Understanding Beef
The Definition of Beef Meat from domesticated cattle Most of the meat Canadians eat comes from steers or heifers specifically raised for beef Typical carcass weighs between 500-800lbs (225-360kg) Cattle is the collective name for all domesticated oxen (genus Bos)
Cattle Classification Bulls: male cattle, usually not raised to be eaten Calves: young cow or bull, prized for their tender meat Cows: female cattle after their first calving Heifers: young cow or cows before their first calving Stags: male cattle castrated after maturity Steers: Steers are castrated prior to maturity and specifically raised for beef
Primal Cuts After being split into sides, the steer is broken into quarters This split happens between the 12th and 13th rib The forequarter contains square chuck, point brisket, rib, and plate The hindquarter contains the short loin, sirloin, flank and the hip (round)
Skeletal Structure of a Steer
Primal Cuts of Beef
Primal Cuts of Beef Square Chuck This is the shoulder of the steer, it makes up 28% of the total carcass weight It contains ribs 1 through 5 It is very high in connective tissue which makes it very tough but flavorful, it benefits from low, long moist heat cooking Some of the sub-primals include the shoulder clod, chuck roll, chuck tender, stew meat and ground meat
Primal Cuts of Beef
Primal Cuts of Beef
Primal Cuts of Beef Point Brisket and Shank This lies beneath the chuck and is 8% of the total carcass weight It is very tough and contains intramuscular and subcutaneous fat; moist heat must be used If brisket is pickled/corned it is corned beef, if it is cured and peppered it is pastrami Fore shank is high in collagen and is good for soups, stocks and ground for consume
Primal Cuts of Beef
Primal Cuts of Beef
Primal Cuts of Beef Rib The rib makes up 10% of the carcass weight and contains ribs 6 through 12 It is best known for the Prime Rib Roast The eye meat is very tender with rich marbling The roast can be boneless to produce rib eye roast, or it can be cut into rib eye steaks The ribs can be used for BBQ beef back ribs, and if the ends are trimmed off they are beef short ribs *as with any ribs, they must be cooked using moist heat
Primal Cuts of Beef
Primal Cuts of Beef
Primal Cuts of Beef Plate Located under the rib, it makes up 9% of the carcass weight Some of the sub primals include short ribs and skirt steak The ribs are high in connective tissue and must be cooked use moist heat methods Skirt steak is full of flavor but not very tender, therefor it is cooked quickly and sliced thinly
Primal Cuts of Beef
Primal Cuts of Beef
Primal Cuts of Beef Short Loin Although it is a small primal, only 8% of the carcass weight, it contains the most tender and most expensive sub primals It contains the 13th rib A cross section gives the club steak which has no tenderloin, further down is T-bone steak which has some tenderloin and striploin, further along is porterhouse which has more tenderloin and more striploin If striploin is boned out, it can be cut into steaks called striploin or New York Steaks
Primal Cuts of Beef If the tenderloin is boned out, it can create the chateaubriand, filet mignon or tournadoes The butt tenderloin is in the sirloin primal, so if you want the whole tenderloin, it must be boned out before separating the shortloin from the sirloin
Primal Cuts of Beef
Primal Cuts of Beef
Primal Cuts of Beef Sirloin Accounts of only 7% of total carcass weight It can produce bone in and boneless roasts Except for the tenderloin portion, it is not as tender as the shortloin Some of the cuts include the flap, the ball tip, tri tip, tenderloin roll *The shortloin + sirloin = longloin
Primal Cuts of Beef
Primal Cuts of Beef
Primal Cuts of Beef Flank Only makes up 6% of carcass weight and has no bones It is a very flavorful cut, but is tough and fatty It can be trimmed and used to make ground beef, or it can be seared, served rare, cut thinly across the grain to make London Broil
Primal Cuts of Beef
Primal Cuts of Beef
Inspection and Grading Primal Cuts of Beef Inspection and Grading Hip This is the largest primal being 24% of the carcass weight (app 200lbs) The flavor of the primal is good, and it is ‘fairly’ tender It can be broken down into the inside round, outside flat, eye of round (outside flat + eye of round = bottom round), the knuckle and the shank
Primal Cuts of Beef Cross Cut of Muscles in a Whole Round
Primal Cuts of Beef
Primal Cuts of Beef