Today's facepalm moment, Oklahoma State University tries to patent a steak

[DainBramaged]

OSU wants to get meat packers to license the right to produce, sell steaks


Oklahoma State University has “discovered” a new cut of beef that used to be minced for use in burgers, which they are calling the Vegas Strip Steak. The university won't reveal where exactly this steak can be found, because it's trying to patent it.

A combined team at the university's Food and Agricultural Products Centre (FAPC), the Technology Development Centre and university restaurant The Ranchers Club have worked to brand and market the cut of beef.

Meat researcher Tony Mata, said of the mysterious meat: "Initially, the cut was labelled as undervalued. This muscle produces a steak that is on par with, or better than, today's most popular steaks."

Jacob Nelson, a meat processing specialist at FAPC, said, "The department of animal science provided some preliminary objective evaluation of beef steak tenderness attributes." According to the team's analysis (to be taken with a hefty pinch of salt and pepper), their steak is more tender than a butlers' or club steak and doesn't require a long time to age.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/05/oklahoma-state-university-tries-to-patent-a-steak/

Mystery meat, gotta NOT love it....

[snooper2]

1. Just another reason to never let your kids go to school where it's just OK

LOL,

At least you can usually run 85 down 40 no problem so you don't have to be there too long if travelling. Only one stop required, the MickyD's over the interstate

[HopeHoops]

2. Does it have pink slime in it?

[TlalocW]

3. We can put a man on the moon

But we still haven't completely mapped out the cow yet.

TlalocW

[procon]

4. Not 'mystery'... MONEY

Meat is cut according to specific muscle groups. Supermarkets, restaurant chains. packers and meat sellers have always had trademark specialty cuts (like the flatiron steak from U Nebraska) to market their brand image and offer more affordable, and profitable, choices.


Profit is the key word here. Meat packers look for different ways to cut the cheaper, tougher meat cuts that would ordinarily go the grinder, and repurpose it into a more expensive steak to make more money.