Parts of A Beef
When left whole, the tenderloin is known as a fillet or a "Chateaubriand". When sliced, it forms various steaks. Those toward the loin end of the piece, when cut into slices one to two inches thick, are known as filets, or filet mignon. Other portions of the tenderloin, when cut into steaks, are typically called tenderloin steaks, not filets. Since it is the least stringy part of the animal, most beef dishes requiring high quality meat, such as steak tartare, are ideally made from the tenderloin. Steak tartare is a meat dish made from finely chopped or ground raw beef. It is often served with onions, capers and seasonings (the latter typically incorporating fresh ground pepper and Worcestershire sauce), and sometimes with a raw egg.
Short loin
This cut yields types of steak like stripsteak (porterhouse, Kansas City Strip, New York Strip) and t-bone (a cut also containing partial meat from the tender loin.) The t-bone also yields bone-in KC Strip steak (this is the t-bone without the tender loin portion.) T-bone and porterhouse steaks are suited to fast, dry heat cooking methods, such as grilling or broiling. Due to their relative lack of collagen, longer cooking times are not necessary to tenderize the meat. Because bone conducts heat, and because of the differences in the two cuts of meat, the meat near the bone will cook more slowly than the rest of the steak, and the tenderloin will tend to reach the desired level of doneness before the strip.
Rib eye (Delmonico steak or Scotch fillet)
When cut into steaks, the rib eye is one of the most popular, juiciest, and expensive steaks on the market. Meat from the rib section is tender and fattier (the meat is said to be "marbled") than other parts of the beef carcass. This extra fat makes rib eye steaks and roasts especially tender and flavorful. The rib eye is sometimes served bone-in, particularly at high-end steakhouses. The extra moisture and fat alongside the bone is said to enhance the flavor, which is rich and somewhat sweet.
Sirloin
Of the steaks typically considered to be premium steaks, the sirloin is the cheapest, because the muscles still do quite a bit of work. The sirloin is actually divided into several types of steak. The top sirloin is the most prized of these. The bottom sirloin is less tender, much larger, and is typically what is offered when one just buys sirloin steaks instead of steaks specifically marked top sirloin. The bottom sirloin in turn connects to the sirloin tip roast, which is generally considered to be a good, if somewhat tough, roast.
Flank
The flank steak's best known application is London Broil - a misnomer, as the dish did not originate in London at all. The popularity of London broil has driven up the price of flank steak over the past few decades, but it is still one of the most affordable steaks on the market. It is substantially tougher than the loin and rib steaks, therefore many flank recipes use marinades or moist cooking methods such as braising.
The French are quite partial to this cut, known as "Bavette". It is quickly seared in a hot pan and eaten rare to maintain its tenderness. Strips of flank steak, known as arrachera, are very popular in Mexican cuisine and may be used to fill tacos, or served in large pieces as a main course. Flank steak used in Mexican cuisine may be tenderized by a marinade, or by mechanical tenderizing, using a machine similar to that used to produce cube steaks.
Flank steak is best when it has a bright, red color. Because it comes from a strong, well-exercised part of the cow, it is best prepared when cut across the grain. Additional tenderness can be added by marinating the meat in a tenderizing liquid, including acids like tomato-based products, lemon juice, wine, vinegar, pineapple or ginger. Because the marinades tend to be tenderizing, flank steak is frequently used in Asian cuisines.
In Chinese markets, the flank steak is often sold as "stir-fried beef" because it is how it is usually prepared. Most stir-fried beef dishes in Cantonese restaurants are prepared with this cut of beef. The meat is first sliced and lightly coated with corn starch and cooking oil before sugar, salt and soy sauce are added to the marination. Other ingredients of the dish are often cooked first. The marinated beef slices are added at last or stir-fried separately in a very hot wok for about 30 seconds. To ensure tenderness, the beef is scooped out of the wok before it is fully cooked because the meat will continue to cook in its own heat on the serving plate. Common mistakes in stir-frying beef are over-cooking and marinating without first coating the beef with oil and starch, both cause loss of moisture and result in dried and tough texture of the meat.
Plate
The plate cut (also known as the short plate) produces types of steak such as the skirt steak. It is typically a cheap, tough, and fatty meat. It is a long, flat cut that is flavorful, but tougher than most other steak cuts. It is the cut of choice for making fajitas ("little belts" or "sashes" in Spanish, grilled meat served on a flour or corn tortilla) and Cornish pasties. Skirt steaks are usually marinated and grilled over high heat. Because of its toughness, skirt steak should be sliced across the grain for serving.
