Meat guide
Breeds & programs
Breed, feed and grade are the three things that actually decide how a piece of meat eats — and they are where most of the marketing happens. These guides say plainly what each label means, and what it does not.
Breeds
Ibérico Pork: Bellota, the Labels, and the Cuts
The only pork routinely cooked like steak, and the only pig routinely finished on acorns.
Black Angus Beef
The breed most American steak comes from — and the word most often mistaken for a grade.
Berkshire and Kurobuta Pork
Heritage pork that is actually worth cooking to medium instead of to safety.
American Wagyu: Fullblood, Purebred and Crossbred
Wagyu genetics on American and Australian pasture — richer than Prime, far easier to eat than A5.
Feed programs
Grading systems
Wagyu Grading: What A5 and BMS Actually Mean
The letter is yield, the number is quality, and the number that actually predicts richness is the BMS.
USDA Beef Grades: Prime, Choice and Select
Three retail grades, one measurement: how much fat is inside the muscle.
Japanese Wagyu
The most marbled beef in the world, sold by a grading system that actually means something.
