Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Wagyu: American Cattlemen To Rescue Japan's Wagyu?

Will United States cattlemen be asked to rescue the Japanese beef cattle industry?

SUMMARY

Wagyu beef cattle in Japan are being decimated by foot-and-mouth disease. The Japanese government has ordered thousands of the most valuable Wagyu cattle to be destroyed, in order to contain the highly-contagious disease.

The same Wagyu breed are raised in the United States. Will American cattlemen come to the rescue of the Japanese beef industry, just as American farmers rescued the French wine industry 150 years ago.

WAGYU CATTLE

Wagyu beef cattle produces among the most valuable, highly marbled steak in the world.

When the cattle are raised in the Japanese Prefecture of Kobe, the cattle are called Kobe beef. The price for the highest quality of Kobe beef is significantly more than $100.00 per pound.

The Wagyu breed was developed originally in Japan. Today, Wagyu beef cattle are raised not only in Japan but in several other countries, including the United States.

2010 CRISIS IN JAPAN

Much of Japan's Wagyu cattle are now being decimated by foot-and-mouth disease. As a result, Japan's cattlemen are in danger of losing their Wagyu entire Wagyu seed stock.

Japan's cattlemen are facing the greatest disaster in their history. ABC News is reporting today that "Japan will slaughter dozens of its top Wagyu stud bulls as a foot-and-mouth outbreak continues its rapid spread through the country's south."

There is a real danger that the entire Japanese beef cattle industry will be destroyed.

1865 CRISIS IN FRANCE

In the mid-19th Century, a similar agricultural crisis occurred in France. A disease in the vineyards spread throughout France and much of Europe. The blight became the greatest disaster in the history of wine. Called grape Phylloxera, the disease decimated the French vineyards.

In 1882, American scientists at the University of California discovered a method to prevent the blight. They found that grafting the French vine (Vitis vinifera) onto the Californian vine (Vitis californica) prevented the Phylloxera from spreading.

With this discovery, American farmers came to the rescue of French farmers. Americans grew and sent thousands of vines to France, where French farmers planted the vines and then the grafted onto them the dying French vines. The solution worked. See the history of the great epidemic.

Today, French farmers owe their roots (literally) to American farmers.

2010 AMERICAN RESCUE?

As the Wagyu beef cattle crisis looms in Japan, farmers there face the prospect of losing their entire herds and stock.

American farmers may be called on again to come to the rescue of fellow-farmers. Like their predecessors 150 years ago, American farmers, if called upon, stand ready, willing and able to come to the rescue of their Japanese counterparts.

SteakPerfection

SteakPerfection welcomes your comments.  Please share them below.  Also, please let us know if you see any errors. We try to ensure that all of the steak information that we provide is both accurate and supported by credible cites. Thus, please let us about any errors, so that and we can correct them immediately.

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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Cuts: What is a Sirloin Steak?

The biggest problem that steak lovers have is learning the many different words for different steaks.

None is more complicated that the "sirloin steak".

What exactly is a sirloin steak?

SUMMARY

A "sirloin steak" can mean any of eleven different steaks.  One of these is the very best and most expensive steak.  The other ten are not nearly as good and should be much less expensive.

Some markets, butchers and steak houses may foist off, on buyers who do not know better, one of the ten, inferior quality sirloin steaks as being a much better steak.  Therefore, steak buyers should never order a "sirloin steak".

Instead, steak buyers should order the specific "sirloin steak" that they want.

Informed buyers always ask questions, so they get the exact steak that they want and expect.

STRIP LOIN STEAK

In the UK and often in the US, the word "sirloin steak" is synonymous with the steak known variously as a strip steak, New York steak, Kansas City steak, etc.  In the US, the official name is "Beef Loin, Strip Loin Steak, Boneless", IMPS/NAMP Item No. 1180.

Many steak masters, including SteakPerfection, consider the strip loin steak to be the very best.  The strip loin steak, when the highest quality and properly aged, is the most expensive: more expensive than a comparable ribeye, tenderloin or porterhouse steak.

For more information on this meaning, see our blog on "What is a strip / New York / Kansas City steak?"

