why we enjoy – and crave – beef.
There are three types of fat in meat:
- Subcutaneous or external fat that covers the outside of carcass
- Seam or intermuscular fat that runs between muscles
- Marbling or intramuscular fat that is found within muscles
Marbling, or the visible flecks of fat within muscles, is directly related to the palatability or flavor and juiciness of cooked beef. There are ten degrees of marbling USDA graders use for evaluation, from Very Abundant to Practically Devoid.
Marbling affects flavor in two ways:
- Fatty acids (the building blocks of fat) experience chemical changes during cooking and produce potent flavor compounds.
- Fat acts as a storehouse for aromatic compounds that are released during cooking. Many beef flavor components are found in these aromatic compounds.
The Six Most Common Degrees of Marbling Reduced reproductions of the official USDA Marbling Photographs prepared for the U.S. Department of Agriculture by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association with funding from the Cattlemen’s Beef Board.
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Moderately Abundant
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Slightly Abundant
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Moderate
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Modest
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Small
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Slight
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