DENVER -- There is nothing like a truly great beef steak; tender, juicy, bursting with flavor and supremely satisfying, it's the ultimate meal! But not all steaks are created equal. What makes a steak tender? What makes it juicy? What makes it flavorful? Why is there such a big difference in price? All very good questions!

There are no secrets or tricks; great beef is a result of good genetics, excellent animal husbandry, high quality feed, extended time in the feedlot, and long-term aging. The USDA Grading Test measures beef's potential quality, assigning each carcass a USDA Grade. USDA Prime is the highest quality grade, followed by Premium Choice (a sub-category of USDA Choice), Standard Choice is the middle grade, and Select is the lowest grade.

The key factor to a high USDA Grade is internal marbling, those thin lines of fat that streak the center of steaks. It's internal marbling that makes a steak flavorful and juicy -- and the more, the better! Marbling is developed in the feedlot; unfortunately, record demand for beef has significantly shortened the time most beef spends in the feedlot, creating a real shortage of high-grade beef in today's marketplace.

The butcher can further enhance tenderness and flavor of quality beef by extended aging -- that is hanging sides or primal cuts in a cooler for three to four weeks before cutting. During aging, natural enzymes work to tenderize as they enhance and mature flavor. Due to the extra cost, the extended aging of beef is rare these days and often misrepresented.

This week's food page is dedicated to making you a steak expert. I've detailed four key factors to great steak below; understand them and you'll know how to get a great steak in a steakhouse and at home.

Steak Cuts

Each cut has it's own unique texture and flavor; they also vary in size, price and tenderness.

Rib Steak -- Thanks to abundant marbling, the rib steak is the juiciest and most flavorful of all steaks. Exceptionally tender, it's available bone in or boneless (rib eye). Steaks from the 'large end' of the rib are the highest in marbling and a real prize for the lover of juicy steak.

Tenderloin or filet mignon is beef's most tender cut, and with only 6-8 pounds per steer, it's also the most expensive. Slender, irregularly shaped, and completely encased in gristle and fat, they require special care from the butcher. Filets are often wrapped in bacon to make up for their lower fat level.

Strip Steaks are boneless, medium to well marbled, and easy to carve. Juicy, flavorful and tender, strip steaks are one of beef's most popular cuts.

T-bone On one side of the T-shaped bone is the tenderloin, and on the other, the strip steak -- but cooked with the bone, this steak is more than simply the sum of its parts! Large in size (1-2 pounds), tender, juicy and flavorful; the T-bone is a first-class steak.

Sirloin lacks the marbling and tenderness of other quality cuts, but it's fine flavor and low price makes it a particularly good value. Large in size (from 1-2 pounds), moderate in price and usually boneless, sirloin steak is a fine choice for the budget-minded.

Beef Grades

The United States Department of Agriculture offers an optional Grading Inspection that assesses potential quality. Inspectors evaluate size, animal age, color and most importantly, fat marbling; then assign the appropriate USDA Grade.

USDA Prime offers abundant marbling and the greatest potential to yield juicy and tender steaks. Only 2 percent of all beef can meet the stringent standards for the Prime grade, making it more expensive and relatively rare. USDA Prime steaks are the most juicy and flavorful of all steaks.

USDA Choice grade is also of high quality, but has less marbling than Prime. This grade represents a wide range of marbling levels from slight to abundant, generally producing steaks that are tender, juicy and flavorful.

Premium Choice is a sub category representing roughly the top 18 percent of USDA Choice beef, or those with the most abundant marbling. Very close to Prime grade, Premium Choice beef is of exceptional quality.

USDA Select has the lowest level of internal marbling and lacks the juiciness and flavor of higher graded beef. Only the most tender of USDA Select cuts should be cooked with dry heat. Select is the least expensive grade of quality beef.

Standard and Commercial grades are frequently sold as non-graded or store brand meats.

Note: The term organic is not a grade or measurement of quality and has no bearing on taste, juiciness or tenderness.

Extended Aging

Butchers and chefs have long known that aging sides or primal cuts of beef for three to four weeks can dramatically improve both tenderness and flavor. During aging, the muscles own enzymes are the principal elements of change, breaking down tissue as they enhance and mature flavors.

Aging beef is an expensive step because in the process valuable weight is lost to evaporation and additional trimming. In today's price conscious market, the extended aging of beef is rare and often misrepresented.

Aged beef exhibits visual clues that the savvy buyer can identify. While fresh cuts of beef are a very bright red, shiny and wet looking, aged cuts have a duller appearance, lacking that moist, wet shine on the surface. Some cuts will even have a dark edge. Once the steaks are cut, aging stops and spoilage begins so you cannot age a steak in your refrigerator.

Cooking Beef Steaks

Use 'Dry' Heat
Dry heat from a grill is clearly the best way to cook quality beefsteaks. Hot, dry heat has a searing effect, evaporating excess liquids as it browns, this is very important with steak. If the heat is not high enough, the steaks stew in their own juices, great for a chuck roast but ruinous to steak.

Allow Steaks to Rest
Once removed from the grill, a steak or roast continues to cook, rising in internal temperature from 10 to 15 degrees -- this is called carryover cooking. Resting your steak after grilling takes advantage or carryover cooking, allowing cooking to finish and internal juices to settle. To serve a juicy steak at medium rare to medium, remove it from the grill at approximately rare to medium rare. Place on a plate, cover with foil and rest for ten minutes before slicing and serving.

Don't Pierce a Steak
Poking a steak with a mechanical tenderizer or a fork allows valuable juices to escape during cooking, robbing a steak of juiciness and flavor. Never poke your steak before cooking, pierce with a fork to turn, or cut into it to see if it is done.

Finger Poking to Perfection
Professional chefs usually rely on a practiced sense of feel to judge a steak's doneness. Try it; with practice you'll be able to judge a steak quickly and accurately. Poke the steak with your finger from time to time as it cooks; the more it done it is, the firmer it becomes.

How to get those perfect Grill Marks
Preheat gas grill on highest setting. Once your grill is good and hot, brush the grate clean with a grill brush.

With your grill as hot as possible, place steaks on cooking grate evenly spaced, close lid and LEAVE THEM ALONE! If temperatures are right, your steaks should develop dark brown grill lines in approximately three minutes. Rotate 45 to 90 degrees, but do not turn over, placing them on a new, hot part of the grate. Close lid for another two to three minutes.

Turn steaks over and repeat. For thicker or more well done steaks, reduce grill temperature after browning the first side so the second side doesn't burn before the steaks are done to your liking. Rest and serve with grilled crosshatch pattern facing up.

Mick's Best Buy Wine Picks To Go With Steaks
In Australia, woop woop means not nearby, remote even. This winemaker went well outside his normal boundaries in choosing the grapes for these wines.

Woop Woop Verdelho, $12, is a tasty white wine offering a refreshing mouthful of happy fruit flavors that work quite nicely with steak, especially with lots of garlic, pepper or even steak sauce. Chill it down and make your friends smile with just about anything off the barbie. Blimey, it's a smashing quaff even without food!

Woop Woop Shiraz, $12. Extremely easy to drink, this wine embraces with rich, jammy flavors of plum, berry and cola. With a smart, cleansing acidity and soft tannins, this Shiraz is bloody good choice for grilled steak. Woop Woop -- enjoy enjoy!