TEN STEAKS FROM THE SIRLOIN SUBPRIMAL

In most of the US, the word "sirloin steak" does not mean the strip loin steak but instead means one of ten different inferior quality steaks.  All ten steaks are cut from the subprimal "Beef Loin, Sirloin", IMPS/NAMP 181.  The names and IMPS/NAMP item numbers of these ten steaks are as follows.  The first four are bone-in sirloin steaks, and the last six are boneless sirloin steaks.
  1. Beef Loin Sirloin Steak, Pin Bone, first anterior bone-in cut from IMPS/NAMP 181
  2. Beef Loin Sirloin Steak, Flat Bone, second anterior bone-in cut from IMPS/NAMP 181
  3. Beef Loin Sirloin Steak, Round Bone, third anterior bone-in cut from IMPS/NAMP 181
  4. Beef Loin Sirloin Steak, Wedge Bone, four anterior (so last or posterior) bone-in cut from IMPS/NAMP 181
  5. Beef Loin, Top Sirloin Butt Steak, Boneless, IMPS/NAMP 1184
  6. Beef Loin, Top Sirloin Cap Steak, Boneless (also known as the Coulotte), IMPS/NAMP 1184D
  7. Beef Loin, Top Sirloin, ‘Baseball Cut’ Steak, IMPS/NAMP 1184F
  8. Beef Loin, Bottom Sirloin Butt, Flap Steak (also known as the bavette steak), IMPS/NAMP 1185A
  9. Beef Loin, Bottom Sirloin Butt, Ball Tip Steak, IMPS/NAMP 1185B
  10. Beef Loin, Bottom Sirloin Butt, Tri-Tip Steak, IMPS/NAMP 1185C
(Note that the Beef Loin, Top Sirloin, ‘Baseball Cut’ Steak, IMPS/NAMP 1184F, is a newly designated sirloin steak in the 2010 IMPS from the previous 1996 IMPS.)

For more information and pictures of these ten different sirloin steaks, see our SteakPerfection website.

CONCLUSION

Your local butcher, market or steak house may sell a "sirloin steak".  But that can mean any of eleven different steaks.  Maybe it means the highest quality, strip loin steak, but it could also mean a much lower quality tri-tip steak.

We at SteakPerfection love our tri-tip steak, but, all things being equal, we would never expect a tri-tip steak to be as flavorful, tender or juicy as a strip loin steak.  Nor would be pay nearly as much for a tri-tip steak as we would for a strip loin steak, which may cost six times more per pound.

Therefore
  • Never order a "sirloin steak"!
  • Be an informed buyer.
  • Know your steak cuts.
  • Ask questions.
  • Order the specific "sirloin steak" that you want and expect.
Enjoy!!

SteakPerfection

SteakPerfection welcomes your comments.  Please share them below.  We try to ensure that all of the steak information that we provide is accurate and cited, so please let us know if we make any errors, so that we can correct them.

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Monday, May 24, 2010

Your Steak Info: Farm Name

What do you know about your steak?

What should you know about your steak?

Let's looks at the many things that you should know about your steak.

We'll begin with this blog and focus on what you should know about the beef cattle farm where your steak came from.

Because we are interested in SteakPerfection, we will concentrate on the best steaks, which come from the best beef cattle, which (as we shall learn) is limited to young steers.

FARM NAME AND ADDRESS

The first and most obvious fact that you should know about your steak is the name and address of the cattle farm where it came from.

Is the farm where the cattle was raised located in the Nebraska, Texas, Colorado, California, or another of the great beef cattle states? Knowing the farm and its address are important questions for evaluating the quality of your steak.

In the "old" days, beef cattle were bred, weaned, pastured and fed at a single ranch. Nowadays, the beef cattle industry has changed, and it may be necessary to know the names and addresses of three separate farms, where the beef cattle was raised and where your steak came from.

COW-CALF

Most beef cattle today are bred at a cow-calf farm. This is a specialized farm, where beef calves are bred, raised, weaned and then usually sold.

When the calves are born, the male calves weigh about 75 pounds, and they are castrated (thus becoming steers). They are fed a diet of milk for about eight months, when they weigh about 600 pounds.

(Note that these and the following age and weight estimates vary according to the breed and other factors.)

At this time, the steers are weaned and transported to a stocker.

STOCKER

The stocker is a specialized farm that permits cattle to feed on grass in pastures and fields.

The adolescent steers eat grass and other forage for about five months. During this period, they gain in weight to about 900 pounds.

FEEDER

The feeder (also called a feedlot or CAFO, for concentrated animal feeding operation) is a specialized farm where cattle are fed a high-protein vegetable diet, which allows them to gain weight quickly.

The diet is based on corn and other grains, so the steers are then called "corn-fed" or "grain-fed" cattle.

