Tag Archives: beef cuts

For grilling season — the best beef cuts from the chuck

April 11, 2018Uncategorizedbeef cuts, ButcherBox recipes, Chef Yankel, chuck, chuck roast, connective tissue, cooking methods, denver, different cuts, filet mignon, flank steak, flat iron, flat iron steak, ground beef, loin, porterhouse steaks, pot roast, primal cuts, ribeye, ribeye steak, short ribs, shoulder blade, sirloin tip, skirt steak, slow cooking, steak recipes, stew meat, strip steak, t bone, t-bone steak, tender cut, tenderloin steak, tough cuts, tri tipDennis Keohane

Winter is slowly receding here in the Northeast, and it seems as if we’ve — finally — come to the end of a period of strange, colder-than-usual weather across the country. The Masters Tournament has come and gone. The selection of foods at farmers markets is more robust. Scarves, beanies, and mittens will soon be packed away.

And, most importantly, grills will reappear. They will be cleaned, repaired, and lit once more as we undertake that yearly rite of spring — cooking outside.

In our opinion, there is nothing that compares to the experience of throwing a scrumptious hunk of grass-fed beef over some hot charcoals or onto a red-hot grill.

But which beef cuts are best for cooking out? One section of the cow that has long been overlooked is the chuck, especially compared to the filet mignons, ribeyes, strip steaks, t-bone steaks, and tri-tips that come from the middle areas that make up the rib, loin, tenderloin, and sirloin primal cuts.

As our ButcherBox Head Chef Yankel Polak says, “The chuck is a goldmine of great cuts.”

Some of the best cuts of beef to cook outdoors come from the chuck; also, some of our favorite steaks and roasts, in general, are chuck beef cuts.

You already know chuck beef

The “chuck” primal section produces the vast amount of meat that is used from a cow. Most of the meat from this area — the front section from the shoulder blade and down to the leg muscles — lacks fat and has a ton of connective tissue. Therefore, it can result in tough cuts of meat if cooked incorrectly.

Most parts of the chuck close to the ribs are used for various roasts.

Beef chuck roast, for example, is ideal for braising and slow cooking. Other common roast beef cuts from the chuck include pot roast and bone-in chuck roast, also known as the 7 bone chuck roast. These roast sections are fantastic when quickly seared and then put in a slow cooker for a few hours, especially with some complementary seasonings and spices.

These cuts are large and used for braising mainly because it is easy to cut sizeable hunks of beef out of the chuck section, but also because the connective tissue caused by the overuse of the muscles don’t make them as tender and marbled as sirloin steaks and tenderloin steaks.

However, many of the standard — sometimes vaguely labeled — steaks you can get at the supermarket are likely to be steaks cut from the chuck. Like flank steaks or skirt steaks, chuck is also often used as stew meat, kabobs, and sandwich steaks, and as an alternative to more expensive cuts like sirloin tips, tip roast, and ribeye.

You likely cook chuck meat on your grill quite often without realizing it: Chuck meat is one of the primary sources that butchers use to make ground beef. So if you are cooking cheeseburgers for the family this weekend, there is a good chance you’ve got some ground chuck in the burger mix.

New beef cuts from the chuck primal

Because chuck beef has primarily been used for braising roast cuts, cheaper cuts of steak, and ground beef in the past, some steak lovers believe that you can’t find quality steaks in this front section of the cow.

However, over the past few decades, the beef industry has innovated and uncovered tasty, tender steaks in the chuck section that were previously unknown, difficult to access, or more prevalently used in unique ways in other cultures.

For instance, as part of the Beef Checkoff Program, meat science researchers at the University of Florida and the University of Nebraska identified new and potentially more affordable tender cuts of meat. The project led to the discovery of little-used or unknown cuts, like the Denver steak.

The Denver steak — which does not officially have anything to do with the Mile High City — comes from the chuck flap, an area of the chuck under blade that is full of tough, connective tissue. This steak is delicious as long as it is cooked correctly and, as we’ve said again and again with these types of cuts, must be cut against the grain once cooked.

The beef industry research project also led to the discovery of the flat iron steak, which is a challenging cut to find from the top section of the chuck shoulder. Flat iron steak is a perfect grilling steak; it is tender and tasty when cooked on an open fire. However, it can easily become tough if overcooked. Similar to many other cuts with lots of connective tissue — like the Denver steak — it should also be sliced against the grain.

The Denver steak and flat iron steak aren’t the only great grilling cuts that come from the chuck. Additionally, the chuck eye steak comes from an area of the chuck that is part of the longissimus dorsi muscle, the same place where the ribeye steak is derived. There is some confusion about whether or not a chuck eye is also a Delmonico steak, but that is a subject for another day.

