Best beef cuts and best steaks to buy

Best beef cuts and best steaks to buy
10 July 2018

Of the 15 grades of beef, only 3 are sold in grocery markets: 
1. prime (the best),
2. choice (used in medium-priced steak houses like Outback and sold at Costco and a growing list of grocery stores, and:
3. select (from older or sick cows, used in cheaper restaurants like Dennys and IHOP, and which accounts for most beef sold in grocery stores).

Best cuts of steak
1. ribeye
2. porterhouse (the first four ribs of T-bone)
3. T-bone
4. tenderloin (most tender cut, but lacks flavor due to lack of fat marbling)
5. flat iron (also called shoulder steak and blade steak; it comes from the chuck (or shoulder) section and is the second most tender cut of beef. Like the tenderloin, it lacks fat and thus lacks flavor but is very good for making steak with sauces)
6. Tri-tip
7. sirloin (for decades was marketed as THE best cut to get, pulling the wool over most consumer's eyes, who did not realize their perception was shaped by advertising). Sirloin can still be excellent if prime, corn-fed, and well-marbled.

Note: Ironically, while sirloin was held up on a pedestal for decades, ribeye was priced very cheaply in restaurants and stores; only in recent years has the truth caught up with most consumers, and the prices for ribeye has sky-rocketed because of demand, while sirloin prices have plummeted.

Best cuts for Pot Roast
THESE TWO ARE A TIE TILL WE FACE THEM OFF:
1 tie. chuck center roast - best, says one butcher
1 tie. cross rib chuck roast (called "Shoulder" in the
Eastern U.S.) - best, says another butcher
3. sirloin tip
TOUGHER:
4. eye of rib
5. Round Rump Roast, or "Rump Roast," which many folks believe is the best cut, is too lean, say butchers we've talked with. "It's a cross between eye of rib and chuck," says one butcher we spoke with.
6. chuck roast
  For Beef Ribs, back ribs are the best.