The Scoop On The Cuts

The chuck region of the beef animal accounts for approximately 29% of the hanging weight making it the largest primal cut on the carcass. It offers a little bit of everything, from flavorful steaks and roasts to good ground beef meat. The main muscles the cow uses for locomotion are located in the lower part of this region, by the upper leg or shank. This lower portion is tougher just due to this, so ground beef is recommended here. The rear part of the chuck, just ahead of the rib, is where chuck steaks and roasts come from. Chuck steaks are great on the grill or in the oven, and chuck roasts are ideal for pot cookers, stews or roasting.

The beef shank is located at the upper leg portion of the beef animal just below the chuck. This cut is generally used for ground beef. Great soup and dog bones, with or without meat, are made here. Meaty shank bones are often called osso bucco.

The brisket of the cow lies just below the chuck area. It is utilized as either boneless brisket roasts, stew meat or ground beef

About 10% of the hanging weight, the rib region is delicious! Well finished beef will have a nice collage of intramuscular fat(marbeling) throughout this cut. This fat and tenderness make this meat some of the best on the cow. Your cutting options are Ribeye steaks (bone left on) and Delmonicos (Boneless Ribeye steaks). If you wanted a roast for those special holiday get togethers, nothing beats a Rib Roast! Unfortunately there is only so much rib area on the cow, so the more steaks you want, then the less that will be available for a roast and vice versa.

The “porterhouse” steaks come from the short loin and sirloin region. It is similar to the T-Bone in that one side of the bone attached to Strip and other side is the Tenderloin. What is different however is that as the tenderloin increases in size through the short loin. When you have it cut, choose either the porterhouse steak or split them like a T-Bone into a Strip steak and big tenderloin steak. One option also is to leave the tenderloin whole and cook it as a roast

Although its name suggests otherwise, this cut comes from the Round primal, and is found on the front end of the rear leg. Often fabricated into roasts, which are great when braised, but can also be cut into steaks or used for lean Ground Beef.

The Round is approximately 22% of weight, the very back end of the animal. This section features mostly steaks and roasts. They are the leanest of the cuts and often used for deli meats and jerky. London Broils come out of the Top Round mainly, and Sandwich Steaks( often called Minute Steaks or Rouladen), are thicker slices around 1/8 inch of lunch meat. Very good quality, the butcher can also make kabobs and cube steaks from the region

The flank is located just in front of the bottom round on the cow’s belly. It consists of a long, flat steak that can be left whole and grilled to enjoy. Also, it is a great cut for making fajita meat.

The Skirt steak comes from the short plate region just ahead of the belly on the cow. It is highly segmented and very tender and flavorful. It is a very sought after cut on the beef animal.

• Bulk Hamburger 82% or 90%
• Dog Bones large and small

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