Is Beef still popular at the dinner table? Last year alone the US Department of Agriculture reported we consumed approximately 28 billion pounds of it.

The US Department of Agriculture grades retail beef as prime, choice and select based upon the meat’s intramuscular marbling and overall quality. Simply put, the more streaks of fat or marbling, the more flavorful the meat and higher the grade. But in total only about 2 percent of US beef is graded prime.

Dry-aged: Time intensive and more expensive process where beef is removed from package and placed on a shelf in a chilled room with good ventilation and humidity. Typically beef is dry-aged 21-35 days. Moisture evaporates from the muscle, condensing flavor; for example a 20-pound piece of beef will weigh about 16 pounds after 30 days of dry aging and enzymes in the muscle also break down, leaving beef very tender.

Wet-aged: Beef is typically stored in vacuum sealed bags to retain moisture. This takes much less time than dry-aging, typically only several days and no weight is lost in the process.

Grass-fed: Extremely lean, naturally raised beef cattle receive no growth hormones or antibiotics. It takes 16-18 months before they’re fully grown and then they’re moved to a feedlot for 200 days where they’re slowly weaned onto grain.

Grain-fed: These commodity beef cattle are given hormones when young and reach full growth at 8-10 months. They’re then moved to a feedlot for 90 days where they’re weaned directly onto grain and given sub therapeutic levels of antibiotics.

My friend at Montecino & Associates Real Estate raises grass feed beef and its the best beef my family and I have ever had.