Quality ingredients are essential to creating exceptional dishes. When it comes to premium beef, you are looking for premium marbling.
Marbling is the white flecks and streaks of intramuscular fat in meat. The fat creates a marble pattern in the meat, resulting in the name. One of the most important factors considered in beef grading is the meat’s marble score. While you can certainly have a delicious steak without marbling, there is no doubt that marbling results in an overall higher quality beef cut.
Various marbling scales are used globally and the big three are the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) marbling scale, the AUS-MEAT marbling scale, and the Japanese Beef Marbling Score scale.
In Australia, beef marbling is graded with AUS-MEAT on a 0-9 scale, 0 meaning that there is no marbling present, all the way up to 9+, where the beef has an extraordinary level of marbling. MSA marbling scores are also used in Australia to provide a finer scale than the AUS-MEAT scores. MSA marbling scores are graded in increments of 10 starting on a scale of 100, having no intramuscular fat, to 1190, extreme amounts of intramuscular fat. Note, however that the overall MSA grades for beef are based off a number of other attributes not limited to marbling scores, meat colour and carcass weight.
Australia’s reputation for producing quality, premium beef with magnificent marbling makes our producers leaders on the world stage. The marbling in Australian beef is due to a combination of the cattle’s genetics, quality feed and rearing methods. Typically, the cattle are raised on a diet of natural grass before transitioning to a grain-based diet, for approximately 300-400 days, to achieve the desired level of marbling.
Beef with higher marbling scores are generally tender and juicier. Marbling plays a huge role in determining the flavouring and juiciness of the steak after its cooked. Since the fat in the meat helps to moisten muscle fibres and melts into the meat as the steak cooks, the meat is tender and easier to chew and savour. Well-marbled beef also stays fresher for longer.
When selecting beef, it is crucial to take into account different marbling scores when considering the dining experience you want for your guests. Speak to someone in the know: contact your friendly AMI sales rep for further information and advice.
Tajima Australian Grainfed Wagyu, Australian Wagyu Branded Beef Award’s 2023 champion for the Open F1 Wagyu class, has a variety of beef cuts starting from MB4 all the way up to 9+.
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