Home > About Beef > Glossary of Beef Cuts
Glossary of Beef Cuts
Hardiesmill have the largest range of steaks in the UK and a good number of these are usually new to people. Have you tried our Oysters of Beef or our 10 steak experience? The beef cuts are all prepared by our on-farm master butcher. Hardiesmill pedigree Aberdeen Angus cattle are grass fed for quality, flavour and texture and rich in Omega 3 & 4.
Call for today's best deals or special requests. T: 01573 410797
We would love to hear from you. If we cannot answer please leave a message and we will call you back.
Phones are open from:
Monday-Friday 8:30am to 10:00pm
Saturday & Sunday 9:00am to 7:00pm
| CUT | DESCRIPTION | USE | Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baron of Beef | Whole rack of ribs, both sides. Sadly no longer possible to buy in UK as regulations require the removal of the spine, but fair to say that this is a mighty piece of beef to do justice! | Roast | |
| Bavette | An extradordinary french cut taken from one or more of three places, depending on the region. Course grained with a bit meaty flavour. Incredibly tender if eaten rare but turns tough if cooked anything more. MarkAskew, Exec chef at Gordon Ramsay group, was kind enough to describe one of ours as the best bit of beef he'd ever tasted! | Fry/Grill | |
| Blade | Forequarter, top of leg. Tends to be used in this form most by restaurants, who bubble it down to make a fantastic flakey casserole /stock / pie. | Braise/ Pot roast | |
| Boiling Beef | Very ends of ribs, underside of belly. Looks a bit like spare ribs, with equal chunks of bone, lean and fat. Fabulous flavour if braised really slowly. A good cut if you have a range-cooker and you're so cold you're not sure you dare take your wellies off incase your toes stay behind. | Braise/ Soups/ Broths | |
| Bottom Rump | Lump of meat that sits at the top of the rear leg, adjoining the topside and silverside. Also known as fleshy end (see below). | Roast/pot roast/ braise/stew | |
| Braising Steak | A leaner version of a stewing cut, placed in a covered pan within a thick gravy and bubble for 2-4 hours. Rich and exciting, beautifully tender and yet a very cost effective way of feeding hungry people. Blade (Scot), or Fleshy End (Eng), Shin, Daubes. | Braising/Stews | |
| Brisket | Between Forelegs to 9th rib (Scot), a bit shorter in England. This is one seriously under-rated cut, probably because it looks a bit fatty. Don't worry about it, all you need to do is buy a bit of rolled brisket, which is the cheapest piece of "joined-up" beef you can get, shove it in a pot with some red wine, potatoe slices, carrots& chalottes for 2-3 hours and "Bingo!" . Massive flavour, wonderful flakey texture and, best of all, virtually impossible to ruin. | Pot roast/curing/braising | |
| Butler's Steak | See Flat-Iron Steak below | BBQ / Grill | |
| Chateau Briand | Sirloin on-the-bone with fillet still attached to other side. The Smartest of all roasts and charged accordingly. Take extreme care when cooking as it's hideously difficult to get both the fillet side and the sirloin side cooked to perfection. Term also used for the best bit (central tube, or larder trimmed) of fillet. | Roast very carefully | |
| Cheek | It's been jolly difficult to get these in the UK up until very recently as the regulations here state the vets have to make to make three incissions around the cheek to check the carcass is safe. Unless donie carefully, these render them unsellable. | Braise/mince | |
| Chuck | braising steak around Blade. An English cut, can also be used in casseroles. | Braise/ Pot roast | |
| Clod | Cheaper stewing cut with quite a few sinews. It saves a lot of sweat if you buy it already diced, as most of the sinews will have been removed. Also known as stewing steak (Eng), neck, Stewing Beef (Scot). To my mind, slow cookers were invented for diced stewing - bit of beef, bit of veg, sprinkling of seasoning and topped up with water/beer/wine; hit the on-button and enjoy on your return. | Stewing | |
| Cowboy Steak | S.American name for Skirt. I'm told they used to put it under their saddles and used the enzymes to break it down a bit. No idea if it's true or not, but it makes a good story…. | Braise/grill very slowly | |
| Daubes | A form of braising but with real class. Thick slabs of beef, bubbled for several hours and served with a really thick gravy - gorgeous! | Braise. | |