Steers remain at the feeder farm until they are about 18 months old and weigh about 1,200 pounds. Then the steers are transported to the slaughterhouse.

PROBLEM

Knowing where your steak comes from today means knowing the names and locations of three farms: cow-calf, stocker and feeder. But the problem is that very, very little of the best quality steak in the United States can be traced back through the system to the farm(s) where the cattle was raised.

To find out where your steak comes from, ask your butcher. If your butcher does not sell steaks that can be traced back to the farms where the cattle was raised, then ask your butcher to do so, or search for a butcher who can.

Carrie Oliver of The Artisan Beef Institute gives a perfect example. Every bottle of expensive wine shows the name and address of the winery, as well as the type of grape and the year it was bottled.

We who love steak are entitled to the same information about our steak. So ask your butcher for steak that comes from a known farm.

CONCLUSION

We all love great steak, and we have to learn from each other how to identify and purchase the best steak, starting with the name and location of the farm where the steers were raised.

Enjoy!!

SteakPerfection

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Sunday, May 23, 2010

Cuts: How to Learn Different Steak Cuts

We at SteakPerfection of often asked where a consumer can find basic information about the different cuts and names of steaks.

BASIC INFORMATION

The best way for a consumer to obtain accurate information about steak cuts is to ask us. Consumers can send their questions in any of the usual ways -- email, tweet, blog, facebook, website (see below) -- and we will answer as soon as possible, often immediately.

In addition to the SteakPerfection website, another excellent online site for beginniers is Beef: It's What's for Dinner. For each of the major retail cuts of beef, this site provides a description, pictures and an explanation of how best to cook them.

MORE ADVANCED INFORMATION

A more advanced site is the Gayot's Steak Cuts. The site includes information on where steak comes from, a description of some of the major cuts, and information about many of the beef cattle breeds.

IMPS/NAMP

The most advanced source of information is the official, USDA 2010 Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications ("IMPS"). This is a large PDF file site which includes the official names, descriptions and identification numbers for all recognized beef cuts in the United States.

The companion publication to the IMPS is the "Meat Buyer's Guide", which is published by the North American Meat Processors Association (NAMP). This is a required reference book for butchers, chefs and other serious cooks, but it is expensive. The book contains detailed descriptions and pictures of the beef cuts, as well as lamb, veal, pork and poultry.

Both the IMPS and the NAMP are used together, and the identification numbers for steaks and other cuts are usually given in the formation of IMPS/NAMP. For example, the New York steak is known officially as IMPS/NAMP 1180. (See our blog about the many common names for the strip, New York and Kansas City steak.)

CONCLUSION

We all love great steak, and we have to learn from each other how to identify and purchase the best steak. There are many different steak and other beef cuts, and we welcome your questions about them.

Enjoy!!

SteakPerfection

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Saturday, May 22, 2010

Cuts: What is a strip / New York / Kansas City steak?

When you visit your butcher or market to purchase a great steak, do you know the difference between a strip steak, a New York steak and a Kansas City steak?

The answer: there is no difference. These and many others are all different names for the same steak.

MANY NAMES

There are many names for this steak, including the following names, and all mean exactly the same steak:

  • strip
  • New York
  • Kansas City
  • top loin
  • Ambassador
  • hotel
  • club
  • shell
  • sirloin
  • veiny
  • IMPS/NAMP 1180 and 1180A
In the US, the best way to ensure that you have the correct cut is to use its official designation, "IMPS/NAMP 1180". The IMPS/NAMP refers to the official, USDA designation for this exact steak. Unfortunately, butchers and markets are not required to use this number on the label.

However, the label must use the official, complete name for this steak, which is, "Beef Loin, Strip Loin Steak, Boneless". This is often in very small print, so look carefully.

Be especially careful about ordering any steak called a "sirloin". This word is commonly used to describe two completely different steaks: either the IMPS/NAMP 1180, or a very inferior quality steak from a different subprimal.

CONCLUSION

We all love a great steak, and the strip / New York / Kansas City steak may be the best of the best, no matter what it is called, because
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.

Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)
Enjoy!!

SteakPerfection

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Wednesday, May 19, 2010

How Many Different Steaks Are There?

We love steak -- all kinds of steak. And we are always in the search for SteakPerfection. So here's a thought experiment.

THOUGHT EXPERIMENT

Suppose that we want to compare all the different possible steaks in the world, in order to find the absolutely best tasting one. How many steaks would we have to taste in our blind taste test?

