Marbling In Meat Science

This results in commercial feedlots forcefeeding grain pellets to fatten the cows faster while keeping them confined to small pens so they don t exert energy or work their muscles.

Marbling in meat science.

Marbling intramuscular fat is the intermingling or dispersion of fat within the lean. The fat in lean muscle creates a marble pattern hence the name. Meat marbling and the imf content are strongly related. The fat should be pure.

Marbling simply refers to the fat found within a cut of meat and between the muscle fibers themselves. Degree of marbling is the primary determination of quality grade. The science of bbq marbling skip to main content. In this article we will discuss what marbling is where to find it and why you want to have marbling in your meat particularly beef.

Marbling represents a single structure rather than being isolated flecks of fat. Marbling is a visual meat characteristic defined as white particles visible on the cross section of the muscle albrech et al 1996 garcia et al 1968 essen gustavson et. The pattern created by this marbling resembles marble like on your countertop. Marbling is defined as the intermingling intramuscular fat and dispersion of fat within the lean meat von seggern calkins johnson brickler gwartney 2005.

Marbling affects meat s juiciness tenderness texture and flavor attributes that determine eating experience in this case more of all the above is better. Marbling puts the bling in your beef. Marbling is the white flecks of intramuscular fat in meat most notably red meat. A high quality steak will have a lot of marbling while a lean cut will have very little or no visible marbling.

The usda grading system rewards marbling above all else so the eight grades that a cut could receive will prize a heavily marbled cut of meat regardless of the history or flavor. Graders evaluate the amount and distribution of marbling in the ribeye muscle at the cut surface after the carcass has been ribbed between the 12th and 13th ribs.