THIS is the time of year for Christmas prime-stock shows and sales, and most local markets will hold one. Such events are traditionally held in early December to allow beef carcases time to be properly hung so that they are in perfect condition to be enjoyed as a special treat over the festive season. That used to be one of the secrets to good beef - it had to be hung to tenderise - and most reckoned on a minimum of three weeks.

A lot of time and effort goes into bringing out cattle and lambs for these local shows and sales - particularly the cattle. They will have been fed special rations in the right amounts, and at the right stages so that they are neither too fat, nor too thin. It takes a lot of experience and skill to win these fiercely-contested, local shows, and many of the tricks of the trade are carefully guarded secrets, often passed from one generation to the next.

The cattle have to be trained to be led by a halter and to stand in such a way as to show themselves off to the judges. Closer to the day they will have been washed with shampoo and other ingredients that enhance the appearance of their coat, blow- dried, clipped, and groomed to perfection.

On the big day the winner is often the beast with the biggest hindquarters that is most likely to yield the most meat - but that doesn't necessarily mean its beef will be juicy, tasty or tender.

The EU developed the EUROP system of grading beef and lamb carcases based on their shape and fat cover. While it is a good indicator of the likely yield of lean meat, the system tells us nothing about eating quality. The system also worked against traditional breeds like the Aberdeen Angus and favoured continental breeds like Charolais and Limousin.

Expensive cuts of beef that turn out to be tough and a disappointing eating experience are a sure way of driving consumers away to other types of meat.

While toughness increases with the age of the animal at slaughter, it is mainly caused by rigor mortis where the carcase goes stiff shortly after slaughter, and over a period of several weeks becomes less pronounced. The same effect can be observed in fish where freshly caught ones are "stiff as a poker", while those that have been around for a while become "floppy".

Nowadays, to help reduce the effects of rigor mortis, Scottish abattoirs pass a low voltage electrical current through the animal as soon as it has been slaughtered.

Maturing or ageing beef improves its flavour and eating quality. Prior to the development of vacuum packaging, meat was dry-aged, or hung. Dry aging consists of placing unpackaged meat or carcases in a chill under controlled temperature, humidity and airflow. Wet aging is now widely used in commercial beef production and involves the storage of the meat in vacuum packs, usually for seven to 21 days.

The toughness of meat can be determined mechanically by measuring the amount of force required to shear through a piece, but isn't used commercially because it wastes valuable beef. Testing the pH of the carcase is just as reliable a method of predicting tenderness and is widely used in the industry.

Fat cover on the carcase and marbling throughout the meat are also important to impart flavour and juiciness.

With so many factors at play Australia has developed a grading system that predicts how each cut of beef will eat. MSA (Meat Standards Australia) graded beef meets strict criteria developed using eating quality science supported by extensive consumer testing. It is a voluntary scheme and only licensed processors can apply the MSA grading system.

MSA calculates and differentiates on three levels of eating quality for each cut - MSA three star (MSA graded), four star (premium quality) and five star (supreme quality) in conjunction with recommended cooking techniques.

MSA accredited graders, employed by processors, collate information provided by producers, supervise the processing and assess each carcase to determine the MSA grade of the individual cuts.

The sort of things taken into account are breed, sex and age of the animal as well as carcase weight and the hanging method. At a technical level marbling and rib fat are measured, as are pH and meat colour.

It's not a perfect system, but better than anything we have.