All of the different cuts of beef, ways to cook it and variety of ingredients to pair it with present yummy opportunities to make something incredible for dinner.
If there's someone who knows a thing or two about how to plate up some awesome beef, it's Dr. Jennifer Aalhus, a meat scientist who's dedicated over 35 years to the study of meat biochemistry and its production, processing and preparation.
Narcity Canada chatted with Dr. Aalhus to discover what you can do to make any beef dish droolworthy.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Aalhus says, "When it comes to taste, humans like fat…a tastier and more satisfying experience is likely to arise from eating beef with higher fat content (a.k.a. marbling)."
Fats are complex — extensive scientific fields are attempting to understand how they affect nutrition and culinary aspects. Recently retired, Dr. Aalhus spent much of her career running and reporting on meat quality research at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Meat Research Centre in Lacombe, Alberta as Senior Meat Scientist.
Her findings helped provide expertise for cooking guidelines for groups like Canada Beef so that they could share how to best cook beef at home for the most consistently delicious experience.
Her research has led her to believe that if you want beef that's full of flavour and super juicy, watch for marbling in the meat.
"Fat plays an important role in tenderness, juiciness and flavour in cooked beef. As well, fat may play a buffering role in maintaining quality characteristics when cooking to higher degrees of doneness beyond Medium."
While Canadian beef grades are assigned based on a variety of factors related to the tenderness, juiciness and flavour of meat, Dr. Aalhus explains that a primary determinant of these grades is the amount of marbling fat in the muscle.
"It is this fat that melts during cooking, forming channels between the muscle fibres, contributing to a greater perception of tenderness when biting and chewing."
Blind studies have also shown that most Canadians prefer the taste of beef with more marbling fat.
@edward-jenner | Pexels
"As well, fat within the muscle may lubricate the muscle fibres during cooking, stimulating salivary flow during chewing which increases the perception of juiciness," says Dr. Aalhus.
She also gives three other key factors that contribute to enjoyable beef: cut, cooking method and endpoint degree of doneness of your beef.
For example, a lean cut like a tenderloin doesn't have much connective tissue, so grilling it could be a great option. This is a short time, high temperature method of cooking.
At other times (for instance, in a stew), beef with high connective tissue should be cooked for an extended time with moisture included such as in braising, simmering or poaching.
While how you cook depends on those factors of cut, cooking method and endpoint degree of doneness, marbling fat seems to be important regardless of what or how you're serving.
Dr. Aalhus explains that marbling fat acts as a buffer to the toughening of muscle fibres that happens when you increase your meat's endpoint temperature. Basically, if you like your steak well done without it being super chewy, you'll want to look for a cut with more marbling.
Besides the fascinating impact fat has on flavour in beef, Dr. Aalhus believes the most remarkable result she's found in her research is just how complex the development of flavour compounds really is.
"To date our laboratory extraction methods have identified over 100 compounds contributing to beef flavour, yet understanding their formation during cooking and their sensory threshold while eating is still under active investigation."
For example, everyone perceives flavour differently. The number, type or activation of taste receptors on your tongue, odour receptors in your nose and even the weird or heartwarming past associations with different smells might affect what a steak tastes like to you.
"Not everyone likes the same flavours, and we individually like what we like!" says Dr. Aalhus.
@nate_dumlao | Unsplash
Since working so hard to study factors that affect beef quality and providing scientific expertise, Dr. Aalhustruly appreciates the knowledge and labour of all those who are involved in bringing beef to Canadian tables.
She says, "Delivering the best beef to the table combines both culinary art and science, and I am very proud to have been a part of that."
If you're looking to experiment with cooking beef, you can explore over 70 cuts, with info on how to cook each one, along with video-recipes, at the Canadian Beef Information Gateway — and see how the work of Dr. Aalhus is being put to use.
It's time to plan a feast your friends will be raving about.
To learn more about beef, check out Canada Beef's website or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or YouTube.