Beef Cuts and a Beef Chart

Original photo for beef cuts diagram is courtesy of Carmelo Mcaiafa, the diagram and overlay by Jeannette Ramirez

It's Tough? It's Tasty
Less Tasty, More Tender

Let's analyze those cuts of beef. What muscles are you using most? A rule of thumb is that the more exercise a muscle gets, the more flavorful it will be - and the tougher. Conversely, muscles rarely used are very tender, but don't have as much flavor - those along the top of the cow's back, for example.

The back legs not only walk, but also twitch off flies and carry more weight - therefore, the front is slightly more tender than the back.
Increasing flavor:

chuck

round

brisket

shank

Here's a fun way to learn which cuts of beef are going to be tough and which are tender.

Now imagine you are a cow, standing up on your hind legs:
From your shoulder to your waist come roasts

if the ribs are cut off, that's a rib roast
if the meat is rolled, that's rolled rib roast
if tied into a circle, that's a crown roast
if nothing is done to it that's a standing rib roast.

Over the last rib at its waist is a very tender prime rib roast. Sometimes these are cut into rib eye steaks. Steaks and roasts coming from the front legs will be smaller in diameter than the back legs - just as your arms are smaller than your legs.
The brisket is the front of its chest to its waist - the brisket has lots of connective tissue and therefore, lots of flavor.
The diaphragm (this lies under your rib cage and you use it to breathe) is as flat as a plate, lies horizontally like a plate on a table, rises and falls with each breath, and so naturally, it's called "plate."
The short ribs lie under the armpits - these are yummy for barbecue.
Below the waist is the loin section. The meat is normally cut into steaks and from the top to the bottom, more tender to tougher - these are club steaks, T-bones, porterhouse steaks, and then sirloin steaks. When I say "top" that mean that means it's closer to the animal's head.
When you see a rump roast, you should be aware that that muscle is used a great deal and it will very likely be tough.
The muscles of the neck, those used in chewing cud in the cheeks, and the muscles of the tail the animal swishes all day beating off flies are all tough but very delicious and prized for making soup.
The area over its belly is called the flank. It gets a lot of use from breathing so it is tasty. Remember to cut AGAINST the grain. Why? It severs more connective tissue, making the slices fork tender instead of tough.
Along the inside of the backbone, is the tenderloin, from which comes the filet mignon. The same thing applies to beef also applies to lamb and pork.
Between the bottom round of the hind shank is meat that is so filled with fibrous connective tissue that you should use it for stew.
Chuck comes from the upper part of the arms, shoulders, the shoulder blades, the back of the neck, and the first few ribs. Chuck is usually made into a pot roast.

Generalities:

Now if you are back down on your hands and feet, pretending to be a cow (charades, anyone?), in general, you get tougher from the top to the bottom and from the front to the back. In fact, a quick and dirty way to think of increasing flavor however, is the same - that is to say, increasing flavor from the top down and from the front to the back.

By the time you get to the top of the legs, which would be your thigh, you're talking about round roasts and come in top, middle, and bottom round.

Joint areas, in general, have a lot of connective tissue (and ligaments) to hang the bones together, and these are best reserved in stews and soups.

That pretty much covers beef cuts.

Buying beef cuts today? Square away the pantry inventory, too.

Timetable For Cooking Roast Beef

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