Up next in 10
How to Buy a Great Steak | Top Tips
18K views
Aug 23, 2023
Stay in touch with more recipes and upcoming events in our email newsletter: https://kentrollins.com/email-sign-up/ In this episode where sharing some tops tips on how to buy the perfect steak. We're talking with the beef experts at Certified Angus Beef for their top tips on steak and also answering your questions on grain vs grass fed beef, things to ask your butcher and what's the deal with hormones and antibiotics. For more information and recipes with Certified Angus Beef click here: https://www.certifiedangusbeef.com/ Certified Angus Beef mug: https://pos.certifiedangusbeef.com/CategoryDetail.aspx?Id=2&mp=l For more suggested products seen in our videos click here: https://www.amazon.com/shop/cowboykentrollins ============================ Check out our BEST SELLING cookbook, A Taste of Cowboy. Get your signed copy here: https://www.kentrollins.com/shop-1 Also available at bookstores nationwide, and Amazon http://amzn.to/2uBl4EM --------------------------------- Connect with us! https://facebook.com/cowboykentrollins https://instagram.com/cowboykentrollins https://twitter.com/Kent_Rollins ---------------------------------
View Video Transcript
0:00
Oh you ever been to the grocery store and looking for that perfect steak don't know what to buy
0:11
We got some tips on how to get that done and maybe even some questions you want to ask your butcher
0:16
Hello Petey, stick around because you're going to enjoy this one. Hey, it's Wednesday and y'all know what that means
0:33
It's another episode of Cowboy Cooking. But in this episode, we're doing something a little different
0:38
We've been getting a lot of questions. What steak do I buy? Well, folks, we are loading up and we're headed up there to Wooster, Ohio to see some of our good friends at Certified Angus Beef and ask the experts
0:49
So be sure you don't forget to subscribe because we're going to have more of these informational, educational videos coming up in the future
0:56
And we even got a bonus for you. We're going to talk to a meat scientist we are
1:00
We're going to ask the questions. Grain-fed, grass-fed, hormone-free, antibiotic-free. What types of cattle are best
1:06
Hey, we're going to cover it all. So, hey, let's come on. Let's go. Y'all ain't coming
1:13
My gosh, I told you to come on. We're going to Worcester. Hey, thank y'all for stopping by out here under the pergola, I think, is the pronunciation you give this
1:22
I don't have one at the wagon. We call it a fly or a tarp
1:26
But, Michael, one of the most frequent questions that I get asked is, how am I going to buy the perfect steak
1:32
I'm going to the grocery store. I don't know a whole lot about it, and I want to buy that perfect steak for my dollar
1:38
Let's talk about grades. All right. Yeah, the grading of meat. Let's talk about the grading of meat
1:42
First of all, in a packing plant, what does USDA inspected mean
1:49
What do they? What does USDA inspected mean? Do you guys know what that means
1:53
It just means that it's required by law to be inspected by our USDA government
1:58
And that's required to sell meat in this country. So let's talk about quality because that's where a USDA grader comes in
2:05
We're going to talk about the minimum amount of marbling that you might see at the grocery store
2:09
And that's select. So select is what we have on this side of this cutting board
2:14
And this is what a select steak looks like. And this reminds me of Grandma and Grandpa when we go shopping
2:19
Oh, yeah. And we look for, we used to think that the quality of steak is just by the real estate of red
2:25
Yes, the brighter the color of red and no white was in there
2:29
No white flex. All white was gristle. It was no good for you. This was the lean type. Yes
2:33
You know, and it's okay. I ain't going to throw him away. We're not going to throw him away
2:38
And then the minimum amount of marbling for USDA choice, as you can see, it gets, you see more of the little white flex
2:45
Now let's back up. Marbling is actually what, Michael? It's intramuscular fat
2:51
Can't we just call it beef butter? That's what I like to call it
2:55
Beef butter is what we officially call it. Yes. The little white flecks of beef butter because they actually will melt when you cook, right
3:00
That's right. It bastes it as it cooks. It's the contributor to tenderness, juiciness, and flavor, and that's why we seek more marbling
3:09
in every cut. Yes. So, let's not focus on this fat, which is intramuscular fat
3:17
