A fine steak is one of life's easy pleasures, but grilling it to perfection requires a little knowledge and expertise. But once you have got it down, you will be able to grill steaks every bit as good as what you'd get at a high-priced steak house.

Before you fire up that grill, you need to first make sure you are picking the best cut of meat available out there.

Have you ever stood in front of the meat section of your local supermarket figuring out the grades of beef and what they mean? I have, so here's a quick FAQ for you. There are eight beef grades specified by the USDA, four of which are commonly found in the butcher's case. Meat grading is voluntary, but most producers participate for the consumer's benefit. The grades are a good gauge of what you can expect in terms of flavor and tenderness. The grades are based on the age of the animal and the marbling of the meat. Marbling's are these flecks of fat visible in the meat.

Prime Beef
This is the best you can buy. This is so good and has so much marbling only 2 percent of beef earns this title. Most of the stock goes to steakhouses and restaurants but you can sometimes find it at your local butcher. If it's a special occasion, you have to go Prime. It's tough to beat in terms of taste and juiciness. It has become easier to get this for the past couple of years, mainly because the recession has impacted the restaurant business, steakhouses included. This resulted in a supply surplus for this special cut, so on a lot of occasions, you can even buy it now from your neighborhood Costco.

Certified Angus Beef
Although not an official USDA grade, this is reserved for meat which meet strict standards for tenderness, juiciness and flavor. Only 8 percent of beef meets this standard. A lot of people prefer it over other types mainly because the marbling comes close to Prime. It's widely available in the grocery stores and meat counters and is an affordable alternative to Prime.

Choice Beef
This is the most widely available cut and you can consider it as your second choice. The meat comes from fairly young cattle and has moderate to small amounts of marbling. Choice offers good value for those regular grilling occasions.

Select Grade Beef
This cut is cheaper than Choice and is also much leaner. Since the marbling is less, the meat tends to be tougher and has less flavor. It is a good idea to marinate this cut before grilling or you can just go and buy the Choice cut.

Now that you have chosen the cut you like, let me give you a quick note about aging. If you happen to visit this famous steakhouse in New York called Peter Luger, and happen to sample their grilled masterpieces, and you wonder why it taste so much better than your backyard version, one of the major reasons for it is aging. Steak gets better with age. There are two types of aging for beef, dry aging and wet aging. Both types of aging make the cuts more flavorful and tender. In the process of dry aging, beef is hung unwrapped in a refrigerated cooler for 3 to 6 weeks. As you age it, the meat loses up to 10 percent of their weight due to evaporation, resulting in more concentrated flavor. At the same time, the muscles in the meat breaks down making it more tender. Wet aging has a similar storage process except the meat are put in airtight bags so there is no loss of moisture. It's really just personal preference when it comes to wet-aged or dry-aged beef, both enhances the quality of the meat for grilling.

So there you have it, get that prime cut now and start firing up that backyard grill!