Like most people, I appreciate knowing what I’m buying, but trying to get a knowledgable answer to a simple question — what is Certified Angus Beef? — forced me to find out on my own. I don’t eat steaks regularly so when I do, I like to treat myself to the best. One of the (many) disappointments of food shopping in northern New England is a near-total lack of Prime beef, even when a standalone butcher shop still exists. Most is graded Choice but there’s also a lot of the lesser Select, which I never saw in New York. What they tout here as tops is Angus and I wish I had a dollar for every supermarket butcher who has told me Certified Angus Beef is “the same as Prime.”
It’s not. Prime is Prime and it’s a grade of beef, the highest under USDA standards. Angus is a breed and some is labeled Certified Angus Beef, or CAB for short, but that’s a brand and still not Prime. Certified Angus Prime would be Prime. It exists but good luck finding it.
Now that I’ve kvetched about what it is not, let’s look at what it is. According to Certified Angus Beef LLC, The Certified Angus Beef® brand is the largest, most successful brand of beef, with more than 1.7 million pounds sold daily in 46 countries, racking up an estimated $2.7 billion in consumer sales each year. More important to consumers are the brand specifications for the cattle and the marbling, muscling, tenderness and uniformity of the beef that reaches our markets. CAB says less than 8% of beef meets its high standards and The Straight Dope points out that just because meat is labeled Angus or Black Angus does not mean it’s Certified Angus Beef.
It is good and does seem to be the best I can obtain locally, although I still long for Prime that would not entail the expense and waiting time of online ordering. How special is Prime? The USDA says only about 2% of all beef, any brand and any breed, is graded USDA Prime. That’s a pretty exclusive club.
Related post: The Perfect Steak
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Happy Fourth to you! You reminded me that I haven’t visited your blog in a while. My daughter is in town for a couple of weeks so I’ve been engaging in the real world!
Interesting article. Seems like all the stores around here offer that brand. It’s sometimes on sale for less than the unbranded (or store labeled) “Choice” and “Select” grades. There are several places that offer “Prime” cuts, though they are more up-market places than I usually frequent.
This didn’t used to be a very “foodie” town, but for some reason it has become so. We have 2 Whole Food Stores, and they are both the large version of the whole paycheck chain! Plus a fairly big “Plum Market,” which I believe is a chain. And two locally owned up-market groceries. Even the Krogers and Meijers carry more exotic things than I’ve seen in other Michigan stores only a few miles away! It’s got to be a tough market for them, with all the competition, but the sales they have are great for me!
Tess´s last blog ..Chirashizushi
You’ve been in the real world, Tess? Hmph, what’s that like?
Good to see you!
I think most supermarkets have come a long way in the past 10 – 15 years and continue to improve. Food’s hip, I guess, and certainly serious cooking’s no longer limited to the coasts and a few upscale areas in between. Still a loooong way to go in that regard, though.
you need to remember for a steer or heifer to grade prime it has to be extremely fat to have the marbling in the cuts. It costs more money to put on a pound of fat than it does a pound of muscle so cattle feeders will sell the yearlings before they get that fat due to economics. Cattle are fed in pens of 50-100 and are sold as a pen or group. There may be one or two in the groupl who have gotten extremely fat, and those are the ones that grade prime. Most feeders feed their cattle so that the average is in the low choice grade which is the most economical for them.
Happy eating!
Hi, John! My apologies for taking so long to reply, but I’m in the throes of moving several hundred miles and time and internet access have both been elusive.
Yes, marbling is another word for fat, which means flavor and tenderness. When I buy Choice I always look for the marbling. I figure if I’m treating myself only a few times a year, it’s not an issue. I hope…
Thanks for the info on the business end of cattle. I love knowing stuff like that!