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.
Beef aging or ageing is a process of preparing beef for consumption by aging it, in order to break down the connective tissue within the meat.
A beef tenderloin, known as an eye fillet in Australasia, filet in France, filé mignon in Brazil, and fillet in the United Kingdom and South Africa, is cut from the loin of beef.
Filet mignon is a cut of meat taken from the smaller end of the tenderloin, or psoas major of a cow. In French, it mostly refers to cuts of pork tenderloin.
The rib eye or ribeye is a boneless rib steak from the rib section.
Flat iron steak (US), butlers' steak (UK), feather steak (UK) or oyster blade steak is a cut of steak cut with the grain from the chuck, or shoulder of the animal.
Flank steak is a cut of beef steak taken from the abdominal muscles of the cow, located just behind the plate and in front of the rear quarter. It is a long, flat cut with a significant grain, and is known for its bold flavor and chewiness.
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), called skirt or onglet in Britain, a generally similar adjacent cut also from the plate.
Carne asada is grilled and sliced beef, usually skirt steak, flap steak, or flank steak though chuck steak can also be used. It is usually marinated then grilled or seared to impart a charred flavor. Carne asada can be served on its own or as an ingredient in other dishes.
London broil is a beef dish made by grilling marinated beef, then cutting it across the grain into thin strips. Despite "London" in its name, use of the Americanism "broil" makes clear that the dish and the terminology are American, not British.
The tri-tip is a triangular cut of beef from the bottom sirloin subprimal cut, consisting of the tensor fasciae latae muscle. Untrimmed, the tri-tip weighs around 5 pounds. In the US, the tri-tip is taken from NAMP cut 185C.
Matambre is the name of a very thin cut of beef in Argentina, Uruguay and also Paraguay. It is a rose colored muscle taken between the skin and the ribs of the steer, a sort of flank steak. It is not the cut known normally in the U.S. as flank steak. Some people refer to it as the "fly shaker", because it is the muscle used by the animal to twitch to repel flies and other flying insects.
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.
Beef plate is a forequarter cut from the belly of the cow, just below the rib cut. It is typically a cheap, tough, and fatty meat. In U.K. butchery, this cut is considered part of the brisket.
A rib steak is a beefsteak sliced from the rib primal of a beef animal, with rib bone attached. In the United States, the term rib eye steak is used for a rib steak with the bone removed; however, in some areas, and outside the US, the terms are often used interchangeably. The "rib eye" or "ribeye" was originally, the central portion of the rib steak, without the bone, resembling an eye. The rib steak can also be prepared as a tomahawk steak which requires the butcher to leave the rib bone intact, french trim the bone and leave it at least five inches long. The tomahawk steak resembles the Native American tomahawk axe from which it gets its name.
Flap steak, or flap meat is a beef steak cut from the obliquus internus abdominis muscle of the bottom sirloin. It is generally very thin, fibrous and chewy, but flavorful, and often confused with both skirt steak and hanger steak.
A primal cut or cut of meat is a piece of meat initially separated from the carcass of an animal during butchering. Examples of primals include the round, loin, rib, and chuck for beef or the ham, loin, Boston butt, and picnic for pork.
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.
A steak is a thick cut of meat generally sliced across the muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally grilled or fried. Steak can be diced, cooked in sauce, such as in steak and kidney pie, or minced and formed into patties, such as hamburgers.
