British beef cuts

Know Your Beef

Every cut on our counter has a job to do. Pick the right cut and you've done most of the cooking before you've even switched the oven on.

The butcher's rule of thumb: the less a muscle works, the more tender it is. Muscles along the middle of the back (the sirloin, fillet and fore rib) barely move, so they're tender and suit quick, hot cooking. The neck, shoulder, chest and legs work hard all day. They're full of connective tissue, which is tough if you rush it. Cook it low and slow, though, and it melts into rich, silky, deep-flavoured beef. Neither kind is better. They're just cooked differently.

Forequarter

The front of the animal: neck, shoulder, chest and front legs, plus the prime fore rib along the top. This is where most of the slow-cooking cuts come from, and some of the best flavour on the whole carcass.

Neck & clod

The neck and the meat where it meets the shoulder. It's one of the hardest-working muscles on the animal: lean, but laced with connective tissue that breaks down into a rich, glossy gravy given time.

Best for: stews, casseroles, pie fillings and mince.
Butcher's tip: don't rush it. Give it two and a half to three hours minimum in a low oven with a lid on and it'll fall apart under a fork.

Chuck & blade

Also called: shoulder, braising steak.

The shoulder, along the top of the forequarter behind the neck. It has good marbling, with seams of fat and gristle that cook down into proper beefy flavour. The flat iron steak is cut from the blade, and it's one of the few quick-cook steaks from the forequarter.

Best for: braising steak, steak pies, slow-cooked joints, and flat iron for the grill.
Butcher's tip: if you want a proper steak pie, this is the cut. It holds its shape in chunks but stays tender.

Thick rib

Also called: top rib.
Below the chuck and blade, over the front ribs. It's a lean, coarse-grained cut with seams of connective tissue running through it, and it's good value for a joint that feeds a family.

Best for: pot roasting, braising steak and mince.
Butcher's tip: treat it as a pot roast rather than a dry roast. A splash of stock, a few veg and a lid, and you'll get a joint and the gravy in one tin.

Fore rib

Also called: rib of beef.
The top of the back over ribs six to ten, between the chuck and the sirloin. For many butchers it's the king of roasting joints. It has a tender central eye, generous marbling and a cap of fat that bastes the meat as it cooks. Ribeye steaks come from here, and so does the côte de boeuf, a thick bone-in rib steak built for sharing.

Best for: roasting on the bone or boned and rolled, ribeye steaks, and côte de boeuf.
Butcher's tip: allow one bone for every two to three people. Ask us to chine it (remove the backbone) so carving is easy, and rest it for at least 20 minutes before you carve.

Thin rib

Also called: Jacob's ladder or Short rib
Below the fore rib, down the lower ribcage. It's layer upon layer of meat and fat between the bones, so it's rich, beefy and made for slow cooking.

Best for: braised short ribs, low-and-slow barbecue and slow roasting.
Butcher's tip: plan ahead. Three to four hours low and slow and the meat will slide straight off the bone.

Brisket

Also called: breast.
The chest, between the front legs. It's fatty and full of connective tissue, and that's exactly where its flavour comes from. It's usually boned and rolled for pot roasting, and it's also the classic cut for salt beef and barbecue smoking.

Best for: pot roasting, salt beef, smoking and slow braising.
Butcher's tip: keep the lid on and some liquid in the pan. Brisket hates drying out, but given time it's one of the most rewarding cuts there is.

Shin

Also called: fore shin.

The lower front leg. It's very lean and criss-crossed with collagen, which turns into a silky, sticky sauce after a long, slow cook. Bone-in shin also brings marrow to the pot.

Best for: stews, ragù, soups and beef stock.
Butcher's tip: shin is the secret to a stew that coats the spoon. It's cheap to buy and full of flavour, and well worth the wait.

Hindquarter

The back half of the animal: the prime steak cuts along the loin, and the lean roasting joints of the back leg.

Sirloin

Also called: wing rib (the front end), striploin
The middle of the back, between the fore rib and the rump. It's tender and fine-grained, with a strip of fat along one edge that adds flavour. You can have it as sirloin steaks or a roasting joint. Cut on the bone with the fillet still attached, it gives you T-bone and porterhouse steaks.

Best for: steaks, roasting joints, and T-bone.
Butcher's tip: cook your sirloin steak with the fat on. Stand it on its fat edge in a hot pan first to render it, then cook the sides.

Fillet

Also called: tenderloin
It runs along the inside of the backbone, under the sirloin and on into the rump. It does almost no work, so it's the most tender cut on the animal. It's lean and mild in flavour. Each animal yields only a small amount, which is why it's the most expensive cut. The thick centre gives chateaubriand, a fillet roast for two.

Best for: fillet steaks, chateaubriand and beef Wellington.
Butcher's tip: cook it hot and fast, and don't take it past medium. With so little fat, it has nothing to protect it if it's overdone.

Rump

Also called: rump steak, picanha (the cap)

The hip, behind the sirloin. It's a little firmer than sirloin but has more flavour, and many butchers will tell you it's the best-value steak on the counter. The rump is made of several muscles, and the "heart of rump" is the most tender.

Best for: steaks, stir-fry strips, kebabs, and roasting the rump cap.
Butcher's tip: for the most tender rump steak, keep below medium

Topside

The inside of the back leg, between the silverside and the thick flank. It's very lean with a fine grain, and it's usually tied with a layer of fat to keep it moist while roasting. It's the classic Sunday roast joint.

Best for: roasting and minute steaks.
Butcher's tip: roast it pink, rest it well and carve it thin. Because it's so lean, the difference between juicy and dry is about ten minutes.

Silverside

The outside of the back leg, at the rear. It's lean and fairly coarse-grained, and it's named after the silvery membrane on one side. It's the traditional cut for salt beef and for boiled beef and carrots.

Best for: pot roasting, braising and salt beef.
Butcher's tip: silverside does best cooked slowly in a little liquid rather than dry roasted. Slice it thin across the grain.

Thick flank

The front of the back leg, above the knee. It's lean and fairly tender, a lot like topside, and it makes a good-value roasting joint. It's also cut into frying steaks and stir-fry strips.

Best for: roasting, dicing and slow cooking
Butcher's tip: It's a great leaner option for braising, excellent slow cooked in a pie or stew

Flank


Also called: thin flank, skirt, bavette
The belly, below the sirloin. It has long, coarse fibres and a deep, beefy flavour, and it gives bavette and skirt steaks. These are butchers' favourites, packed with flavour for the price. The rest goes into mince.

Best for: bavette and skirt steaks, fajitas and stir-fries,
Butcher's tip: cook it either very hot and fast or very low and slow, nothing in between. Always slice it across the grain.

Leg

Also called: hind shin.

The lower back leg. It's like the front shin but larger: lean and sinewy, and full of collagen that turns rich and gelatinous with long cooking.

Best for: stews, casseroles, soups and stock.
Butcher's tip: pair it with shin for a stew with real depth.