Marbling Highest Grade Wagyu Beef

Grass fed beef will grade choice at best very little of it may grade prime wagyu cattle averages bms 4 6 but depending on genetics.

Marbling highest grade wagyu beef.

Beef grading fact sheet pdf courtesy of the amercian meat science association. The price of highly marbled cuts like usda prime kobe or wagyu beef. Usda beef quality and yield grades courtesy of texas a m. A key way to classify beef is by the high degree of marbling or fat running through the cut of meat as a result of its diet.

These qualities are largely due to high marbling content. Due to the abnormally high level of marbling that exists in this beef breed it often exceeds the top usda grade prime and therefore it is difficult to grade those high end carcasses. The japanese use a system called bms or beef marbling standard 牛脂肪交雑基準 to rate the degree of marbling of beef. Prime prime is the highest grade of us beef.

This scale goes from 0 no marbling to 9 extraordinary amounts of marbling the latter one being the highest grade. Step wise procedure for quality grading beef carcasses. The japanese beef grading system gives wagyu beef a grade from 1 to 5 with 1 being the lowest and 5 the highest. Learn more about the four breeds of wagyu cattle.

A lot of people mistakenly believe wagyu is a grade of beef. Angus beef which is the most predominant beef in america averages a bms of 2 but reaches a maximum bms of 5. Specific feeding and raising practices are required to cultivate the marbling of wagyu. Wagyu is famed for it s melt in your mouth texture and rich flavors.

The fundamentals involved in applying quality grades are learning the degrees of marbling in order from lowest to highest and minimum marbling degrees for each maturity group and understanding the relationship between marbling and maturity in each quality grade. Wagyu beef is generally regarded as the highest grade due to its extreme levels of marbling. For example grass fed beef typically has lower levels of marbling than corn fed meat so it is often graded lower despite many people preferring the taste. The scale ranges from 0 to 12 with 12 being the highest grade achievable.

Wagyu cattle are a breed of cattle that are genetically predisposed to have higher marbling levels than any other breed of cattle. The other thing that keeps wagyu so expensive is japan s strict grading system for beef. The japanese meat grading association jmga goes into way more depth with wagyu grading the beef s yield and ranking quality based on fat marbling color brightness firmness texture and.