So it's the fat between muscles. Yes. In truss, the fat within, you focus on that
3:23
In an upper part of choice, you have modest or higher marbling, and that's where we hang
3:27
our hat. It's a better eating experience with more marbling, and that's what we need
3:31
So that's what we look for at certified Angus beef. This is what grabs my attention
3:35
There's a lot of difference from here to there. There sure is, and that's prime amount of marbling, but it also meets the certified Angus
3:43
beef spec. So this would have slightly abundant marbling. And folks need not be afraid to ask that guy behind the meat counter what's going on here
3:52
That's his job. I think a lot of people aren't comfortable even going up to that guy. Yeah
3:58
They're there behind that counter to help you. And one of them questions we get a lot Michael that people want to know too is how long has that meat been sitting there When was this cut That a good question Another question to ask is look ask them to look at the
4:13
original box that it came in for the pack date so that you could get an ideal date of all right so
4:19
the time that this was processed at the time I'm going to eat I'd like to eat it ideally you're
4:24
looking at at least 14 days so if that's possible right I'm not asking you to take a cut steak and
4:29
hold it for a week because that's not going to happen. But if you can buy whole subprimals
4:34
like a whole strip roast, if you can afford that when it's on sale, and the pack date gives you an
4:39
opportunity to age that in your refrigerator, meaning keep it in the vacuum- Yes, crowd vac
4:44
You get a chance to have maybe a more tender eating experience because of age
4:50
Have a recipe or have something in mind that you know you're going to do and then ask him
4:54
Hey, I'm going to make a pot roast. What do I need to use
4:58
Or I'm going to use some stew meat. What do I need to get? That's a good idea. You know what I usually do
5:03
I just look up Kent Rollins' videos to figure out what I'm going to do. And so if you're thinking stew meat, you're not going to go buy strip steaks
5:11
I hope not because it'd be a waste of maybe a little more money that you're going to spend. Come in with an idea of this is what I'd like to do
5:17
And your butcher should give you a great chance for a good experience by advice on how to cook
5:24
They can go to that same meat counter right up there and say, hey, I like the way you've got these cut, but I don't like the way them are cut
5:31
Can you cut me something special? That's right, and I think their whole idea is they want to make everybody happy
5:36
So they have some thin cuts there for a family pack maybe, and they're trying to make it an attractive price
5:41
But if you're thinking tonight's the night for the 2-inch thick, go ahead and have them custom cut it also
5:47
Have them trim the fat cap to exactly how you like it
5:51
Like I like the fat cap on this one. I like it to be a quarter inch, but if that's too much for you, trim it off
5:59
The most experienced butcher in that store is usually the one that opens up. Yeah
6:04
Meaning he's the early morning guy taking care of loading the case for the morning and through the day
6:08
And it might be a good idea if you're a morning shopper, great. You might have the expertise right then
6:12
But if you're an after work kind of shopper, call it in in the morning
6:16
Call the guy, talk to him and maybe he could have it ready for you. So if you can call ahead like you say to get that guy to go ahead and cut what you need
6:23
to your specifications, pick it up, you're out of there, everything is good
6:28
Predominantly, beef in our country is wet aged, meaning it's in a vacuum seal when it
6:34
comes to your grocery store in a vacuum seal. However, in restaurants a lot and some grocery stores are dry aging now and the whole idea
6:44
is to take it out of that vacuum seal, put it in a controlled environment and put age
6:48
on that, meaning it's going to water shrink, it's going to shrink, water's going to come
6:52
out of it, the beef flavor will intensify. In New York, dry-aged beef tastes different than West Coast dry-aged beef, and even in Oklahoma
7:01
Yeah, even in Oklahoma. You've got your own terroir, we call it. What? Exactly. Yes
7:07
I call it climate and atmospheric conditions. We call it terroir. Terroir
7:11
Yes, you have your own terroir. I didn't know that. I'll look for it when I get home
7:14
You know what I think we should do is grill some of these up
7:18
