A primer on Vegas’ best steaks

Max Jacobson

Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2001 | 8:30 a.m.

Although backyard barbecue season is drawing to a close, it's still a good time to discuss various grades of beef, how they are different and where to buy them.

Most supermarkets sell a grade called Select, which is beef with the least amount of fat marbling, and is either straw or hay fed. The higher grades Choice, Top Choice, and the highest of all, Prime are more generously marbled and available commercially in Las Vegas in several venues.

Some Raley's Supermarkets carry certain Choice cuts. Most of the beef sold at Costco is Choice. Expect to pay a higher price for Choice or Prime, naturally.

Now about those grades. Mary Ryan, director of communications for the California Beef Council in Foster City, Calif., was glad to share some information. She says USDA grading is done visually, and is completely up to the discretion of the individual USDA inspector.

Whether a cut is judged to be Select, Choice, Top Choice or Prime is purely a function of marbling, or, in Ryan's words, "the way fat is distributed in the flesh itself." All the beef is stamped after grading, and selling beef that has not been graded and stamped is illegal. She continued, "Steak tends to be the leaner cuts."

The Beef Council recommends anything from the round or loin, and has what it calls its "skinniest six," which are eye of the round, round tip, top of the round, top loin, tenderloin and sirloin. Those six are, in the view of the beef council, the most desirable for the customers. Take your pick.

Ryan also explained that a steak loses approximately 25 percent of its weight during cooking, and even more if the meat is prepared well-done. Therefore, if a menu advertises a steak as 12 ounces, you get around 9 ounces on the plate. According to Ryan, 9 ounces of cooked Choice sirloin averages around 500 calories. A similar amount of the tenderloin, which is lower in fat, is about the same.

Here are four places to get choice cuts of beef:

Village Meat and Wines

5025 S. Eastern Ave.

This charming gourmet shop sells great steaks at reasonable prices. The shop is run by Tim and Charmayne Jensen, and the beef is either Prime or Top Choice. Jensen gets his meat in boxes marked either Prime of Choice Plus, which guarantees the highest bracket of Choice. Only 2 percent of all beef gets the Prime grade, Jensen is proud to say, and his Prime boneless rib eye, $10.98 per pound, and Prime New York, $12.98 per pound, are beautiful to behold indeed.

"Look here," Jensen said as he prodded a steak with his finger. "Prime meat is firmer, and the marbling is thicker and more visible. That makes the meat softer when cooked, not nearly as chewy. Just remember that the grades have more to do with tenderness than flavor. The flavor is more a function of how the cattle were fed, and how you season the beef when cooking it."

All his Prime meat is aged 21 days before he receives it, which imparts a special flavor to the beef. He also sells Prime tenderloins, half or whole at $14.98 per pound, and a variety of Choice cuts that are 30 to 40 percent less than their Prime equivalents.

Larry's Great Western Meat

420 S. Valley View Blvd.

Likable Larry Hughes has owned his meat shop since 1984, but he had two others in the city previously, including Butcher Boy Meats. All his beef is USDA Choice grain-fed beef, and his is the only store in town that actually sells carcass meat -- meat that is cut to order directly from the hind- or frontquarters.

What's more, he'll sell the whole quarters, some of which weigh up to 200 pounds. The hindquarter, more expensive because it contains the loin and other sought-after cuts, is $1.89 per pound. The front, which contains the prime rib and rib-eye cuts, can be had for $1.39 per pound.

But if you're like most people, you are probably going to want to let Hughes and his staff cut your meat to order. And if you do, you can expect to pay $7.98 per pound for center-cut New York strip, $6.89 per pound for Porterhouse, and prices hardly more expensive than those of Select cuts at supermarkets.

Larry's also smokes its own jerky, and Hughes says he is about to launch his four varieties nationwide.

John Mull's Meats

3730 Thom Blvd.

This north-side butcher shop sells mostly retail to repeat customers. The shop has been here since 1943, and the meats are cut and packaged in front of the customer, according to Manager Chuck Frommer. "We carry both Choice and Prime," Frommer said, "but the availability of Prime is usually around four days." In other words, call in advance, they order it for you, and then you go to have it custom cut and packaged.

Just a few prices include Choice rib eye at $6.98 per pound, Choice Porterhouse at $6.79 per pound, and Prime New York strip at $11.69 per pound. Mull's marinates many meats, and they are popular as well. Marinated Choice ranchera meat, thin flank steak used for carne asada, is $3.89 per pound.

Omaha Steaks

2192 N. Rainbow Blvd., 9815 S. Eastern Ave.

At the high end of the price spectrum is this national mail-order steak source, with two local stores. All this beef is Midwestern corn-fed beef, which some say is the best-tasting beef in the country. The store sells both Top Choice and Prime. The Choice beef is aged 21 days, the Prime, 31 days.

Beef here isn't sold by the pound, but rather in boxes, which hold varying numbers of steaks. The beef is flash-frozen when cut and then vacuum packed. A few prices are as follows: A box of four 7-ounce rib- eye steaks, Top Choice, is $52. A box of two 20-ounce Porterhouses, also Top Choice, is $59. Four 11-ounce Prime New York strips is $119. Six 7-ounce Prime Filet Mignon steaks are also $119.

At those prices, make mine rare.