{"id":1993,"date":"2024-12-16T14:09:38","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T20:09:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.clovermeadowsbeef.com\/?p=1993"},"modified":"2025-06-09T10:07:50","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T15:07:50","slug":"cuts-of-beef","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clovermeadowsbeef.com\/cuts-of-beef\/","title":{"rendered":"A Cook’s Guide to All Cuts of Beef & How to Cook"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The meat counter doesn’t have to be intimidating or confusing! This post will explain everything you need to know about cuts of beef and how to cook each one. <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Have you ever been confused shopping for cuts of beef? I have (shhh! don’t tell!). The good news is once I married a cattleman, and I “had” to learn the different beef cuts, I discovered it’s very easy to understand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This post will explain everything you need to know about cuts of beef and how to cook each one.   So, the next time you stand at the meat counter looking at a strip, filet, sirloin, porterhouse, and T-bone steak, you can be confident in your selection and how you cook it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important to know that the beginning of this post may sound a little like an anatomy lesson. I apologize in advance! But, please stay with me! The anatomy of the cow is important because it directly correlates to the tenderness of the beef cut. The best rule of thumb to remember is that beef becomes more tender as the distance from horn to hoof increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The parts of the cow that has moved a lot and done more of the work are tougher with more defined muscles. Tougher beef cuts, such as those from the shoulder blade, are best slow cooking with liquid added to help break down the tougher muscle fibers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The muscles that don\u2019t do a lot of work (located in the top center of the animal) are the most tender cuts of beef, and more expensive. It\u2019s from this area that you get your favorite individual steaks like T-bones, strips, ribeye and filet mignon steaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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What are the basic beef cuts?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When a cow is slaughtered, it is split lengthwise into two halves and are then broken down into eight large sections called primal beef cuts. Then, it\u2019s cut into subprimal cuts, also sometimes called \u201cfood service cuts\u201d. At this point, it\u2019s typically shipped to a butcher shop or grocery store for the final cuts. Retail (or portion) cuts are consumer-sized steaks, ribs and roast that you purchase when the butcher cuts the beef.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eight primal cut names should sound very familiar to you since they are an essential component of how beef cuts are labeled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the eight primal cuts of beef:<\/p>\n\n\n\n