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

If you don't have time to study the following calculations, here is the bottom line:

The number of possible steaks, based upon all the possible breed, feed, marbling, aging, cooking and other options is 229,790,030,170,071,000,000,000,000,000,000. That is more than 229 nonillion possible steak options -- more than all the grains of sand on earth.

With so many possible steak options, our love for steak can never be quenched, nor can the perfect steak ever be found.

Each of us can argue that we have discovered the "PERFECT" steak, and we need never fear being proven wrong!

BREED

Different breeds of cattle produce steaks that have different tastes, even if everything else (like feed, age, etc.) is the same. So part of our Thought Experiment requires comparing all the cattle breeds that are used to produce steaks -- which are called "beef cattle".

In the United States, there are about 250 beef cattle breeds that are "recognized". Worldwide, there are about 950. About half of all beef cattle is purebred and half is hybrid. If we limit our calculation only to purebred and 50-50 hybrids, the number of possible beef cattle breeds equals 902,500 (= 950^2).

But that's not the end of the Thought Experiment, because we have to add other variables that affect the taste of a steak.

SEX

Steaks come from beef cattle that can be divided into four sexes: bulls, which are uncastrated male cattle; steers, which are castrated male cattle; cows, which are female cattle which have born a calf; and heiffers, which are female cattle which have not born a calf.

Most steak masters believe that the very best steak comes from steers, but our Thought Experiment requires us to chack all the possibilities. So we have to compare all four "sex" possibilities.

AGE

Steaks come from beef cattle that can be almost any age over 9 months.

Steak from beef cattle that is under the age of 9 months is called veal, which is so completely different from beef that we exclude them altogether from our Thought Experiment.

Most steak masters believe that the very best steak comes from beef cattle that is between 9 and 29 months old, but our Thought Experiment requires us to chack all the possibilities -- or at least all the possibilities that are likely to result in significantly different steaks.

We begin by dividing the age of beef cattle into the following five major categories, in comformity with the USDA categories:
  • A: 9 thru 29 months old;
  • B: 30 thru 41 months old;
  • C: 42 thru 5 years old;
  • D: 6 or 7 years old; and
  • E: 8 years and older.

Then we subdivide the first category into each of the ages of the first category, because many steak masters believe that a steak from a steer that is, for example, 16 months old will taste significantly different, when all other variables are equals, from a steak from a setter that is, for example, 29 months old.

Accordingly, we subdivide the A category in to each of the months: A-9, A-10, A-11, A-12, etc. through A-28 and A-29. This totals 21 subcateries, plus the remaining four categoreis, for a total of 25 different ages to test in our Thought Experiment.

FEED

From the time they are born until they are weaned at about the age of 9 months, all calves are fed a cows milk. What the mother cow eats will affect the taste, texture and juiciness of the steak that the calf eventually produces. However, for this Thought Experiment, we ignore this variable.

Feed then includes the following options:
  • 27 grass options;
  • 19 legume options;
  • 5 silage options;
  • 46 hay options; and
  • 7 grain options.

None of these feed options is exclusive, and we assume that there may be two feed options for beef cattle. Accordingly, there are over 600 billion possible combinations (exactly 682,160,364,900, which equals (27*19*5*46*7)^2.

MARBLING

Marbling is a measure of the fine specks and streaks of fat inside a steak. It does not include the often-thick layer of fat outside the steak.

Marbling is divided into ten major categories, from Very Abundant Marbling (Vab) down to Practically Devoid Marbling (PD). In addition, we add two "extremely abundant" categories, to conform with the Japanese Kobe Beef marbling categories. Each of these twelve categories is divided into 100 degrees but, in practice, the categories are divided into 10 subcategories, from 00 through 90.

Thus, there are 108 (= 9*12) degress of marbling.

AGING

Today, there are three major aging methods: dry aging, wet aging and hybrid (which combines dry and wet, in succession) aging. Aging periods run from no extra time to 10 weeks. In dry aging, the beef is aged in a special room or locker at a temperature of about 34°, at a relative humidity of about 80%, at an air-flow of about 20 linear feet per minute, and with ultraviolet or comparable bacterial control.

Thus, there are 90 (=3^2 * 10) different, major, aging options.

