Do you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or confused when you come into the store? Do some of our cuts leave you scratching your head wondering where the cut comes from? We get it! We have had to look some up ourselves when first introduced to them. And let's not even discuss the fact that cut names can and will vary from store to store because grocery stores and meat markets can name a cut however it best suits their store! Think NY Strip and KC Strip! They are the same cuts with different names depending on where you are at in the country!
Don't worry though, we have some tricks and tips to help you better understand the different cuts from Beef cattle which we will be covering over the course of the next several weeks here on the blog.
There are eight regions of a cow that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has divided the animal into. These eight regions are called the primal cuts and once you know them, your trips to Golden Belt Beef will make a little more sense.
These eight primal cuts are the Chuck, Rib, Loin (short loin and sirloin), Round, Flank, Short Plate, Brisket and Shank.
The primal cuts are then divided into sub-primal cuts. Sub-primal cuts are cuts of meat which are larger than a steak, roast or other single cut, yet smaller than a whole side of beef. When you purchase your beef from Golden Belt Beef you are purchasing portion cuts of steak, roast, ribs and more.
Primal Cut #1: Chuck
Chuck meat comes from the animals shoulder area. As you can imagine, on a cow, the shoulder is used a lot so this results in this cut being a little bit on the tougher side. Despite it being a tad tough, it is full of flavor and is cut in a variety of ways that allow for lots of options. Golden Belt Beef carries the following cuts from the Chuck Primal Cut:
Flat Iron Steaks
Chuck Roast
Stew Meat
Ground Beef
Denver Steak
Arm Roast
Chuck Eye Steak
Ranch Steak
Short Ribs
Make sure you subscribe to our weekly emails as well as our blog as next week we will be going over the Rib Primal Cut!