Marbling In Different Breeds

We ll talk more about fat development later but it s.

Marbling in different breeds. Marbling producers need to be careful not to ignore and thus possibly sacrifice desirable cow functionality and reproduction traits. Marbling is determined by both genetics and nutrition. Marbling is a term used to describe the fat content inside of beef muscle known as intramuscular fat. The lean muscle has a high frequency of thin evenly distributed flecks of fat.

And some cattle breeds simply will not produce marbled meat no matter what they are fed how fat they get or how tender their beef is. Since black angus as a breed features finely textured marbling it s a tried and true beautifully marbled beef. Generally wagyu will develop considerably more marbling than other breeds. In this article i will explain when marbling is a good gauge of beef tenderness when it is not and how else to gauge beef tenderness when marbling is not a suitable gauge of beef tenderness.

The taste scores were awarded for steak from different breeds that were not controlled for their marbling scores. Murray grey cattle grazing at autumn s harvest in new york however different cattle breeds metabolize their food differently so the resulting meat varies. Intramuscular fat is the flecks of white fat found within the actual lean muscle intermuscular fat is different this term is used to describe the fat that is found between the different muscles in the beef carcass. In other words the study compared the taste of steaks which had different marbling scores which is like comparing apples with oranges.

Marbling takes time to develop in an animal which is why it is more prevalent in beef than in lamb or pork. Marbling comes in different shapes and sizes and not all beef marbling indicates greatness. For example the steak from the brahman had a marbling score of only 470 but it achieved a. Most are feedlot fed on carefully designed rations of straw for roughage and grain for protein and carbohydrates.

Johnson said the genetics of cattle breeds used in the u s. It is particularly present in slow growing breeds such as highland galloway or. Marbling can be influenced by selective breeding. Simply won t allow for marbling comparable to asian breeds although dairy breeds such as holsteins which make up about 20 percent of the beef cattle industry do marble very well and without much backfat.

Marbling can also be influenced by time on feed.