Let's taste the difference. Let's go from one extreme to the other and see what happens
7:22
Okay, so you want to do an elect and a certified angus beef prime. Yeah
7:26
Put a little salt, put a little pepper. That sound good? Yes, sir, brother
7:30
Do the pepper. Do you season on the grill? No, I usually season about four hours ahead of time
7:38
You do? Yeah. You put a little lime juice on it and you're rubbed
7:43
And then you let it sit for four hours? About four hours, yeah. Lime juice, you're not like you're tasting a margarita, you know
7:51
It breaks down muscle connective tissue. Not a bad idea, though. Oh, that's true. But you're right
7:54
It's so acidic that it's going to break down muscle tissue. But you're not going to taste it. It a done deal it is
8:18
You know what I mean? Stick a fork in it, it is done. It is done. Did you notice a cooking difference there in time
8:25
It seemed to me the Select was done a lot faster. I know it's cut a little thinner, and I thought maybe that was the reason it was cooked fast
8:32
but don't you think it's faster with the... Yeah, it's faster because there's not as much moisture in there
8:38
to begin with because we don't have the degree of marbling that was there. So we're not going to get that melting of that beef butter to run down in there
8:45
Well, we've done a lot of chitter-chatter. Maybe we should taste. Cut him in half
8:50
Now, I want people to see, so we'll turn them that away
8:55
You can see the amount of moisture that's there, and when we use the touch test, it's really evident in this one versus that one
9:02
Select versus certifying it's beef prime. This is the select piece. Yup. It's cooked about the same amount of time. Bon Appetit
9:09
Bon Appetit. It's very French. There's flavor there? Right away there's flavor. Mm-hmm
9:18
But right now it's gone. But I'm still chewing. Not bad. No, not bad. But it's...let's move on up the ladder. You want to? Cheers. Cheers
9:33
Right off the bat you get that, I'm going to give you juiciness, I'm going to give you
9:42
a lot of flavor and it stays to the end. It doesn't go away
9:46
I think we should have a little dance off, don't you? A dance off
9:50
Yes, I mean break down, show me what you got. Bring it. Bring it until you move, there you go
9:53
Bring it. There you go. Get down on it now, you got it
9:58
It's a good day to be above the grass, but a day with Kent Rollins doesn't get any better
10:02
We have a great time every day. Thank you so much, as always
10:06
We appreciate you all. As always, we're going to tip our hat to all our servicemen and women
10:11
and them veterans who have kept that flag flying right there in camp. Wherever we're at, it's always going to be there with us
10:17
Until the next episode, I'll see you down there. I'm going to eat some good beef trail
10:23
I was really out of my comfort zone. I think he was like on an American bandstand at one time
10:28
Maybe. Maybe in a past life, but I don't know. You know how the reggae dance
10:34
All they do is run in place. You ever seen it? No matter what they do, it's everything
10:40
And if it's a faster song, it's just faster running. I've seen some of the film and shit. You're doing good, brother
10:45
But it's just slow or fast. We're talking to a meat scientist here, a meat expert
10:51
that's going to explain a lot of these questions that you've had about cuts of beef, how we classify it
10:56
the breeds of beef. So you ain't going to want to miss this. And who doesn't like a bonus
11:02
I'm Diana Clark
11:13
So I actually grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. I was a city kid
11:17
I stumbled into agriculture when I was at University of Illinois wanting to become a vet
11:22
And then while I was there, I discovered meat scientists. So being that, that reason my mom always would always say that, hey, you went to school to
11:30
save animals and cut them up, but I have a better situation right that way
11:35
But we have so many viewers, Diana, that ask us so many questions, and the first one I
11:40
want to ask you, the one that I get a lot, is grass-fed versus grain-fed
11:45
All cattle start off grass-fed at one point. The majority of their life is actually spent on grass
11:51
It's those last four to six months that they're going to be moved to a feed yard, and even
11:57
grass finished cattle, they're going to end up in a feed yard as well
12:01
It just depends on what their diet is going to be at that feed yard
12:04
So typically a grain finished diet is going to consist of about 45
12:09
