To cook a great steak, you have to have a good steak to start with and not all steaks are great for grilling. So it all starts with your choice of steak. Get this wrong and you’re off to a bad start.

A great steak starts with a quality piece of meat. But how do you know a good piece of meat from a not so good? How do you get through all that jargon? The variety of steaks to choose from can be very confusing.

I always prefer to get my steak from the butcher. But I know that you may not have one nearby. My second choice is the butcher in the supermarket (many of them have an in house butcher, so check him out). They should be able to give you some great advice, and the meat is usually fresher than the pre packed version. Here are some other tips to help you through the meat language.

What’s in A Cut?

There are lots of different cuts available. The best cuts for grilling are the Rib Eye, T-bone, Porterhouse, Strip Steak and Sirloin. There are of course the Tenderloin cuts that give you your fillet and Chateaubriand. These cuts are very tender but contain very little fat and are not very flavorful, so not good for grilling. The rib eye probably contains the most fat out of the bunch, and is definitely one of the more flavorful cuts.

What Is Marbling?

Marbling is the visible lines of fat that you see going through the meat. The fat is what gives your steak its great flavor. Now of course the more fat you have on your beef, the less healthy it will be. But as long as you don’t over do it, I’m sure its fine. The marbling should be thin lines of fat and should be evenly distributed throughout your steak. Just try to avoid thick marbling, as this will produce a tougher steak.

What Does The Grade Mean?

There are three different grades of beef in the United States: Prime Grade, Choice Grade and Select Grade. Prime the top of the grade and is only a small percentage of beef the beef you will find in the shops. You will mostly see Prime Grade beef in restaurants. Choice and Select are usually the grades that are available in supermarkets or butcher shops. This is the steak you will most likely be grilling with.

So experiment with T-bone, Porterhouse and Strip, in the choice and select range, and you will be well on your way to finding the steak that is best for you and your grill.