What’s so Special About Angus Beef?
Angus conjures up the spirit of quality American beef and is used by restaurants and grocery stores alike to promote their products. When I was a teenager, my favorite food was beef, and my favorite “adult” restaurant was Black Angus, a mid-range steakhouse chain that served a savory steak soup with sweet “molasses bread”, both of which I loved. immensely. The Black Angus menu taught me what “medium-rare” means, and I will forever associate it with bright red meat.
My other memories of Angus have to do with the quizzes my father had in the car every time we drove past a herd of cattle. Given that it is the most common beef cow in the United States, Angus was usually the answer. It was also easiest to spot: these rather small black beef cows are unique, if not visually remarkable. (Do you want to see a wonderful cow? Notice the brahmana or brangus that you get when you breed an angus with a brahmana.) There is also a red angus cow, but it is much less common and is recorded separately. from his cousin in a black coat.
Angus is just a breed of cow, that’s what I’m saying, but that hasn’t stopped food vendors like McDonald’s from sticking the word on a hamburger to make it sound cooler, more sophisticated, and “high quality.” Although I am a big fan of knowing exactly what kind of animal I eat, the word “angus” has nothing to do with the quality of the meat. To do this, you need to look at the USDA quality ratings . (American Angus Associate also has its own ” 10 Quality Specifications ” certification , but that doesn’t stop grocery stores and restaurants from applying Angus to their steaks and hamburgers.)
This is not to say that cows are not special. Although the breed originated in Scotland, the Black Angus is the most popular beef cow in the United States, and for good reason: According to the American Angus Association , “Angus outnumbers all other major beef breeds in marbling. “This is exactly what the association dedicated to one particular breed of cattle, has to say about his beloved cow, but even the Encyclopaedia Britannica notes that this breed has” a compact and low-set body, fine quality meat and a high percentage of the candle, “and that “The Angus is a top-ranked beef breed and for many years purebred or crossbred Angus bulls have taken high pride of place at the leading fat cattle shows in the UK and the United States.” The small black cows are also quite hardy as they were bred to withstand the cold Scottish winters .
But just because a certain breed of cow is capable of producing tender, well-marbled meat, this does not mean that every breeder or farmer who raises Black Angus cattle achieves it. Age, diet and living conditions all affect the tenderness and the amount of intramuscular fat flowing through the steak, and different Angus cows are raised, grazed and finished with different levels of care. So if the next time you go to the grocery store you see a “manager’s special dish” with an “Angus” status, not to mention a chain of cheap burgers promoting their Angus hamburgers, don’t be fooled – the meat is probably was indeed sourced from an Angus cow, but the USDA estimate will be much more helpful when it comes to predicting how good that cow tastes.