Marbling In Meat Science

It is streaks of unsaturated healthy fats within the lean muscle fibers of a cut of meat.

Marbling in meat science. The science of bbq marbling skip to main content. Marbling simply refers to the fat found within a cut of meat and between the muscle fibers themselves. The fat in lean muscle creates a marble pattern hence the name. Marbling is defined as the intermingling intramuscular fat and dispersion of fat within the lean meat von seggern calkins johnson brickler gwartney 2005.

Marbling puts the bling in your beef. Marbling represents a single structure rather than being isolated flecks of fat. The fat should be pure. The usda grading system rewards marbling above all else so the eight grades that a cut could receive will prize a heavily marbled cut of meat regardless of the history or flavor.

In this article we will discuss what marbling is where to find it and why you want to have marbling in your meat particularly beef. College station beef with reasonable marbling and juicy taste is preferred among consumers and industry leaders continue to monitor how to consistently produce a product with these traits. Marbling is a visual meat characteristic defined as white particles visible on the cross section of the muscle albrech et al 1996 garcia et al 1968 essen gustavson et. The pattern created by this marbling resembles marble like on your countertop.

This results in commercial feedlots forcefeeding grain pellets to fatten the cows faster while keeping them confined to small pens so they don t exert energy or work their muscles. Marbling is the white flecks of intramuscular fat in meat most notably red meat. A high quality steak will have a lot of marbling while a lean cut will have very little or no visible marbling. Marbling intramuscular fat is the intermingling or dispersion of fat within the lean.

A recent research article addresses the biology and biochemistry of beef marbling and its effects on production systems carcass and fat quality. Meat marbling and the imf content are strongly related.