The most delicious of all the chuck cuts might be a surprise

Although it sounds like it should come entirely from the ribs primal, the best short ribs come from the chuck. The first few ribs of a cow — usually the second through fifth ribs — are where the serratus ventralis muscle is thickest. This area is in the chuck primal section. The meat in this section is often tough, which is why short ribs are best cooked over a long period of time with a good marinade or rub.

Culturally, short ribs have been prominent in East Asian and Middle Eastern cooking traditions. However, they have emerged more recently as a delectable treat in the U.S. and can be cooked in a number of ways.

Chef Yankel describes short ribs as “the kings of the braising cuts.” We love slow cooking them bone-in with a sweet marinade.

“Short ribs are packed with healthy fats and collagen,” Chef Yankel added. “Nothing compares for texture and flavor.”

Many of the chuck cuts mentioned above are featured in our monthly grass-fed beef ButcherBox — if you are a member, you’ve likely experienced some of these steaks and roasts. If you want some more on our favorite cooking methods and recipes for the different cuts of chuck mentioned, check out our recipe page or YouTube channel.

If you aren’t a member and would like to become a ButcherBox member with delicious, thoughtfully-raised grass-fed beef delivered to your door each month, click here.

London Broil: A dish that is most often grilled and has nothing to do with England

March 29, 2018Uncategorizedbalsamic vinegar, beef cuts, best cuts, chuck, cooking method, cooking times, delmonico steak, england, filet mignon, flank steak, flat iron, ground meat, high heat, london broil recipe, medium-rare, north american, philadelphia, pot roast, rib eye, sirloin steak, skirt steak, soy sauce, specific cut, standing rib roast, steak sandwich, the marinade, top blade steakDennis Keohane

Beef dish names can be so odd.

London broil is just another example of the beef industry’s propensity for attaching names to cuts of meat that are confusing, don’t quite fit, or, sometimes, are quite unappetizing.

The Delmonico steak, for instance, was supposedly “invented” at Delmonico’s in New York; but the exact cut of beef that was used is often debated. Steak lovers aren’t sure whether a Delmonico is boneless ribeye steak, a bone-in top loin steak, or a boneless top loin strip steak. The Denver steak was “discovered” in the last decade, and its name comes more from the work of a marketing team than to any direct connection to the Mile-High City. And don’t get me started on the contrast between the tender and tasty flat iron steak and the old, hunk of metal used for straightening clothes from which its name is derived.

But London broil might be in a class of its own when it comes to its unique (and misleading) name. The cut — or cooking method to be more precise — has no connection to the capital of England, and, these days, it is rarely broiled.

A North-American treat

The most mind-blowing part about London broil is that it is completely unheard of in, of all places, London. The name may be a bit of the same trickery used with the Denver steak.

As far as most people can gather, London broil was first cooked in Philadelphia. The history behind the name is lost to time, but the best theory for its relation to the city of London is that the name was meant to add status — and an association to a British sensibility and European economic prestige.

London broil can be both a cut of beef and a way to prepare and cook a steak.

In the late twentieth century, it would be commonplace to go to the grocery store butcher and get a “London broil,” which would be one of the more inexpensive cuts. Likely, the steak consumers of that era were getting a flank steak — which didn’t have the same popularity as it does these days as a favorite for fajitas, steak sandwiches, and other such dishes. The proper, regal sounding name may have been meant to appeal to consumers who might have perceived the affordable steak as a way to rise above their means.

The steak was likely brought home and cooked directly under the broiler in the oven until a crispy crust formed. Maybe some salt and pepper was a part of the cooking process. It was then sliced and served.

Many remember the dish as tough or flavorless. Those unfortunate food memories are likely due to the cooking practice of broiling on high heat as well as the lack of a critical step that is used to make London broil today: The marinade.

Many reflect fondly — and still enjoy to this day — a good London broil, we’ll share some best practices below to ensure you can delight in this delicious steak as well.

You just won’t ever find the steak in the city of London because it simply does not exist there; it is purely the product of the United States.

What exactly is London broil?

According to most accounts, those who remember getting London broil from the supermarket butcher recall it being a flank steak, or, sometimes, a thick piece of flank steak. (While it would make sense for skirt steak to be used as London broil due to its similarity to flank steak, there don’t seem to be many instances of that occurring.)

ButcherBox grass-fed “London broil” comes from one of the best cuts from the round primal of a cow; it is a great steak found in the rear leg section that doesn’t produce many good cuts of beef. According to ButcherBox Head Chef Yankel Polak, the 6-ounce cut that can be found in a monthly ButcherBox is “the most flavor of all the round steaks.”

