I understand that meat marbling is basically just fat scattered throughout the meat, and is generally considered a good thing that’s indicative of high-quality meats. However, every time I cook a steak at home (usually boneless ribeyes or something similar), it seems that the the strips of white fat usually just make the steak fatty and chewy (don’t let my technical terms distract you). I usually end up having to carve my steak up to avoid the chewy fat and get to the tender steak (the muscle part I suppose). Am I confusing meat marbling with gristle or something else here?
On the other hand, if I get a high-quality steak from say, Ruth’s Chris, I get a fully edible and tender steak despite the fact that the premium beef probably had significant marbling.
FWIW, I usually use Alton Brown’s method to cook the steaks.
It does sound like you’re confusing marbling with gristle.
This is what good meat marbling looks like, on a scale of 0 (no marbling) to 9 (beaucoup marbling.)
Okay, I thought I may have been… Are there any workarounds to gristle or can/should it just be cut out prior to cooking?
Another thing to keep in mind is that steaks you buy at high-end steakhouses have probably been dry-aged, which will affect their texture greatly.
You might want to concentrate more on the meat grade instead of individual marbling.
While marbling is used to grade the side of beef the steak you buy may not be a better grade just because it is marbled.
Try to get a “prime” or “choice” cut from your butcher or supplier.
If you are cooking a “select” steak it may be difficult to get a good flavor even if it is marbled.
You also mention that you’re cooking ribeyes. In my experience this tend to have excessive marbling in addition to large amounts of gristle around the edges. Lower-quality ribeye cuts often have significant slabs of fat running through the fibers; all of this generally yields a greasy steak and it’s why I’m not particularly fond of the cut.
New york strips IMHO are both leaner in general and have a much more deliciousness-conducive fat distribution. Otherwise, pre-consumption trimming is a must.
