How To Tell If You're Eating A Cheap Vs. An Expensive Steak

The popularity of steak and steakhouses in our modern world might lead you to believe that steak is a modern food, but it's actually been around since at least the mid-15th century when the words "steik," "stickna," and "steikja" were used to describe thick cuts of meat. It's likely that even before that time the food was being eaten — if called by a different name. Still, for a food that's been around for so long, steak is a favorite among people who eat meat. 

Despite steak's longevity and preferred status over other types of meat, the average person doesn't really understand what constitutes a cheap versus an expensive steak, other than the price they see at the butcher, grocery store, or on a restaurant menu. Whether it's a particular cut of steak, a particular type of cow, the aging process, the USDA rating, or something altogether different, we're here to break down how to tell whether the steak you're eating is a cheap or expensive one, based on more than just the price you've been given. 

One thing that many expensive steaks have in common is that they're tender. When you eat a steak, you don't want to have to chew it for ages. It's why "melts in your mouth" is such a successful marketing tactic when it comes to steak. That's what we want in an expensive steak, something that is tender, succulent, and a delight to eat. 

It is certainly possible to tenderize a steak using a marinade, the most naturally tender cuts on a cow tend to come from the rib and loin, so T-bone, porterhouse, filet mignon, tenderloin, and ribeye all fall in that category. They're expensive because of that natural tenderness and because they account for so little of the cow in the grand scheme of things. Butchers hike up the price on these cuts both because consumers are willing to pay for it and because they'd otherwise lose money on the rest of the cow that isn't so naturally tender and delicious. 

While collagen in steak is a sign of muscle use and can be broken down with a marinade or with certain cooking methods, there's another type of connective tissue in steak that can't be broken down no matter how long you marinate your steak and that's elastin, also called gristle or cartilage. 

Because elastin is a connective tissue that helps muscle and bone work together, it is found more frequently in the same muscles that are high in collagen — those that are weight-bearing and predominantly used for movement. So, while you (or a restaurant chef) may be able to reduce the amount of collagen in a steak (making it more tender), there's not a lot that can be done about gristle other than cutting it out. So, if you're finding a lot of gristle in your otherwise tender steak it's a sure sign you've got a cheap cut that's been tenderized after the fact.

Unlike factory farmed beef cattle, grass-fed beef comes from cows that spend their entire lives foraging on grass and other plants. This process, while leading to overall healthier meat that is higher in vitamins and antioxidants than factory-farmed beef, takes a longer time to fatten up the cows enough to get them ready for slaughter. That means it costs more to produce and therefore also costs you more in the grocery store or at the butcher. 

Interestingly, however, while tenderness is one sign of a more expensive steak, grass-fed beef tends to have less marbling, a gamier flavor, and overall be a bit less tender, helping to underscore why tenderness isn't the only factor when it comes to cheap versus expensive steak. Restaurant menus, grocers, and butchers tend to highlight when their beef is grass-fed, making it obvious that it's more expensive. But, if your steak seems particularly lean and has that gamier flavor, chances are it'll be on the more expensive side (even without the grass-fed label). 

Most beef in the United States gets a USDA rating or grade related to the quality of the beef. This is one quick and easy way to tell if the steak you're looking to buy is an expensive or cheap steak. The rating system is standardized and takes into account the age of the cow at the time of slaughter as well as the amount of marbling in any given cut. Three ratings you might see displayed at your local butcher or grocery store are prime, choice, and select. 

Prime beef is the highest quality (and most expensive), with the most marbling and typically younger age. It's typically sold primarily to restaurants and hotels rather than to the everyday consumer, so you might have a hard time finding it for yourself. Choice beef is also considered high quality but has less marbling than prime beef. Select beef is leaner than either prime or choice beef (and therefore not as tender) but is of higher quality than what is termed standard beef. Standard beef is what you might see at a grocery store without one of the USDA grade shields and has minimal marbling and may come from an older cow. 

If Wagyu is a particular kind of (expensive) Japanese beef, how does American Wagyu figure in to the equation? Two factors are typically at play when it comes to American Wagyu: export and cross-breeding. American Wagyu is very often a combination of American Angus cattle and Japanese Wagyu. Because of the mixed breed, the beef isn't quite as uniformly marbled and doesn't have the same level of umami as true Wagyu beef from Japan. Instead, it has what is considered a more robust beefy flavor that's more typical of American beef and isn't so rich that you can't eat a whole steak. 

American Wagyu is also fed for a shorter period of time than Japanese Wagyu – though still much longer than typical American cattle — so it is not as costly to raise as Japanese Wagyu. While it's a little less expensive than its Japanese cousin because of these factors, it still sits squarely in the category of expensive steaks in the United States.

While the highest graded beef in restaurants, hotels, butcher shops, and grocery stores in the United States also comes from younger cattle, there's a different kind of age that impacts a steak's price and it comes in the form of dry aging. Essentially, dry aging beef is a process of controlled rot or decay after a cow has been slaughtered. Just like aged cheese and fermented foods, aged beef is exposed to factors that control the decay process of the meat to help elicit specific flavors and characteristics. 

In short, it gets moldy, but it's the good kind of mold (like in your blue cheese), not the bad kind of mold. It also loses a lot of its moisture, which helps to concentrate the flavor of the beef. Think of it like making a reduction. As the moisture evaporates, the flavor is concentrated. It works the same way with dry aging. In addition to the flavor, the controlled decay also leads to more tender meat. Because the process takes some time and skill (particularly cutting the mold off at the end so that what you're left with is delicious meat), it's also expensive.