Know your cut

In 2017, the North American Meat Institute found that America processed 32.2 million cattle and calves, and produced 26.3 billion pounds of beef.

In fact, Nebraska and Colorado are top beef producing states, alongside Kansas, Texas, California, Wisconsin, Washington and Pennsylvania.

Though many people eat beef on a regular basis, how much does everyone know about what’s on their dinner plate beyond what a recipe might instruct the cook to do?

Here is a quick guide for each cut of beef, where it comes from on cattle and how it is ideally prepared.

The basics

Cattle are broken down into a series of nine “primal” cuts, which are then broken down even further to create specific “sub-primal” cuts of steaks, chops and more.

According to Justin Coats of Grant Packing, it takes somewhere around three hours to break down the whole animal into the different pieces of meat that can be found in stores.

The main categories for beef cuts include chuck, rib, short loin, sirloin, round, shank, brisket, plate and flank.

Each cut comes from a different area on the cattle to produce a unique piece of meat, each requiring different cooking methods to achieve the best texture and flavor.

Some of the parts Grant Packing doesn’t personally process into usable pieces are the stomach, hide, head, bones and fat. Coats said these are taken by an outside company and turned into various products.

Chuck

The chuck cut comes from the neck and shoulder area of cattle, creating cuts perfect for slow cooking and grilling. Chuck cuts are rich, flavorful and good for creating ground beef.

There are many different sub-primal cuts that come from chuck cuts, mainly roasts, steaks and a small variety of ribs.

Blade chuck roasts, cross rib chuck roasts, shoulder roasts, seven bone chuck roasts and country style ribs are all best prepared in a slow cooker.

Blade chuck steaks can also be prepared in a slow cooker, but it is also recommended to grill this beef cut.

Chuck center roasts and chuck eye roasts are suggested to be either slow cooked or roasted.

It is suggested that chuck center steaks, Denver steaks, chuck eye steaks and flat iron steaks should be either grilled, stir-fried or cooked in a skillet for best results.

Shoulder steaks, ranch steaks and top blade steaks should be either grilled or prepared in a skillet.

Petite tender roasts are suggested to be grilled or roasted, while petite tender medallions should be cooked in a skillet.

Short ribs, the final sub-primal cut from chuck cuts, are best prepared roasted or used in a stew.

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