 Beef Cuts | |
| Alternative names | top blade roast, shoulder top blade roast, top boneless chuck, petite steak, butler steak, lifter steak, book steak, chuck clod, lifter roast, and triangle roast |
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| Type | Chuck steak |
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| Steak |
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Flat iron steak (US), butlers' steak (UK), feather steak (UK) or oyster blade steak (Australia and New Zealand) is a cut of steak cut with the grain from the chuck, or shoulder of the animal. [1] [2]
The origin of flat iron steak began with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association's Beef Checkoff program in 1998, as an effort to reduce waste and promote beef, which was selling at a 25-50% discount in 1996 as compared to 1993. [3] [4] Dwain Johnson at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and Chris Calkins at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln were given grants to help mitigate these issues. Calkins and Johnson focused on the cheaper parts of beef, the chuck and the round, to see if a desirable steak could be produced from either of these. The research teams at both schools found that the top blade of the chuck, specifically the infraspinatus muscle, contained tender meat, but there was a large seam of tough connective tissue down the middle that had to be removed. Removing this tissue was seen to be too much effort for value for meat processors to bother with, as it wasn't felt that enough meat would be recovered to make it worth the while. Calkins and Johnson found that, while cutting out the tissue did result in a thin cut of beef, it plumped up well when cooked. The NCBA started promoting flat iron steak in 2001 and in the early 2000s Applebee's put it on the menu, and the Kroger grocery store chain started carrying the cut in 2006. In 2012, sales of flat iron steak brought in approximately $80 million USD. [3] [5]
The name flat iron steak comes from the cut's resemblance to an old-fashioned flat iron. [6]
This cut of steak is from the shoulder of a beef animal. [7] It is located adjacent to the heart of the shoulder clod, under the seven or paddle bone (shoulder blade or scapula). The steak encompasses the infraspinatus muscles of beef, and one may see this displayed in some butcher shops and meat markets as a top blade roast or informally called a "patio steak". Anatomically, the muscle forms the dorsal part of the rotator cuff of the steer. This cut is anatomically distinct from the shoulder tender, which lies directly below it and is the teres major.
Steaks that are cross cut from this muscle are called top blade steaks, or chicken steaks. [8] To make it more marketable, the cut which makes up this steak, which has the fascia dividing the infraspinatus within it, has increasingly been cut as two flatter steaks, with the tough fascia removed. This method of breaking down the larger cut was creation of the flat iron steak as we know it today. As a whole cut of meat, the top blade usually weighs around two to three pounds; it usually yields four steaks between eight and 12 ounces each. Flat iron steaks usually have a significant amount of marbling. In the North American Meat Processor (NAMP) meat buyers guide, it is item #1114D Beef Shoulder, Top Blade Steak. [7]
A beefsteak, often called just steak, is a flat cut of beef with parallel faces, usually cut perpendicular to the muscle fibers. In common restaurant service a single serving has a raw mass ranging from 120 to 600 grams. Beef steaks are usually grilled, pan-fried, or broiled. The more tender cuts from the loin and rib are cooked quickly, using dry heat, and served whole. Less tender cuts from the chuck or round are cooked with moist heat or are mechanically tenderized.
Ground beef, minced beef or beef mince - often just generically referred to as mince or mincemeat, is beef that has been finely chopped with a knife, meat grinder, mincer or mincing machine. It is used in many recipes including hamburgers, bolognese sauce, meatloaf, meatballs, kofta, burritos, and mince pies.
A beef tenderloin, known as an eye fillet in Australasia, filet in France, filet mignon in Brazil, and fillet in the United Kingdom and South Africa, is cut from the loin of beef.
The rib eye or ribeye is a boneless rib steak from the rib section.
The strip steak is a cut of beef steaks from the short loin of a steer. It consists of a muscle that does little work, the longissimus, making the meat particularly tender, although not as tender as the nearby psoas major or tenderloin. Unlike the tenderloin, the longissimus is a sizable muscle, allowing it to be cut into larger portions.
