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The most flavorful and succulent cuts of meat are often the most economical.

Today's cattle are bred to be leaner with less marbling of fat. The meat is trimmed heavily to appeal to the calorie conscious.

Without the natural marbling of fat, lean beef quickly becomes tough and dry if at all overcooked. The solution is to monitor cooking temperatures and times, or to use moist-heat cooking methods, such as braising, on all but the most tender cuts. Wet and dry marinades tenderize and flavor. Brining large pieces of meat with salt and seasonings is a highly successful means of assuring moist and tender results.

Prime beef is highly marbled with fat, usually dry-aged, and comes from young, well-fed cattle. It is sold at a premium price and is most often found in high-end butcher shops and commercial steak houses.

Choice is the highest grade usually found in supermarkets.

Most supermarket beef is graded select with less marbling than prime or choice.

A beef pot roast, slowly cooked and richly flavored, is the perfect example of braising meat with long, slow simmering in an mixture of aromatic vegetables, stock, beer or wine, until fork-tender.

The best cuts of meat for pot roast are from the chuck and rump. Top blade chuck or chuck shoulder usually offer some marbling to contribute to a tender, juicy, and richly flavored roast. A bottom round rump roast is also an excellent choice.

Depending on the size and shape of the roast, cooking time will vary from 2 to 4 hours at the lowest setting on your stovetop. Turn a pot roast about every half hour so that the top does not cook faster than the bottom. Cook the roast in the oven at 250-degrees, and turning is not necessary.

A good test for doneness is to cut two slices from the roast and taste the second slice. The roast is done when it is firm-tender and juicy. If it is still tough and hard, cook a bit longer. Avoid over-cooking so that the meat becomes coarse, dry, and stringy.

The perfect example of less tender beef cooked quickly to delicious tenderness, is Tri-tip, or bottom sirloin butt, cut from the under-side of the sirloin. It weighs between 1 and 3 pounds, is full of rich beef flavor and is as elegant and satisfying as the most flamboyant and expensive cut of beef. A spicy, tenderizing rub, a brief char on the grill, and carving across the grain is all that is needed to produce beef for a barbequed French dip sandwich that is tender, juicy, and almost unbelievably delicious.

Pork, veal, and lamb have the same sad story made flavorful and exciting with braising, marinades and dry rubs, and careful cooking of properly selected cuts.

Recommended cooking times and temperatures are especially important guidelines. They insure success as you pursue new flavors and ways of saving money as you provide best possible meals for your family .

Learn more about this author, Joan Mccord.
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