Smart Shopper: What to Look for When Buying Meat

For a long time, we felt very intimidated buying meat simply because we didn't really know what to look for. How do you choose between one cut and another? How can you tell when meat is of good quality? For us, choosing cuts of meat has ultimately boiled down to looking for three main features!

Of course, the very best way to feel confident that you're buying good quality meat is to buy it from a good butcher. This is usually someone local and independent who buys from local farms and does the butchering of the animals themselves. These kinds of butcher shops were fading out for a while but seem to be on the rise again, so keep your eye open for one in your neighborhood!

In no particular order, this is what we think about when we're choosing a piece of meat out of the case:

1. Well-Butchered - A skilled butcher who cares about the quality of his or her products will usually have well-butchered pieces of meat on display. Cuts of the same variety should be about the same size and thickness. The cuts of meat should also be smooth with no ragged edges, hacked bits, or uneven sections.

2. Color - Color can vary depending on the particular cut or which animal it's coming from, but fresh meat should have a rich, vibrant, eye-catching color. Uniformity in color is usually an indicator of quality, since discolored spots can be a sign of poor handling or meat that's past its prime.

3. Texture - We also look at the grain of the meat (the direction of the muscle fibers) and how tight or uniform this looks. If the fibers are broken, very loose, or uneven, these can be more signs of poor handling or just poor quality meat.

It also helps to know a little about the cut of meat you're buying. Knowing which cuts have a lot of fat, which ones are more muscle, and what the muscle should look like can help you choose the best ones. For instance, we look for a lot of fat marbling in a tender rib-eye steak, but uniformity of texture and grain is more important in a tougher flank steak.

What other things do you look for when choosing meat?

(Image: Flickr member Stu Spivack licensed under Creative Commons)

Comments (10)

When I was in Istanbul, I cooked dinner with a friend. At the grocery store, he looked at all the chicken, then calmly poked a hole in the plastic and sniffed. It was rank, so he put it back and poked another one, which was OK. I was astonished at this super-aggressive consumer move--but it's smart for him, and a public service. No one will buy the poked package he put back.

I fortunately live in a neighborhood with a bunch of good butchers, but I recommend this strategy to people who can only get supermarket, pre-wrapped meat.

I use a fresh-kill chicken place in our neighborhood too. It's harder to judge meat quality when the feathers are still on, but I haven't had a bad chicken yet!

Vibrant color in red meat may also mean that it's been treated with carbon monoxide.

My grandfather worked all his life in a meat factory: the farms, the slaughtering house, the kitchens, the canning... he was there and did that, so he knew all there is to know about cow meat. When he retired and had to buy meat at the butcher's shop like everybody else, he always knew what to look for. He'd never buy yellowish fat because that means the animal died with fever; very young lambs should be bought at stores where the farm and the slaughtering house are very close (because they get nervous easily and fear taints the complexion and flavor); and he knew all the nuisances of cooking the meat to its best point. His bbq are still spoken about because he knew what wood to use and how to arrange the cuts so they'd get enough heat and smoke to enhance the flavor without overwhelming or overcooking.

Unfortunately he died many years ago and I only have a speck of that immense knowledge. Like you I am always left to wonder what cuts are best to what I have in mind, and how to "read" those sad packaged styrofoam trays... will this have a big chunk of fat on the other side? How old was the animal? From where in the animal this was taken? There are lots of beef cuts names equivalences and I get confused easily (although that makes for an interesting google search).

To ShellyIN, you're right about the vibrant red color, but I think with little training you can spot the real thing from a gassed one. At least I don't think of me as an expert but I can do it. (Fluorescent lights don't help, I know... but you can get over that too).

also, bright vibrant red color is not possible with vaccum packaging (or any kind of packaging that is in touch with the product), since myoglobin, the compound mainly responsible for meat colour, is highly unstable before cooking and changes from oxymyoglobin (vibrant red) to metmyoglobin (dark purple), simply by withdrawing oxygen from its enviroment.

So... dark beef isn't always spoiled, again. Maybe it's a case of getting some fresh air!

Get more information here: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/Color_of_Meat_&_Poultry/index.asp

Sorry for the scientific "a la Big Bag Theory". I'm a food engineering in the meat business... :-)

Haha, I notice that a lot of these entries start with, "For a long time, we've been intimidated with ____, but then we tried it and it's actually this easy!"

julia2711,
Not eating meat makes it even easier! But for those who do eat meat, they might want to pause for a moment before taking the advice in the post at face value. Vibrant color does not necessarily mean "fresh," and as cristaleo pointed out, darker or less vibrant color doesn't necessarily mean "not fresh."

I look for the leanest cut of meat with the least amount of exterior fat, the brighest red color and the least amount of waste...gristle, bone, cartilege, skin. I also want a piece thick enough to bake well in the middle without over cooking the surface.

I buy meat from local butcher where in the slaughter house is nearby.I get the privilage of slecting a tender and healthy lamb.The freshnes of meat is assured. In fact you can note the small wiggle in the muscles of the meat , when you buy it so fresh. If you notice the fat layered over the muschle it should be tender,soft and dirty whitish in colour it shouldn't be stiff and yellowish in colour.

lona - that is a very unfortunate way of purchasing your meat. While fat is not the sole indicator of quality in meat, having some fat in your meat is essential for moist, flavorful meat. The source of an animal meat's unique flavor is the fat (see "On Food" by Harold McGee).

First comment here, but been lurking for a while. Big fan.

Just wanted to jump in and reiterate what a few people have commented on - color is no way to judge meat in the supermarket. The color of the meat has to do with the relative levels of different forms of myoglobin that form in the presence or absence of oxygen and other gases. It doesn't have anything to do with the actual freshness of the meat!

You can see this most clearly by buying a hunk of meat and cutting it in half. At first, it'll appear purplish. Let it sit exposed to the air for a little while, and it'll turn that nice rosy red. Eventually, it'll start turning brown. But you (or a clever supermarket staffer) can prevent this from hapening by starving it of oxygen or gassing it with carbon monoxide, as most packaging does. The color has nothing to do with poor handling or meat past its prime. Unless it's green. In that case, avoid it. But any shade of purple, red, or brown can be seen in even the freshest of meat!

Best,
Kenji