Brisket
Brisket can be cooked many ways. Popular methods in the U.S. Southern States include smoking and marinating the meat and cooking slowly, not directly over the hot coals or wood. Additional basting of the meat is often done during the cooking process. However, most of the tenderness from this normally tougher cut of meat comes from the fat cap often left attached to the brisket. The brisket is almost always placed with the fat on top so that it slowly dissolves down into the meat as it cooks, turning the toughness into juiciness and tenderness rivaling all other cuts. Small amounts of certain woods such as hickory or mesquite are sometimes added to the main heat source, and sometimes they make up all of the heat source, with chefs often prizing characteristics of certain woods. The smoke from these woods and from burnt dripping juices further enhances the flavor. The finished meat is a variation of barbecue. Once finished, pieces of brisket can be returned to the smoker to make burnt ends. In traditional Jewish cooking, brisket is most often braised as a pot roast. Brisket is also the most popular cut for corned beef.
Round
This is a lean cut, and is moderately tough. Lack of fat and marbling does not allow round steak to tenderize quickly, or of its own components. Commonly cooked through slow moist methods including braising in order to tenderize the meat.
Chunk
Chuck steak is a cut of beef and is part of the primal cut known as the chuck. The typical chuck steak is a rectangular cut, about 1" thick and containing parts of the shoulder bones, and is often known as a "7-bone steak". (This is in reference to the shape of the bone, which resembles the numeral '7', not to the number of bones in the cut.) This cut is usually grilled or broiled; a thicker version is sold as a "7-bone roast" or "chuck roast" and is usually cooked with liquid as a pot roast (beef). The bone-in chuck steak or roast is one of the more economical cuts of beef.
Other boneless chuck cuts include the chuck eye (boneless cuts from the center of the roll, sold as Mock Tender Steak or Chuck Tender Steak), chuck fillet (sold as Chuck Eye Steak and Chuck Tender Steak,) cross-rib roast (sold as Cross-Rib Pot Roast, English Roast, or "the bread and butter cut"), top blade steak, under blade steak, shoulder steak and roast, and arm steak and roast. The average meat market cuts thick and thin chuck steaks (often sold as Chuck Steak or Chuck Steak Family Pack) from the neck and shoulder, but some markets also cut it from the center of the cross-rib portion. Short ribs are cut from the lip of the roll.
Some meat markets will sell cross-rib pot roast under the generic name "pot roast." The difference between a pot roast and a cross-rib pot roast is the vertical line of fat separating the two types of chuck meat; the cross-rib pot roast contains the line of fat.
Shank
Like other shank meat, it is tough, dry, and sinewy, so is best when cooked for a long time in moist heat. As it is very lean, it is widely used to prepare very low-fat ground beef, so it is not often seen at retail.
(copied from CM Lifestyle @ CM Lifestyle.blogspot.cm)
Short loin
This cut yields types of steak like stripsteak (porterhouse, Kansas City Strip, New York Strip) and t-bone (a cut also containing partial meat from the tender loin.) The t-bone also yields bone-in KC Strip steak (this is the t-bone without the tender loin portion.) T-bone and porterhouse steaks are suited to fast, dry heat cooking methods, such as grilling or broiling. Due to their relative lack of collagen, longer cooking times are not necessary to tenderize the meat. Because bone conducts heat, and because of the differences in the two cuts of meat, the meat near the bone will cook more slowly than the rest of the steak, and the tenderloin will tend to reach the desired level of doneness before the strip.
Rib eye (Delmonico steak or Scotch fillet)
When cut into steaks, the rib eye is one of the most popular, juiciest, and expensive steaks on the market. Meat from the rib section is tender and fattier (the meat is said to be "marbled") than other parts of the beef carcass. This extra fat makes rib eye steaks and roasts especially tender and flavorful. The rib eye is sometimes served bone-in, particularly at high-end steakhouses. The extra moisture and fat alongside the bone is said to enhance the flavor, which is rich and somewhat sweet.
Sirloin
Of the steaks typically considered to be premium steaks, the sirloin is the cheapest, because the muscles still do quite a bit of work. The sirloin is actually divided into several types of steak. The top sirloin is the most prized of these. The bottom sirloin is less tender, much larger, and is typically what is offered when one just buys sirloin steaks instead of steaks specifically marked top sirloin. The bottom sirloin in turn connects to the sirloin tip roast, which is generally considered to be a good, if somewhat tough, roast.
Flank
The flank steak's best known application is London Broil - a misnomer, as the dish did not originate in London at all. The popularity of London broil has driven up the price of flank steak over the past few decades, but it is still one of the most affordable steaks on the market. It is substantially tougher than the loin and rib steaks, therefore many flank recipes use marinades or moist cooking methods such as braising.
