Assistant Meat Manager Public Practice Test

Intramuscular fat, or marbling, is the fat dispersed within the muscle tissue. When beef cooks, this fat melts and distributes between muscle fibers, helping to lubricate them and reduce friction as you chew. That melting fat also adds moisture, so the meat stays juicier, and it contributes to a perception of tenderness. Marbling also enhances flavor, since fat carries and releases savory notes during cooking.

Other fat deposits—fat between muscles, under the skin, or on the outside as a fat cap—do not melt into the muscle in the same way, so they don’t directly improve tenderness and juiciness to the same extent. So the factor most responsible for the tenderness and juiciness associated with marbling is the intramuscular fat.