Skirt steak is the US name for a cut of beef steak from the plate. It is long, flat, and prized for its flavor rather than tenderness. It is distinct from hanger steak (US), also called skirt (UK) or onglet, a generally similar adjacent cut also from the plate.
Pork ribs are a cut of pork popular in Western and Asian cuisines. The ribcage of a domestic pig, meat and bones together, is cut into usable pieces, prepared by smoking, grilling, or baking – usually with a sauce, often barbecue – and then served.
A hanger steak (US), also known as butcher's steak, hanging tenderloin, skirt (UK), or onglet, is a cut of beef steak prized for its flavor and tenderness. This cut is taken from the plate, which is the upper belly of the animal. In the past it was among several cuts of beef sometimes known as "butcher's steak", because butchers would often keep it for themselves rather than offer it for sale. This is because the general populace believed this to be a crude cut of meat, although it is actually one of the most tender and flavoursome.
Chuck steak is a cut of beef and is part of the sub-prime cut known as the chuck.
Doneness is a gauge of how thoroughly cooked a cut of meat is based on its color, juiciness, and internal temperature. The gradations are most often used in reference to beef but are also applicable to other types of meat.
During butchering, beef is first divided into primal cuts, pieces of meat initially separated from the carcass. These are basic sections from which steaks and other subdivisions are cut. Since the animal's legs and neck muscles do the most work, they are the toughest; the meat becomes more tender as distance from hoof and horn increases.
The beef top blade steak comes from the chuck section of a steer or heifer.
Top sirloin is a cut of beef from the primal loin or subprimal sirloin. Top sirloin steaks differ from sirloin steaks in that the bone and the tenderloin and bottom round muscles have been removed; the remaining major muscles are the gluteus medius and biceps femoris.
Short ribs are a cut of beef taken from the brisket, chuck, plate, or rib areas of beef cattle. They consist of a short portion of the rib bone and the surrounding meat, which varies in thickness. There are two major types of cuts: the "flanken", which is cut across the bone and leaves the bone just .5 to 2 inches or less in length, and the "English", which is cut parallel to the bone and leaves the bone up to 6 inches (15 cm) in length. English cut short ribs may be served individually, or three or four may be served connected to one another. Short ribs are popular in many international cuisines.
The 7-bone roast or 7-bone steak is from the chuck section of the steer or heifer and it includes a cross cut of the shoulder blade. The bone is shaped like the numeral "7", which gives these cuts their name. The steak differs from the 7-bone roast only in thickness: 7-bone steaks are cut 1⁄2- to 3⁄4-inch thick.
The beef clod or shoulder clod is one of the least expensive cuts of beef and is taken from the shoulder (chuck) region of the animal. Beef clod is a large muscle system, with some fat that covers the muscles. The clod's composition is mainly three muscles: the shoulder tender, the top blade and the clod heart and is one of two chuck subprimal cuts. It is often divided into its three separate muscle cuts for retail sale.
The cuts of pork are the different parts of the pig which are consumed as food by humans. The terminology and extent of each cut varies from country to country. There are between four and six primal cuts, which are the large parts in which the pig is first cut: the shoulder, loin, belly and leg. These are often sold wholesale, as are other parts of the pig with less meat, such as the head, feet and tail. Retail cuts are the specific cuts which are used to obtain different kinds of meat, such as tenderloin and ham. There are at least 25 Iberian pork cuts, including jamón.
A steak is a thick cut of meat sliced across the muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally grilled or fried. Steak can be diced, or cooked in sauce, as in steak and kidney pie.
Baseball steak is a center cut of beef taken from the top sirloin cap steak. Baseball steaks differ from sirloin steaks in that the bone and the tenderloin and bottom round muscles have been removed; and the cut is taken from gluteus medius. A baseball steak is essentially a center cut top sirloin steak. This cut of beef is very lean, and is considered very flavorful.
This research led to the development of the flat iron steak, the petite tender, and the ranch cut from the shoulder clod