The French are quite partial to this cut, known as "Bavette". It is quickly seared in a hot pan and eaten rare to maintain its tenderness. Strips of flank steak, known as arrachera, are very popular in Mexican cuisine and may be used to fill tacos, or served in large pieces as a main course. Flank steak used in Mexican cuisine may be tenderized by a marinade, or by mechanical tenderizing, using a machine similar to that used to produce cube steaks.
Flank steak is best when it has a bright, red color. Because it comes from a strong, well-exercised part of the cow, it is best prepared when cut across the grain. Additional tenderness can be added by marinating the meat in a tenderizing liquid, including acids like tomato-based products, lemon juice, wine, vinegar, pineapple or ginger. Because the marinades tend to be tenderizing, flank steak is frequently used in Asian cuisines.
In Chinese markets, the flank steak is often sold as "stir-fried beef" because it is how it is usually prepared. Most stir-fried beef dishes in Cantonese restaurants are prepared with this cut of beef. The meat is first sliced and lightly coated with corn starch and cooking oil before sugar, salt and soy sauce are added to the marination. Other ingredients of the dish are often cooked first. The marinated beef slices are added at last or stir-fried separately in a very hot wok for about 30 seconds. To ensure tenderness, the beef is scooped out of the wok before it is fully cooked because the meat will continue to cook in its own heat on the serving plate. Common mistakes in stir-frying beef are over-cooking and marinating without first coating the beef with oil and starch, both cause loss of moisture and result in dried and tough texture of the meat.
Plate
The plate cut (also known as the short plate) produces types of steak such as the skirt steak. It is typically a cheap, tough, and fatty meat. It is a long, flat cut that is flavorful, but tougher than most other steak cuts. It is the cut of choice for making fajitas ("little belts" or "sashes" in Spanish, grilled meat served on a flour or corn tortilla) and Cornish pasties. Skirt steaks are usually marinated and grilled over high heat. Because of its toughness, skirt steak should be sliced across the grain for serving.
Brisket
Brisket can be cooked many ways. Popular methods in the U.S. Southern States include smoking and marinating the meat and cooking slowly, not directly over the hot coals or wood. Additional basting of the meat is often done during the cooking process. However, most of the tenderness from this normally tougher cut of meat comes from the fat cap often left attached to the brisket. The brisket is almost always placed with the fat on top so that it slowly dissolves down into the meat as it cooks, turning the toughness into juiciness and tenderness rivaling all other cuts. Small amounts of certain woods such as hickory or mesquite are sometimes added to the main heat source, and sometimes they make up all of the heat source, with chefs often prizing characteristics of certain woods. The smoke from these woods and from burnt dripping juices further enhances the flavor. The finished meat is a variation of barbecue. Once finished, pieces of brisket can be returned to the smoker to make burnt ends. In traditional Jewish cooking, brisket is most often braised as a pot roast. Brisket is also the most popular cut for corned beef.
Round
This is a lean cut, and is moderately tough. Lack of fat and marbling does not allow round steak to tenderize quickly, or of its own components. Commonly cooked through slow moist methods including braising in order to tenderize the meat.
Chunk
Chuck steak is a cut of beef and is part of the primal cut known as the chuck. The typical chuck steak is a rectangular cut, about 1" thick and containing parts of the shoulder bones, and is often known as a "7-bone steak". (This is in reference to the shape of the bone, which resembles the numeral '7', not to the number of bones in the cut.) This cut is usually grilled or broiled; a thicker version is sold as a "7-bone roast" or "chuck roast" and is usually cooked with liquid as a pot roast (beef). The bone-in chuck steak or roast is one of the more economical cuts of beef.
Other boneless chuck cuts include the chuck eye (boneless cuts from the center of the roll, sold as Mock Tender Steak or Chuck Tender Steak), chuck fillet (sold as Chuck Eye Steak and Chuck Tender Steak,) cross-rib roast (sold as Cross-Rib Pot Roast, English Roast, or "the bread and butter cut"), top blade steak, under blade steak, shoulder steak and roast, and arm steak and roast. The average meat market cuts thick and thin chuck steaks (often sold as Chuck Steak or Chuck Steak Family Pack) from the neck and shoulder, but some markets also cut it from the center of the cross-rib portion. Short ribs are cut from the lip of the roll.
Some meat markets will sell cross-rib pot roast under the generic name "pot roast." The difference between a pot roast and a cross-rib pot roast is the vertical line of fat separating the two types of chuck meat; the cross-rib pot roast contains the line of fat.
Shank
Like other shank meat, it is tough, dry, and sinewy, so is best when cooked for a long time in moist heat. As it is very lean, it is widely used to prepare very low-fat ground beef, so it is not often seen at retail.
(copied from CM Lifestyle @ CM Lifestyle.blogspot.cm)