Marlbling: USDA vs. the human eye

However long it takes a mouse in a lab to learn that touching the bell results in a shock, I'd take longer. I know that marbling, the intermingled bits of fat in a piece of meat, are the key to flavor and tenderness in a piece of beef but I still blow it. I see steaks on special and slough off my better judgment and buy some piece of meat so lean that this cow must have had an eating disorder. My logic runs from the thickness of the steak to the great price but it always ends up the same. The best judge is not the price or even the USDA grade. The highest grade, Prime, is pretty much a sure bet for flavor and while the next one down the ladder, Choice, is usually better than its subordinate, Select, there is no substitute for your own visual inspection. If this picture doesn't spell it out then nothing will. These two rib eye steaks were sitting right next to each other in the meat case and were both graded the same - USDA Select. The beautifully flecked one on the right was delicious while the other was Kevlar tough and virtually inedible. I fell on my cleaver and gave the wife the good one. I deserved to go hungry for pulling such a boner (although that outer ring of meat was still pretty good). Note the EOS Petite Sirah on the right - it was delicious.