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Upper Prime Q&A

You’re likely familiar with USDA grades - I’d venture to guess that people on a Holy Grail steak quest know the Prime, Choice, Select and gasp…anything else. But I routinely get questions about how one cut from Prime will have relatively little marbling compared to other cuts. So today - answers to your common Prime questions. 

Does grade matter across the board for all cuts? In many respects, yes, and in some others not as much. The base grade for the entire head of cattle is measured at one place in the ribs. But keep in mind - as we constantly discuss - the beef is only as good as it was raised. Holy Grail's Upper Prime program is only possible through the incredible care, attention to detail, and exhaustive resources our partners consistently deliver. So will your Prime teres major have more marbling than the top end of Choice? Likely not as it’s not that marbled of a cut, but you can rest assured that the more you know about what went into raising cattle, the better your steak is going to be. And you simply can’t get to Prime, let alone Upper Prime, without having an incredible program from start to finish. 

What is Upper Prime? For American Angus, this is the top end of marbling that is generally reserved for high end steak houses (and obviously, purveyors like Holy Grail Steak Co.) The differences can be subtle in some cuts - but having all the marbling possible in a ribeye is the quintessential American steak experience. 

Does Holy Grail ever offer steaks that aren’t Prime? Certainly we do. First off, international steaks are graded on a completely different scale. But for domestic products, we hold the idea of ‘Your steak is only as good as it was raised’ very seriously. But for us to carry a traditional angus product that didn’t grade out at the top end of Prime is pretty rare. 

Got a steak question? Feel free to shoot them over to us and we’ll get them answered - you might even find your question in one of our emails. If you want to learn more about this exceptional program you can visit our Art of Steak Blog.  For those curious about tasting the incredible steaks from our Upper Prime program hit the Shop Now button and experience it for yourself!