The Zen of Beef Cuts

Butcher jargon can be confusing. There are more than 50 different cuts of steak available in the US, and some go by multiple names.

Starting at the front shoulder we encounter the chuck. It has a lot of muscles twisted together and a lot of connective tissue and big hunks of fat. It is great for stews and for grinding into burgers. At the rear of the chuck, where it connects to the rib primal there are about two steaks called chuck eyes that are practically the same as ribeyes, only a lot cheaper.

The best cuts, in my humble opinion, are from the rib primal, the rib roast and the ribeye. They have a perfect balance of muscle and intramuscular fat to produce optimal flavor and juiciness.

The ribs come in two sections, the curved back ribs from near the spine, and the straighter, meatier short plate, or short ribs, from the side.

Just behind the rib primal is the loin, from which we get strip steaks, T-bones, porterhouses, and filets mignon. The porterhouse and T-bone are similar looking steaks with two muscles separated by a bone. One side has a small round muscle, the filet mignon, the most tender meat on the steer, and the other side has the strip steak, also called a shell steak.

Filets are cut from a long baseball bat-shaped muscle (without the handle) called the tenderloin. Sometimes filets are left on the T-shaped bone, sometimes they are removed. Ditto for the strip. The big difference between the porterhouse and T-bone is the amount of filet. Because the T-bone is further to the front of the animal, the filet portion is smaller is smaller because it comes from closer to the handle of the bat.

As we move towards the hind quarters we find the sirloin from which several different muscles are carved, including the tri-tip. The rear hips down to the knee are called the round. The sirloin tends to be leaner than the meat in front of it, a little chewier, but flavorful.

On the underside you find the tough sinewy shanks from the forelegs. The chest area is the brisket, an ornery cut that is used for corned beef and pastrami as well as Texas Brisket. Behind them are a section called short plate with ribs. Behind the ribs are the flank steak and skirt steak, chewy little devils, but when sliced properly they can be flavorful bargains.

Click here for tips on grilling steakhouse quality steaks.

Below are some of my favorite cuts for the grill.

Boneless rib roast. Click for a recipe.	Boneless ribeye. Eye is in center, spinalis on right and bottom.
Bone-in ribeye. Click here for steak cooking tips.	Chuck-eye. Click here for more about the various cuts of chuck steaks.
Eye of ribeye.	Short rib.
Two loin primals with two porterhouses facing us. At the bottom are the filets, on the top are the strips.	Bone-in strip steak.
Round.	Flank steak. Click for a recipe.
Tri-tip.	Whole packer brisket. Click here for my Texas Brisket recipe.

Below is a poster sized pdf of beef cuts with good photos from the Certified Angus Beef Brand with a bit more detail than the above chart. Click on the picture to view and download the complete poster.

The Angus Beef Chart from the American Angus Association below is a good simple overview of the major beef cuts. Click on the picture to see the full pdf and download it.

The six page pdf booklet below is excerpted from the Handbook of Australian Meat Reference. It is a superbly illustrated guide. A few of the cuts and nomenclature are a bit different in Australia, but it is still an excellent reference. Click on the picture to view or download the whole thing.

The most definitive reference on all the different cuts of meat in the US, with charts, excellent photos, a glossary, and nutritional info, is the book The Meat Buyers Guide: Meat, Lamb, Veal, Pork and Poultry by NAMP (North American Meat Processors Association).

This page was revised 6/27/2010