carbohydrates 30 protein and then you going to have the rest of your forage and your minerals So you still getting a balanced diet whether you grass or grain We actually have nutritionists that are on staff at these feed yards
12:25
that make sure that they're developing the proper rations for these cattle to grow and thrive
12:31
And they use the resources around them. So if you're a farmer in Idaho and there's potatoes
12:36
they're going to use that as their carbohydrate source. But there's also a different taste and a texture, I think
12:41
What do you think? I completely agree. They do have a little bit different of a taste, and that's because you're going to get more of that marbling that's in that grain-finished cattle
12:49
so you get more of a beefy, robust flavor. Versus your grass-finished cattle, they're typically a bit leaner, so they're going to be a bit more gamier
12:57
Some people might appreciate that flavor, but others find it off-putting. All the different labels that you see on packaging of beef at the stores
13:05
So they're trying to persuade that consumer to grab that package and feel safe and good about it
13:10
But the truth is, all of our meat, especially produced in the United States, is completely safe
13:15
There is not a piece of meat that's out there that you should worry about in terms of it having antibiotics or hormones in there
13:22
From an antibiotic standpoint, any beef that is treated with antibiotics is done for a purpose
13:27
It's usually to make sure that that animal is in good health or it helps them grow a little bit more efficiently
13:33
But they also go through withdrawal periods. So that animal, if it's been given an antibiotic, it has to go through a period where it can't
13:41
have any antibiotics or anything like that. So that way there's zero residue left in that meat when it arrives at your store
13:49
On top of that, hormones that are added in or can be added in, they don't have to be
13:53
but that helps the cattle eat that food and grow a bit more productively
13:58
But I'm talking 0.6 nanograms of difference. That's a tiny bit. Oh yeah
14:03
Panograms like a grain of sand on a football field. So 0.6 of that
14:09
It's really not doing anything to impact human health whatsoever. There's been a lot of research that's gone into it before we've put it into animals
14:18
I go up here, I see the label and it says natural. I mean, I'm all about being natural
14:24
What is natural beef? What are these people actually getting? So that's a really big gray area too
14:30
because in terms of natural, it really just means that it's never been processed
14:34
So if I take a cut of beef and I put it in a tray and I put it out there, that's natural
14:38
But then you also have natural in terms of growing. So there's some companies, Certified Angus Beef actually does have a natural brand
14:47
and that's a never ever program. So never given any antibiotics, never given any hormones in an all-vegetarian diet
14:54
There's a lot of great cattle in the United States, but there's so many different kinds of breeds of cattle
14:59
There's good beef. I've eat a lot of beef. I've raised a lot of beef. So what about all the breeds
15:04
Each breed is really good at specific things. So Angus cattle specifically, they're great mothers
15:10
and they're also good in terms of quality. So that's why we use them at Certified Angus Beef
15:15
because we're looking to help that farmer and rancher. So if they're good mothers, you know
15:20
they're going to be a good cow to help produce more calves, and that makes the rancher's life a
15:24
lot more easier. They're going to produce that high-quality flavor that the consumer is looking
15:28
for. But then you also have other breeds such as Hereford, Simmental cattle and they're all known
15:34
for specific traits. Some of them are a bit more growthy so they're going to put down more leans
15:38
pounds of production. Other ones like Brahman cattle can handle that hot temperature a lot more
15:44
easily. So that's why we do need all of them. Cross them with those Angus genetics and hoping
15:50
that they can have this strong animal mixed with a high quality animal that we find in Angus beef
15:56
Certified Angus beef requires that the animal must be predominantly black-hided. We hope that we answered some of the questions that you all have been asking us for so long
16:05
Stick around because there's going to be more of these little educational videos coming to you in the future
16:09
See you down the trail
#BBQ & Grilling
#Butchers
#Food & Grocery Retailers
#Meat & Seafood
#Other