The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates the grading of meat. Usually the packaging of the meat you purchase will indicate the grade of meat it is. Here I will go over some of the grades of meat. The first three I outline here are grades that can be found at your local meat market.
Prime
Prime is very tender because of it's higher fat content. This meat tends to be well marbled, and very expensive. You will not find this at your local supermarket or Walmart, you would only find this in high-end restaurants and butcher shops.
Choice
Choice cuts are fairly expensive, but they are tender cuts of meat. You can find these cuts at your local supermarket, but you are more likely to find them at the butcher shop.
Select
The Select cut of meat is pretty inexpensive and thus it is easier to find at your local supermarket. It is a tougher cut of meat, that will definitely need some tenderizing.
The next grades of meat you won't find in the butcher shops or in the meat case of your local supermarkets. These are Commercial, Utility, Cutter, and Canner. Commercial are cuts from older cattle, thus it is tougher meat. It is usually used in frozen dinners and canned meat products. The Utility, Cutter, and Canner grades are the left over bits and pieces used in processed meat products. These grades can be really tough, and are of very low quality.
To find out more about the USDA meat grades visit >> The Grading of Beef
