Processing

A Guide To Filling Out Your Custom Cut Sheet

We will help you navigate the process to get the most out of your beef. A thought to consider when completing your cut sheet is how you prefer to cook your beef. Our USDA certified butcher is an invaluable resource and an expert in the field. They are happy to offer advice and answer any questions you have regarding your cut selections. Let the processor know if you want to keep organs, bones, or extra fat since these are removed prior to aging, this will ensure that they are set aside. Any cuts not selected will go into the ground beef. 

The Fore-quarter consists of:

Chuck – This is a large muscle that consists of the front shoulder. It's not as developed as its counter-part in the rear of the cattle, making it more tender. This muscle makes a great roast. It can also be sliced into chuck steaks. Some butchers will take the more tender parts of the chuck and pull off Sierra and Denver steaks. These are new cuts that are gaining in popularity.

Brisket – This is the animal's breast, so it can be tougher because it is used for movement. An ideal cut for cooking low and slow-in the smoker or in a crock-pot.

Flat Iron – Also Known As: Boneless Top Chuck Steak; Book Steak; Butler Steak Extremely tender, well-marbled and flavorful and great for grilling. Cut from the Top Blade.

Skirt Steak – Skirt steak is a thin, long cut with visible grain. It comes from the short plate or diaphragm area of the steer, just under the rib section. Perfect for fajitas or stir fry.

Short ribs – Beef short ribs are a cut of beef that comes from the chuck, plate, rib, or brisket section of a cow. They earned their name because they contain “short” pieces of rib bones encased in meat. While they offer less meat than steak, they have more meat than other beef rib varieties.

Ribeye – The rib steak or ribeye is a cut of beef from the rib section, one of the nine primal cuts, and is prized for its tenderness and flavor. The ribeye is a boneless cut taken from the rib section of beef cattle while the rib steak is a bone-in ribeye. It is a very tender cut of meat, containing more marbling than other cuts.

Tomahawk - If you like the flavor of a ribeye but want something with an insane presentation, opt for the tomahawk steak. This showy piece of beef, which you'll see at some of the best steakhouses in America, is taken from the loin of the steer. This cut is distinctive, marble, and sizable Frenched bone, which is left on the steak when butchering.

 The Hind-quarter consists of:

Round – The beef round is a large primal cut consisting mainly of the rear leg and rump of the animal. Steaks and roasts from the beef round can be tough since those muscles get a lot of exercise. They're also very lean since most of the fat on a beef cow is deposited toward the front of the animal. Often used to make roasts, or can be ground into hamburger.

Cube-Steak - Cube steak or cubed steak is a cut of beef, usually top round or top sirloin, tenderized and flattened by pounding with a meat tenderizer. The name refers to the shape of the indentations left by that process (called "cubing"). This is the most common cut of meat used for the American dish chicken-fried steak.

Stew Meat - Stew meat is made from cuts of beef with lots of tough connective tissue, namely chuck and/or round. When you simmer it in a liquid, the connective tissue breaks down and becomes melt-in-your-mouth tender. That's why it's traditionally braised in stock and turned into beef stew.

Flank Steak – Located below the Loin and home to the Flank Steak. Cuts from this area are lean, very flavorful, and best when braised, or marinated and grilled. Like the skirt steak, this cut is great in fajitas.

Sirloin – Obtained from the hindquarter of the cattle and classified among the cuts of meat of the first category, the sirloin tip is considered slightly less tender and therefore less delicious than the much-praised top sirloin. Sirloin tip steak is mostly cooked in three ways: by grilling, by broiling, and by braising or pot roasting. In the Top Sirloin you’ll find steaks great for grilling, while the Bottom Sirloin provides cuts like Tri-Tip and flank steak, which are good for roasting
or grilling.

Tri-Tip – Tri-tip is cut from the sirloin subprimal. Cuts from the sirloin are known for their rich flavor and are low in fat. The top portion of the sirloin subprimal provides top sirloin steaks and the bottom portion provides the tri-tip. Rich and meaty in flavour and low in fat, tri tip cooks like a tender steak but slices like a brisket – perfect for people who want to do a brisket-like cook up but don't have the time. It can be smoked, barbecued, grilled or roasted, but it’s always best when cooked to a nice medium rare, before letting it rest and slicing.

New York Strip – Well marbled, full bodied and rich with beefy flavor, a New York Strip is firm and tender when it comes to texture, flavor and fat. Cut from the shorter side of the beef loin, the muscles in this area do little work, and that spells tenderness every time.

Porterhouse – The porterhouse is another steakhouse favorite, and is actually made up of two individual cuts: the strip and the tenderloin (filet), separated by a t-shaped bone. Porterhouses tend to be thick-cut, and cut from farther back on the cow to include more of the tenderloin than its close relative, the T-bone. This is a great steak for couples, who can split this massive piece of meat with ease.

T-Bone – The T-bone is cut from the short loin subprimal from the front portion of the larger loin primal. The short loin is home to the most tender and popular cuts of steak. The short loin is broken down further into two subprimals – the beef short loin (New York strip), and the tenderloin (filet mignon).

T-Bone Versus Porterhouse - What's the Difference?

The T-Bone and the Porterhouse: Two very different names for two very similar steaks. If you remember nothing else about these two cuts of steak, remember this: The porterhouse is a bigger version of the T-Bone.

The T-Bone is one of the most easily-identifiable steaks. It has a T-shaped bone running through it, making it easy to spot in our meat case. Beef industry data shows the T-Bone is growing
in popularity.

The T-Bone is cut from the short loin, and actually has two different steaks attached to the bone. On the long side is the strip. If you would take that strip and cut it away from the bone, you would have a New York Strip.

On the smaller side of the T-bone is the tenderloin. When that piece of meat is separated from the bone, it can be cut into steaks called Filet Mignon. Of course, if you leave all the meat attached to the bone, you have the T-Bone.