BEEF

Premium Steaks

Premium steaks come from the loin and rib. The USDA has 8 grades of beef. Prime, Choice, and Select are the top three. The highest grade is Prime and is usually the most expensive because only 3% of beef in the US is graded Prime.

Beef grade is determined by the amount of marbling; the thin flecks of fat throughout the lean meat. Marbling helps make meat tender and juicy. The more marbling the higher the grade.

Filet Mignon, Porterhouse, T-Bone, Rib-eye, Strips, and Sirloin are all examples of premium steaks.

Grilling is the suggested way to cook a premium steak. For guidance on how to grill your steak use the chart below.

Marinating Steaks

Marinating steaks have less marbling than premium steaks. Most come from the round and chuck. Even though not as tender as premium steaks, marinades help improve the eating experience.

Marinating Steaks include Flank, Chuck, Shoulder, Bottom Round, Top Round (London Broil), Eye of Round, and Tip Steaks.

Grilling is the best way to cook a marinated steak.For guidance on how to grill your steak use the chart below.

Beef Roast

Premium and pot are the two primary types of beef roasts. Both are larger pieces of red meat - usually about 2 1/2 pounds or more.

Premium roasts are best when cooked using dry heat or on a rotisserie. Premium roasts include Rib Eye, Rump Roast, Sirloin Tip,Top Round, Bottom Round, and Eye of Round.

Pot roasts come from the chuck or shoulder area. They are best cooked using moist, low heat over a long period of time and with vegetables including potatoes and carrots. Pot roasts include English, Chuck, and sometimes Brisket.

Stew and Soup Beef

Stewing is a moist cooking method for less tender cuts of beef. When stewing, cover beef with liquid and cook for a long period of time over low heat. Any beef chuck or round cut can be cut into pieces and used in stewing recipes.

Shank, Short Rib, and Oxtail meat make for a rich, flavorful broth that can serve as a base for delicious beef soups. Broth is also known as stock.

Ground Beef

Ground beef is very versatile. Meat in the middle and bottom of the package may not be as bright red as the outside because of lack of oxygen. Lack of oxygen has no affect on the quality of the meat.

Fat content and the cut of meat determine the different varieties of ground beef.
Ground Beef: 73-75% lean
Ground Chuck: 81% lean (from the chuck or shoulder area)
Ground Round: 85% (from the round)
Ground Sirloin: 86-92% lean (from the sirloin)

PORK

Premium Pork Chops

Pork isn't just for barbecue. Be creative when your cooking tying cumin, chilies and garlic or lime, rum and allspice. Pork chops can come with or without the bone; and are delicious when stuffed and baked.

Pork chops are equally delicious whether baked or grilled.

Pork Loin Roast

These roasts can be bone-in or boneless. Types include bone-in sirloin or center cut, boneless center cut, rib roast, crown roast, and whole pork tenderloin.

The best loin roasts are tenderloin and center loin (which includes the crown roast).

Premium Shoulder Roast

These will either be a pork picnic or pork butt roast. Picnics are a lean cut while pork butts have more marbling. The leg roast will be a half or whole fresh ham.

Baking is the best way to prepare a pork shoulder roast.

Premium Ribs

Most varieties of ribs are bone-in; country style ribs are the exception to this rule. Types of pork ribs include Spareribs, Baby Back Ribs, Country Style Ribs, St. Louis Ribs, and Western Ribs.

Country style ribs are shoulder cuts which contain more fat than ribs cut from a pork loin. Pork back ribs come from the pork loin making them the most tender of all ribs.

Grilling and baking are equally desireable ways to cook ribs.

POULTRY

Poultry White Meat

The more a muscle is worked, the more oxygen it holds; this gives meat a red color. This is why chicken breast is not a red meat, and why the leg meat is usually darker.

The USDA grades chicken on appearance not fat content. Grade A chicken or turkey is well formed, free of feathers, and has a layer of fat with blemish-free skin.

Poultry white meat includes breast (bone-in or boneless; skin on or skinless), breast cutlets, tenders, wings, and drumettes.

Poultry Dark Meat

Dark meat in poultry comes from the legs, drums, and thighs. This meat is darker because muscles more heavily worked hold more oxygen giving it more red color.

The USDA grades chicken on appearance not fat content. Grade A chicken or turkey is well formed, free of feathers, and has a layer of fat with blemish-free skin.

Varieties of poultry dark meat include drumsticks, thighs, and leg quarters.

Fresh Stuffed Poultry

Whole poultry includes whole fryers, roasters, turkeys, and Cornish hens. Cornish game hens are very young chickens that weigh about 1 1/4 pounds. Turkeys are now available fresh and frozen all year.

Organic chicken has been raised without antibiotics and fed with grain grown in fields not treated with pesticides or chemical fertilizers for at least 3 years. A free-range chicken is one that has outdoor access rather than being confined to a small pen.

The USDA grades chicken on appearance not fat content. Grade A chicken or turkey is well formed, free of feathers, and has a layer of fat with blemish-free skin.

STEAK GRILLING GUIDELINES

You'll find these and many other seafood offerings at the following Country Mart stores offering seafood:

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