You may also discover that various beef cuts such as the top round, the bottom round, sirloin steak tip, chuck shoulder, or chuck steak is also labeled as “London broil.”

The main reason for this is that London broil is most often a cooking method that involves marinating a less tender cut, pan-broiling or grilling the steak and then slicing it — across the grain — into thin slices.

What many people love about London broil is its flavor. And while previous generations may have skipped a key step, it is the marinating of the beef that explains its popularity.

Whether a flank steak or round steak, when marinated right, it is a great dish. There is no best way to marinate a London broil, but combinations of soy sauce, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mushroom sauce, red wine, rosemary, and other spices work best for the marinade.

The marinade can also be poured over the steak after cooking for added flavor. Chef Yankel thinks London broil is best served with a thick steak sauce or and easy-to-make au jus.

Don’t forget to CUT AGAINST THE GRAIN. If you don’t follow this essential step, you can quickly turn what would have been a tender steak into a tough cut — because you didn’t break the steak’s connective tissue — that is not easy to eat.

How to cook a London broil

As the name implies, a London broil is supposed to be oven-broiled in a shallow pan. Broiling has long been the traditional method of preparation.

However, these days, London broil is more likely to be grilled on an open flame over high heat than thrown into the oven. The reason? It may be that people feel they have more control over the doneness of their steaks when cooking on a grill.

The current popularity of grilling over an open flame rather than under a broiler may have to do with remembrances of eating a dried out, flavorless steak in the past. When cooked right, you can get a melt-in-your-mouth London broil cooked in the oven. It requires a diligent eye on cooking time and a great marinade.

If cooking on a grill, Chef Yankel suggests preheating until the surface of the grill is extremely hot. Right before putting the steak that has already gone through the marinating process on the open flame, he suggests quickly rubbing an olive oil-soaked cloth over it.

For a medium-rare London broil, Chef Yankel says to cook the room temperature steak on the hottest part of the grill for 3 minutes per side, rotating the steak on the grates 90 degrees each minute and a half. This process will give the steak a nice sear. (You can also get a great sear by using Chef Yankel’s pan-frying method as well.)

Then put the steak on the cooler section of the grill and let it cook for four more minutes on each side. Use a meat thermometer to make sure that the thickest part of the steak reaches 120° F. Another key step is to make sure the steak rests for between six to ten minutes so that it cooks evenly and the flavorful juices are distributed throughout.

Again, make sure to cut against the grain when slicing. And enjoy!

If you are a ButcherBox member, Chef Yankel will be sharing one of his favorite London broil recipes in future boxes and on the member recipe page. If you aren’t already getting healthy grass-fed beef and other delicious thoughtfully-sourced meats delivered to your door each month, sign up here.

How to distinguish different cuts of beef often confused

March 7, 2018Uncategorizedbeef cuts, chuck, cuts of beef, cuts of meat, different steaks, filet mignon, flank steak, porterhouse, ribeye, ribeye steaks, short rib, short ribs, skirt steak, t bone, top sirloinDennis Keohane

One of the most surprising things we’ve discovered since launching ButcherBox a few years ago is that there is a growing, collective desire to know as much as possible about the food we eat.

This type of knowledge is also central to the ButcherBox mission. For us, it is vital to know as much as possible about the meat we are delivering to our members. This means going further than growing a database of delectable recipes or an understanding of nutritionists perspectives on grass-fed beef. We want to know the specifics about how the animals were raised, the methods used by the farmers we work, and the specifics of the grass or forage they feed their pastured livestock.

We recently realized that questions abound related to different cuts of beef. But a lot of the information that is out there about various cuts can be tough to swallow.

There is an array of resources available if you want to dive into the finer details of where cuts come from — you’ll have to bone up on terms like “primal cuts” and learn more than you’d care to know about which muscles cattle use most and what that means for the tenderness of certain steaks.

One issue that people seem quite interested in is the differences between cuts of meat that appear similar — like, say, a porterhouse versus a T-bone.

Well, let’s try to clear up as much as we can to avoid some of this common culinary confusion.

T-Bone vs. Porterhouse

There is only a slight difference in these two cuts, but, for those who love mouth-watering steaks, the contrast is stark. The porterhouse is a staple of steakhouse menus and a popular pick among meat aficionados, while the T-bone is usually the favorite of backyard grillmasters and novice chefs. The T-bone’s name comes from the bone that splits two different types of beef; one side is strip steak and the other is more tender beef.

The T-bone and porterhouse steaks actually come from the same area of a cow. However, the porterhouse is further down what is called the short loin. On one side of the bone — which is the cow’s vertebrae — is the strip loin or top loin, and this is where New York strip steaks are derived. The other half of the porterhouse is tenderloin.

