Beef is one of the best meats served in restaurants, but have you ever wondered why their steak or stroganoff has different tastes? The quality of the meat affects the taste of beef recipes. High-grade beef might be expensive, yet your cooking results are superb. If you plan to open a restaurant business, it pays to get to know the best cows for meat. Before discussing cow breeds, let’s talk about the quality grade.
What is Beef Quality Grade?
When we say quality, it refers to your eating experience. How do the beef taste and smell? Does the beef leave an aftertaste? Beef, like goat meats, has a strong musky odor, which affects its quality. The basis of grading beef quality depends on the lean’s firmness, texture, color, and smell. The United States Department of Agriculture says that they base the quality grades on two things: the level of maturity of the slaughtered animal and the degree of the beef’s intramuscular fat or marbling.
The USDA identified eight quality grades in beef, namely:
- Prime-It refers to meat from well-fed and young beef cattle with rich marbling.
- Choice-This is a choice of beef quality but has less marbling compared to Prime beef.
- Select-This beef has leaner and uniform quality, somewhat tender meat. It has less marbling than Choice quality, making it less juicy and flavorful.
- Standard & Commercial- This beef quality lacks grading and is for commercial uses.
- Utility/Cutter & Canner-This beef is not saleable due to its lower quality. They are an excellent choice in meat processing.
Recommended Cattle Breeds for Beef Meat
There are over 1,000 cattle breeds around the world. Eighty of these breeds live in the United States. Here is our list of recommended cattle breeds for meat.
1) Angus
Angus cattle are a breed that originated from Scotland and was introduced in Victoria, Kansas, in 1873 by Hugh Watson. Observers believed that the Black Angus cattle resulted from Watson’s effort to exploit their black hides.
The arrival of this cattle breed paved the way for the establishment of the American Angus Association. This breed comes in black and red, but the association does not recognize the Red Angus due to its rarity.
The Black Angus breed is welcome in the association due to its high-quality meat and passed the ten requirements, such as:
- Moderate to higher marbling
- Average to satisfactory marbling texture
- Less than 30 months old slaughtered cattle with an A-maturity lean
- The ribeye area is from 10 to 16 square inches
- The hot carcass should weigh 1,000 pounds or less
- Fat thickness is 1″ or lesser
- Higher muscling
- Capillary rupture-free
- Absence of dark cutters
2) American Brahman
The American Brahman cattle breed results from crossbreeding Indian cattle with some species from Brazil. This breed is excellent for meat production due to its hearty and rich flavor with lower fats than other cow breeds.
However, the meat from pure Brahman has lower marbling and is less tender than other breeds. This cow breed grows fast but has later sexual maturity than British breeds. They can tolerate heat and are more resistant to insect and pest infestation.
3) Hereford
The Hereford cattle originated from Herefordshire of England’s West Midlands. Hereford cattle arrived in Kentucky, United States, in 1817. Today, there are over 5 million Hereford cattle purebred across fifty countries.
Hereford beef is flavorful, tender, and succulent because the cow has reached maturity age-the color of the meat is deep red, indicating its mature age. The beef has copious marbled fat all over the meat’s cuts, making your beef recipe taste delicious.
4) Wagyu
Wagyu is a collective name of four Japanese cattle breeds that produce abundant marbling and buttery tenderness. The cattle breeds are Mukaku or Polled, Nihon Tankaku or Shorthorn, Aakage or Brown, and Kuroge or Black.
Japanese farmers use meticulous cultivation techniques to encourage the production of cows with uniform marbling and tender meat. Specialty breeders sell the cows when they reach seven to ten months old with their birth certificates as proof of their age and bloodlines.
5) Shorthorns
The shorthorn cattle breed originates in England’s North Eastern region in the late 18th century. Farmers raise shorthorns for two purposes: milk and meat production.
