A layman looking at a dressed cow carcass might just see a dead cow, or a punching bag. A butcher, however, sees potential, 9 specific areas of potential. The beef cuts on a cow are split up into 9 individual sections called primal cuts of beef. Starting at the rump and working counter clockwise, we have the round, sirloin, flank, plate, brisket, foreshank, chuck, rib, and short loin. These nine primal cuts are primarily divided based on tenderness, and the tenderness of the beef cut ties directly to how much exercise each section got while the animal was alive. A cow works harder in the front around the shoulders than in the rump, or on the back. This is why the front shoulder portion of the animal, the chuck, is a lot tougher, and more muscular that the round, or the coveted short loin, taken from the middle of the back. How the cuts are priced and cooked are also directly correlated with the tenderness. This is why you cook a pricey rack of baby back ribs in dry heat, and let that cheap cut of chuck soak in beef stew. Either way you cut it, they both sound pretty freakin' good to me.
Here's a basic breakdown of the different cuts of beef
The Round - The round primal cut is the butt of the cow. As far as tenderness goes, this section lies about right in the middle. The hind doesn't get as much work as the front portion of the animal, but it's also not nearly as tender and juicy as the loins. On the lower portion of the round, right next to the sweetbreads, you'll find the tip steak, tip roast, and cuts that are perfect for kebabs. The meat in this section is best prepared by broiling, pan frying, or roasting. On the top portion of the round you have top and bottom round steak, heel and eye of round, and rolled rump cuts. You can broil or roast these as well, but I like them juicy and cooked in liquid.
Sirloin - This is where you'll find the pin bone, wedge bone, flat bone, and boneless sirloin steaks. These are pretty lean cuts of beef, but they still remain tender enough to prepare by broiling or pan frying. You'll also find that these cuts are priced right in the middle of the road.
Flank - Nothing too special about flank steak, but it's pretty cheap and you can cook up a lot of different recipes with this cut of beef that rests right over the belly. Flank rolls are pretty good when you let them soak for a while in a nice steak marinade.
The Plate - This is the section where you get skirt and hanger steak, and short ribs. This is a really tough cut of meat, but it's also very flavorful. Meat from this section is best cooked in liquid, but a lot of popular dishes call to cook it very quickly by pan searing, or slowly by braising it. The plate is another primal cut delicious if first prepared in a marinade.
Brisket - This may just be my favorite part of the cow. Beef brisket is pretty tough by itself, grilling it on an open flame, but for my money, there are few dishes that beat slow cooked barbecue beef brisket. Let's also not forget another favorite of mine, corned beef. You can give me corned beef brisket with cabbage, eggs, on rice...with gravy. Brisket is a testament that the beef cut doesn't always have to be expensive to taste fantastic.
Foreshank - For a cheap cut of meat, steer shanks sure can be delicious. You can braise them with wine, pan sear them with garlic and butter, but I think they're best in a good ole' beef stew. Throw them shanks in a pot with some beef broth, carrots, onions, potatoes, and corn...gotta love that cheap front leg cow meat.
Chuck - Though you can grill up some beef chuck like the shoulder clod, and eat it like it is, chuck is one of the leanest cuts of beef, and like the shank, it's best eaten braised or stewed. Chuck is the front shoulder of the cow, which got a whole lot of exercise while the animal was still breathing, making it the most muscular. Like most of the tough cuts we've covered in this post, chuck is best when cooked in liquid.
Rib - Who would have thought that a cut so close to the chuck and the short plate could deliver such an amazingly tender steak? I'll spend $20 on a rib-eye, or as the grocer down the street calls it, a Delmonico, and not think about it - it's worth it. You can get some of the best cuts of beef out of the rib primal section. If you're sitting on a couple pounds of rib steak, don't waste it by throwing it in a stew. Treat it proper and broil, roast, or pan fry that sucker up.
Short loin - This is the all star team of the primal cuts. Sure, you can still find some ground beef and stew meat on the cow's middle back line, but what I'm looking for makes up only about 15% of the animal. I'm the T-bone, porterhouse, and filet mignon. The short loin is the perfect balance, of muscle and fat, making it tender and incredibly flavorful. Roasted tenderloin...if you can put that in front of me right now with the sourcream and horseradish sauce, I'll rob, sleep with, or kill whoever you want.