CUTS

There are 16 major cuts of steak, which include the following:
  • anterior boneless top loin steak;
  • other boneless top loin steak;
  • bone-in top loin steak;
  • anterior boneless rib steak;
  • other boneless rib steak;
  • bone-in rib steak;
  • tenderloin steak;
  • top sirloin cap (culotte) steak;
  • pin bone sirloin steak;
  • flat (or double) bone sirloin steak;
  • round bone sirloin steak;
  • wedge bone sirloin steak;
  • hanging tender (or hanger) steak;
  • flank steak;
  • flap (or bavette)steak; and
  • top blade (or flat iron) steak.

We have not included the porterhouse or t-bone steak, since these are combinations of the top loin and tenderloin. Nor have we included the rib-eye steak, since it is derived from the rib steak. We have not included the five boneless sirloin steaks, wince their bone-in counterparts are included. Finally, we have not include other non-prime steaks, such as the round steak.

Thus, there are 16 different, primary cuts of steak.

THICKNESS

There are many different thickness options for steak, which range from one-half inch (or even less) to two-inch thickness. For purposes of this Thought Experiment, we will divide thicknesses in half-inch increments:
  • 1/2" thick;
  • 1" thick;
  • 1 1/2" thick;
  • 2" thick; and
  • 2 1/2" thick.

Thus, in this Thought Experiment, there are five different thicknesses that will be considered.

TRIM

There are three different trimming methods before cooking a steak.

First is the close removal of all visible fat. Second is the removal of most visible fat. Third is cooking the steak with the normal amount of fat.

PRE-SEASONING

There are several major pre-seasoning options. These include no pre-seasoning whatsoever, or pre-seasoning with some of the following: salt, pepper, one of the common herbs, butter or oil.

Thus, in this Thought Experiment, we will consider 20 different pre-seasoning options.

COOKING

There are three major, basic cooking methods for steak: grilling, infrared, pan frying, pan broiling, pan roasting (moving to the oven after searing), roasting and braising.

In the case of grilling (including broiling) and in addition to gas, there are at least twenty major fuels, including hardwoods and lump charcoal from alder, apple, apricot, birch, cherry, hackberry, hickory, lemon, lime, maple, mesquite, mulberry, peach, pear, pecan, orange, red oak, walnut and white oak.

We will not include, in this Thought Experiment, other methods of cooking steak, such as stir fry and sauté, which require cutting the meat into thin slices before cooking.

Thus, in this Thought Experiment, we will consider 25 different cooking methods.

RESTING

There are three major resting options: none, five minutes and ten minutes.

Thus, in this Thought Experiment, we will consider three different pre-seasoning options.

TEMPERATURE

There are ten temperature levels for cooking steak:
  • 125° to 212° (sous vide)
  • 212° to 250°;
  • 250° to 350°;
  • 350° to 450°;
  • 450° to 550°;
  • 550° to 650°;
  • 650° to 750°;
  • 750° to 900°;
  • 900° to 1200°; and
  • 1200° to 1600°,

Thus, in this Thought Experiment, we will consider 10 different cooking temperature intervals.

TIME

There are eight major time increments for cooking the steak. These include the following total cooking times:
  • 5 to 8 minutes;
  • 8 to 10 minutes;
  • 10 to 12 minutes;
  • 12 to 15 minutes°;
  • 15 to 20 minutes;
  • 20 to 30 minutes;
  • 30 to 60 minutes; and
  • one hour or more.

Thus, in this Thought Experiment, we will consider eight different cooking time intervals.

POST-SEASONING

There are several major post-seasoning options. These include no post-seasoning whatsoever, or post-seasoning with some of the following: salt, pepper, one of the common herbs, butter or oil.

Thus, in this Thought Experiment, we will consider 20 different pre-seasoning options.

CALCULATION OF OPTIONS

Based upon the foregoing options, there are 239 nonillion possible steaks. 239 nonillion is 229 followed by 30 zeroes, or 229,790,030,170,071,000,000,000,000,000,000. Even without all of the feed options -- all of the grass and grains -- there are 337 quintillion possible steaks -- which is 337 followed by 18 zeroes.

Finally, even without all the cattle breed and feed options, there are 373 billion steak options.

CONCLUSION

The obvious conclusion from this calculation is that our love for steak can never be quenched, nor can the perfect steak ever be identified. Each of us can argue that our personal favorite is the "PERFECT" steak without any fear that we can ever be proven wrong!

So enjoy the wide diversity of steak.

SteakPerfection welcomes your comments.  Please share them below.  SteakPerfection is a complex process that involves every detail, from pasture to plate.
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