Newly born cows are small in size, yet they grow fast. Shorthorn breeders should register their cattle through two registries for beef and milking. This cattle breed possesses excellent mothering ability, docile behavior, and high fertility. The beef texture is tender, and it has abundant marbling.
6) Beefmaster
The beefmaster breed is a product of the crossbreeding of three cattle breeds: 25 percent Milking Shorthorn, 25 percent Shorthorn, and 50 percent Brahman. It was Tom Lasater who initiated the breeding program in the 1930s.
In 1954, the USDA recognized the Beefmaster as a new cattle breed. Herd managers use Beefmaster in heterosis programs or hybrid vigor to increase the size, fertility, and growth rate to yield hybrid animals more superior to their predecessors.
Beefmaster is known as the profit breed because it has met the six essential traits, such as:
- Weight
- Fertility
- Milking ability
- Hardiness
- Disposition
- Conformation
7) Gelbvieh
Breeders developed Gelbvieh in the Franconian districts of Bavaria, Germany. Today, farmers breed Gelbvieh for meat production. Breeding is primarily for draught power, milk, and beef production.
In 1971, over 45,000 registered Gelbvieh cows arrived in the USA. They are known for their excellent mothering, calving, and high fertility abilities. This breed grows and matures fast compared to some European cattle breeds.
8) Simmental
Simmental is also known as Swiss Fleckvieh, originating in Bern’s Swiss Canton, Switzerland. In 1806 the cattle was declared as a dual-purpose cattle breed—milk and beef production. The first importation to the USA was in 1971.
The Simmental breed has increased its worldwide population next to Brahman. The within-breed blending technique has led to the excellent productivity and performance of the American Simmental.
9) Charolais
French farmers use Charolais cows as draft animals. This breed comprises taurine beef cattle with extensive muscling, weaning weights, and feed efficiency. Its name is a derivative of its place of origin, the Charolles in the eastern region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.
The beef meat of Charolais is one of the most delicious with its superb marbling, succulent, and buttery tenderness. Once you taste the beef, you can feel the nutty flavor spreading across your palate and tongue, leaving a grassy, spicy aroma.
10) Limousin
Restaurateurs, food connoisseurs, and chefs find Limousin cattle an excellent source of high-quality beef. A well-fed and reared Limousin cow yields delicate texture with a low proportion of fat and bone with fine marbling.
This cattle breed’s intense flavor and aroma have prodded breeders to increase production after its importation to the United Kingdom in the 1970s from France. Limousin is native to Marche and Limousin.
11) Aubrac
Aubrac is a domestic beef cattle with origins in the central southern France scenic Plateau de l’Aubrac, where it got its name. The cattle breed has dark eyes, muzzle, switch, and hooves with a wheat-colored coat.
The Aubrac beef is powerful, lean, tender, marbled, and well-built with smooth grains. An adult cow can weigh from 2000 to 2600 pounds. This hardy cattle breed can thrive for long years and is known for its high fertility.
The powerful aroma leaves on your tongue and palate for some time. Liam Walsh, a Donegal award-winning beef producer, said the meat has a nice texture and flavor. Consumers are willing to pay a premium price for Aubrac beef.
12) Salers
This Cantal (France) cattle breed has stocky bodies. Saler cows have a thick, black, or mahogany red coat. They have light-colored, long, and lyre-shaped horns. A female cow can weigh from 700 to 750 kilograms with a height of 1.40 meters.
This cattle breed has good milking, fertility, and calving qualities. The meat is well-marbled and aromatic. If you are a newbie in cattle breeding, this cow is not for you because most of them are hot-tempered.
13) Tarentaise
This cattle breed originates in France’s picturesque Tarentaise valley, and farmers raise them for milk and meat products. The cattle were in isolation for thousands of years from other cattle breeds.
They are great for commercial calving and grazing due to their adaptability to rough terrain, high altitudes, and steep mountain ridges. Tarentaise cows produce flavorful cheese in France. Tarentaise milk and beef have unique, desirable flavors and aromas.
