Prime Vs Choice Beef: Is There A Difference?

It's one of those things where it's surprising that it isn't just marketing. As soon as you step foot in a supermarket, you're beset by advertising, attacked by a swarm of buzzwords proclaiming the quality of their products; Barilla, for instance, . "Premium," "gourmet," "luxury" — these words may be enticing, but they have no legal definition, so crafty marketers can just attach them to any old product.

So when you see packages of meat with words like "prime" and "choice" printed on it, you may be inclined to shrug. Yeah, sure, that piece of roast beef is a "choice" cut. Why not? But words like "Prime" and "Choice" are far from mere ad copy; in fact, they're official grades provided by the USDA in order to mark the quality of beef.



"Prime" is a higher grade than "Choice," but either grade of beef will be something the average home cook would be proud to serve. What separates different grades of beef? Beef is graded on quality by the USDA, taking into consideration factors like the amount of marbling (which means fat, and fat means flavor), the tenderness of the beef, and the age of the cow. Prime beef comes from the youngest, plumpest, juiciest cattle, with ivory veins of marbling spidering across the meat.

If you order a steak at a fancy restaurant like , it will likely be a Prime cut of beef. Either that, or someone's pulling a fast one on you. Choice beef is as juicy and tender as Prime beef, but lacks the same level of marbling; these cuts will be on the pricier end of what you can buy at a supermarket.

From there, the gradations rank as follows: Select (which is uniform, not too marbled, perfectly serviceable), Standard, and Commercial (these two are usually sold as generic store brand meat, without the fancy USDA logo on it, or ). The three lowest grades — Utility, Cutter, and Canner — are reserved for the oldest, least tender cattle, and are used to make ground beef, canned goods, and dog food. But don't worry too much about grades: Anything north of Standard is well worth your time.

Recommended.