And herein lies the difference. Because T-bone steaks are cut further away from the back of the animal, there is only a minimal amount of tenderloin. T-bones are small porterhouses. This is important because, if you haven’t figured out from its name, tenderloin is extremely tender and quite delicious. In a porterhouse, the tenderloin side is where filet mignon comes from.

So in reality, a porterhouse is a New York strip steak and a filet divided by a bone.

Officially, the rule is that the filet side of the bone has to be at least 1.25 inches thick to be a porterhouse.

Both are delicious steaks. Part of the reason is that the bone-in nature of these tender cuts adds flavor to already tasty steaks. However, be aware: Porterhouse steaks can be challenging to cook correctly. For best results, grill a porterhouse with the smaller, tenderloin section away from a direct heat source.

We could go on about the history of the name porterhouse steak, but that is a story for another day.

Prime rib vs. Ribeye

Similar to T-bone and porterhouse, the ribeye steak and prime rib come from the same section of the cow; in this instance, as the names hint, both are from the ribs.

However, the difference between these two cuts is in the manner of their preparation.

Ribeye is tender, flavorful beef that is cut away from the ribs and tastes excellent thrown on a grill with just a little salt and pepper for seasoning. Rib roast — also known as prime rib — is the same area, but is cooked with the bone — or bones — in place. Roasting this cut with the bone in place lets it cook in its own juices, giving it the highly-sought-after taste that justifies its often high price and central placement on steakhouse menus.

The best way to understand the difference between the two cuts is that ribeye is a prepared steak without connecting bones, and prime rib is the cooked, bone-in version of the same steak. By its very nature, there is a ribeye in every cut of prime rib.

And if you wonder where roast beef fits into this dynamic, that’s an easy one: generally, it is any cut of beef that is roasted. So, the rib roast or prime rib you get at a restaurant can be also called roast beef. Roast beef can also be top sirloin, tenderloin, tri-tip, chuck roast, or rump roast. Phew.

Flank steak vs. Skirt steak

These two cuts look very similar and each needs to be cut the right way to be appreciated fully. There are, however, a few essential distinguishing qualities between the two.

Unlike the previously-mentioned cuts, these two steaks come from two completely different sections of the cow.

Flank steak comes from the abdominal area of the animal, while skirt steak is from the diaphragm section. They are similar in their long, thin, and fibrous appearance, as well as their uses and taste. These steaks are sometimes confused with hanger steaks and flat iron steaks because of their appearance and various potential uses.

Both flank steak and skirt steak are great for marinating and are ideal for a variety of dishes, including fajitas, tacos, stir fry, steak sandwiches. They taste great right off the grill, but, because they are cut from a muscle that gets more usage by the cattle, these cuts can overcook easily and become tough. They are best when cooked to medium or medium-rare doneness.

The key to getting the most out of both of these flat steaks is to make sure you are cutting them properly. As we’ve mentioned before, these steaks must be sliced against the grain to unlock the best flavor.

Ground beef

While it is not a specific cut of meat, ground beef can cause some consumer confusion because there is such a wide variety of options that fall under the label, “ground beef.”

In a store or at a butcher shop, you are going to find that there are vast differences in where ground beef originates, as well as in its nutrition (fat) profile. For example, you are likely to find ground beef labeled as hamburger or ground chuck that is 85 percent lean and 15 percent fat.

While there is a variety of products out there, there are some important restrictions on ground beef to make sure that whatever you buy adheres to certain basic standards. According to the USDA Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book, ground beef may not contain added fat and must have a maximum total fat content of 30 percent. The meat can come from almost anywhere in the animal — and often does — but must be labeled differently if a large amount of cheek meat is used. Ground beef can also be specifically labeled ground chuck or ground round; in those instances, the meat must come from those specific regions of the cow.

The ground beef that is found in a monthly ButcherBox comes primarily from the chuck and round with some rib and sirloin fat. The ground beef is 85 percent lean and 15 percent fat; burger patties, however, are 80 percent lean and 20 percent fat. The difference in fat content translates to a difference in flavor. Quite simply, grill-cooked burgers taste better with a bit more fat mixed in with the lean meat.

Our in-house chef, Yankel Polak, says that one of the most popular burgers he used to make in his restaurant was made from a combination of ground chuck, ground short rib, and even some dry-aged ribeye scraps. So, it seems that getting the best ground beef mix is more of an art than a science.

Check out all our recipes for some more specific ways to prepare all these various types of beef. All the cuts above come in our monthly boxes, so if you’re not already a member, sign up to compare and contrast these amazing steaks on your own.

Featured image via Lukas Budimaier and Unsplash.