Jarret Hughes has held numerous cooking positions at cafes, diners, and family restaurants. He takes a "keep it simple" attitude toward cooking, preferring olive oil to truffle oil. Jarret strives to inform readers about the history of various foods while offering professional advice regarding food purchase and preparation.

Carcasses were hanging everywhere. Big steel hooks were driven through the legs and the bodies swayed back and forth. The room was cold and damp. Large gray barrels filled with innards lined the walls. Several people in blood stained clothes scurried around with saws and knives of all sizes. I couldnt wait to sink my teeth into the fresh meat they were hacking away at.

I was twelve years old and it was my first trip to the meat processing plant with my grandfather. My grandfather was a small town butcher who cared about quality. Thats why he visited the meat plant at least a couple of time per year, even though the plant made regular deliveries to his butcher store. He walked around the plant and inspected the machinery and the employees. He wanted to make sure he knew where his sides of beef were coming from. It was from these large pieces of beef that he would create beautiful steaks and roasts for the community.

But why should you bother reading an article about different cuts of beef? First, one part of the cow can have a drastically different taste and/or texture than another part of the cow. Second, have you ever stood in front of the meat case for what seems like forever trying to decide which steak or roast will be the most tender and/or most flavorful? Dont be embarrassed to admit it. Most of us have done the exact same thing! The same thing can even happen when we look at the numerous menu items at our favorite steakhouses. Hopefully, this will help you to make informed choices the next time you go out for a steak dinner or purchase beef to cook at home. Lets start at the top by looking at the composition of beef.

Composition of Beef:

A cows muscle tissue is basically comprised of three things: water (75%), protein (20%), and fat (5%). Nutritionally speaking, beef contains an insignificant amount of carbohydrates.

Muscle fibers play a big role in the texture and tenderness of beef. The more connective tissue that is present in the muscle fiber, the tougher the beef will be. Beef is high in connective tissue if it comes from a part of the animal that is exercised often (such as the legs). Older animals also have more connective tissue than younger ones (think veal). The good news is that even a tough piece of beef can be made more tender if cooked properly. Slow, wet cooking is required for beef that is high in connective tissue. Conversely, beef that is low in connective tissue can be cooked over high heat for short amounts of time and still remain tender. These pieces of beef can be found in the parts of the animal that are not exercised as often (e.g., around the rib area).

Cuts of Beef:

There are four stages in the beef cutting process: carcass, partial carcass (sides and quarters), primal cuts (a.k.a. wholesale cuts), and fabricated cuts. Im not going to talk too much about the carcass and partial carcass stages because, unless you are a butcher, you will never see beef when it is in such a large chunk.

     
When your local butcher or grocery store gets their beef, it is usually in the partial carcass state. The butcher then cuts the carcass into the eight basic primal cuts: loin (includes both the short loin and sirloin), rib, round, chuck, flank, short plate, brisket, and shank.

Unless you purchase your meat wholesale, you are unlikely to come across a whole primal cut of beef. The eight primal cuts are cut down further into the smaller cuts we are used to seeing in the meat market or grocery store. These are called fabricated cuts. The following table summarizes some of the common fabricated cuts that are obtained from the primal cuts. Note that the primal cuts are listed in order of tenderness, starting with the most tender cut (short loin).

When possible, select steaks that have a good amount of marbling running through them. If you are concerned about fat intake, look for one that has little or no marbling. Just realize that you are giving up flavor for leaner meat.

Finally, dont be afraid to talk to your butcher (even at grocery stores). Let him or her know what you are looking for and they will usually be more than willing to help you select the best piece of meat.