Premium beef, in some regards, is like a good bottle of red wine. The raw material needs to be excellent to start with and then it needs to be handled and aged well. (And then, even after all of that, it's not always perfect). So, at our factory at Yatala, we bring in some of the best beef from around Australia and after selecting different styles, I then like to age the beef at 2 degrees celsius for a minimum 2 months and to a maximum of 5 months.

To age the beef for this long can only be achieved with beef sourced from a small number of suppliers Australia wide as the vacuum packaging has to hold its seal and not let any air in. Although there are probably over 200 Beef suppliers Australia wide, I will accept beef for ageing from about 6 suppliers for Super Butcher stores(and a couple of top restaurants).

In contrast, did you know that nearly every supermarket chain and butcher shop in Australia wants their vacuum packed beef to be delivered to them with less than 21 days of age? This is because they don’t have the storage space or the time to be checking seals on bags, thus they want to use the beef as quickly as possible.

It then doesn’t help that they predominantly buy the lower graded product (such as "budget" and "economy"). To put this into perspective, it’s like buying a low grade cask red wine just 21 days after pressing the grapes.

Unfortunately, you have probably heard that in Australia we export our best beef (generally to Japan and Korea) and our worst beef (to the USA for hamburgers) and then consume the middle of the road beef here. To make matters worse, Queensland generally purchases the lower end of the scale in beef quality and cuts. As a rule of thumb, the further South you go, the better the beef eating quality is. So Sydney wholesalers generally buy better beef than those in Queensland and Melbourne wholesalers buy better quality beef than Sydney.

Did you also know that in Queensland our favourite cut of beef is rump, in NSW it is scotch fillet and in Victoria it is porterhouse?

DID YOU KNOW?

• Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa are the only countries in the world which consider rump to be a premium steak cut?

• Did you know that in most Asian nations, chicken thigh fillet is more expensive than breast fillet?

• That there are approximately 10 grades of beef in Australia?

       Grades of Beef- from best to worst

                 10.   Wagyu Marble Score 9-12 - as scarce as hens' teeth, loin cuts                       cost about $100kg)

9.   Wagyu Marble Score- 6-8 -exceptionally high grade, probably as good as you can get on a consistent basis in Australia- loin cuts cost about $50kg  

8.   Wagyu  Marble Score 4-5 - general wagyu grade being sold in Australia today as overseas markets are paying so much money for it

7.   Wagyu Marble Score 1-3/150 Day-200 Day Grainfed/High Grade MSA – This beef's destination is the HIGH END export markets that don’t require wagyu.

6.  Super Premium and/or 100 day Grainfed-  basic          premium export that is not normally sold in Australia-Super Butcher basic level

5.   Supermarket 1^st Grade/ Premium Grass-fed/70 Day Grainfed/Premium Butcher 1^st Grade- Super Butcher entry

4.  General Grass-fed Yearling- General Butcher Shop Grade

3.  Economy Grade- Woolworths Base Grade

2.  Budget Grade- Coles Supermarket Base Grade/Bulk Butcher Grade

1.  Manufacturing Grade- Bulk Cheap Butchers / Some IGA’s

Most beef in Australia is sold from Grade 1 through 5.

	> Beef after ageing for 2- 5months
	> Pork after ageing for 2-3 weeks
	> Lamb within 7 days
	> Chicken within 5 days.

• The cheapest beef cuts (gravy beef, chuck) are actually better than the dearer beef cuts for stewing and casseroling.
• 8 yearsago, USA pork ribs were the cheapest cut on a pig ($5_kg) and it is now the 2nd most expensive behind eye fillet. ($12 kg)
• The top 5 most expensive cuts of beef consumed in Korea are not even sold in a typical Australian butcher shop.
• For 6 months of the year, a grainfed tongue is worth more than eye fillet if it is exported to Japan. (Approx $30kg-$40kg). This is used in Japan for BBQ.
• That for 6 months of the year a piece of the tripe (stomach) known as the Mountain Chain Tripe is worth more than Eye Fillet (approx $30kg- $40kg). This is used in Japan for BBQ.
• Japan and Korea still consider many other parts of the offal to be more highly valued than traditional Australian cuts.
• The most preferred cut eaten by people within the industry is scotch fillet or porterhouse.
• The most preferred cut eaten in a restaurant is eye fillet.
• The most preferred cut of beef eaten at home is mince.