GreatSteak.com

The top quality beef steaks are graded USDA Prime. (The USDA stands for United States Department of Agriculture). Look for the grade stamp which runs the length of the carcass repeating over and over the quality of the meat. Much of the meat sold in this country is government graded in this way. The remainder is graded by the packers or retailers and marked with their own grade or brand names which usually parallel the government names. Beef steaks marked USDA prime means that the steer has been bred from the best stock, has been more carefully grazed, better fed. Very limited in supply (less than 4% of all beef graded is prime) and commanding top prices, these beef steaks are bought up as fast as they are produced by the top restaurants, hotels, and specialty markets. They are not usually available in quantity to the consumer in uncooked form.