| False Fillet | A square-ish cut, looks very like a fillet; not quite as tender but with a bigger flavour. To me, this is one cracker of a cut! If you ever see it off a grass-reared beast buy it, as you'll seldom find a more ubiquitous cut at such a reasonable price. Fried, grilled, slow-roasted, pot-roasted, BBQd, what ever takes your fancy. A top cut for beef-wellington-on-a-budget! | Pot roast | |
| Feather Steak | Long thin steak with sinews that make it look like a feather, tastes a bit brisketty. Best marinated (for my tatstes in lime & e.g. herbs) for 30mins in advance of cooking & grilling. This is a superb steak for BBQs. | Marinade before grilling/BBQ. Great for kebab sticks | |
| Fillet | Undercut of sirloin, a long, very tender "tube", subtle in flavour. Unfortunately you only get 5-6kg of fillet per 650kg beast (liveweight), hence being heavy on price. | Roasting/Cut into steaks & fry/grill | |
| Flank (Eng) | Underside of beast. Overlaps the Brisket (scots) at the front end & Skirt (Eng)) at the back. | Pot roast/braise/mince | |
| Flash Fry (Scot) | Thin slices steak also known as minute steak. Whack into a seriously hot pan for 30 seconds a side (hence the name) and allow to rest. Great in a bun with some relish or cut into strips and stir-fried.Careful about overcooking as it can go tough very quickly. | Stir fry or Fry/grill very quickly | |
| Flat Iron Steak | An American cut from the shoulder blade, so called because it looks like a flat iron. Good barbequed. Unfortunately only 2-3lbs of flat iron per side. Also known as Butler's Steak. | BBQ / Grill | |
| Fleshy End | Two-mucle slab of meat at the top of the rear leg that can be rolled and roasted, pot roasted (better), or sliced and braised. Also known as bottom rump. | Roast/pot roast/ braise/stew | |
| Frying Steak | General term to clarify the difference between a fast cooking steak and a slow cooking (braising) one. | Fry/ BBQ/Grill | |
| Frying Steak (Borders) | Local term in Scottish Borders for rump / popeseye steak. | Fry/ BBQ/Grill | |
| Gaucho Steak | As per cowboy steak. Its strength of flavour and tenderness means it doesn't need hanging to get the best out of it, in fact it beomes gamey quite quickly - hence the gauchos being able to cook it up on the spot by way of a perk. | BBQ / Grill | |
| Goose Skirt | Thin strip of meat that runs from point where the two sides of the rib cage close in at the front back in to the heart. A butchers perk as it's usually treated as offal by the abbatoirs, yet a really good bit of meat. | Mince/cornish pastie | |
| Heugh-bone steak | A 2" (5cm) x 14" long thick slice of rump with fat on that you roast. If you're a growing lad, I defy you to look at that thing without thinking of "surrounding" it with two slices of bread and going for broke! | Roast | |
| Jacob's Ladder | Very ends of ribs, underside of belly. Looks a bit like spare ribs, cut as individuals with equal chunks of bone, lean and fat. Also knwn as thin runner. | Braise | |
| Kidney | Can't think of a better description than a Clump of wee brown nodules, all joined together around a lump of white fat, which you cut away. | Fried or bubbled within a Steak & kidney pie | |
| LMC (Leg of Mutton cut) (S. Eng & Yorkshire) | Triangular slice of beef from over the blade that's rolled to make a very pleasant pot roast. | Pot roast/braising/stewing | |
| Loin | Trade name for a whole sirloin or striploin (see below), particularly if it's still incorporated in the rear uarter or choice cuts. | roast or cut into steaks and fry/grill | |
| Mince | Off cuts of beef of a medium to low fatty nature put through a fine dicing machine (frequently twice). The higher the lean beef content of mince, the less it will shrink (ours is 96%, so shrinks ~20% less than normal mince) | For me, it has to be cottage pie …... | |
| Minute Steak (Eng) | Thin-sliced steak also known as flash fry (see above). | Stir fry or Fry/grill very quickly | |
| Neck | Cheaper stewing cut with quite a few sinews. Also known as stewing steak (Eng), Clod, Stewing Beef (Scot). | Stewing | |
| Offal | Liver, heart, lungs, skirt, tongue etc. | Get creative! | |
| Onglet | French cut taken from within the skirt. Course in texture with a strong flavour that verges on gamey. Served rare | Fry/Grill | |
| Osso Bucco | Cross sectional slices of shin with the bone and marrow still in. Look spectacular when cooked and taste terrific. | Braise. | |
| Oxtail | Top of tail | Boil for soup/broth/stew | |
| Popseye (Eng - Dorset) | Smaller solid (not rolled) joint of silverside, also known as salmon cut | Slow roast @ 150 deg C /pot roast | |
| Popseye (Scotland) | Steak, slightly tougher than sirloin but full of flavour (also known as frying steak (Borders) or Rump steak) | Fry/ BBQ/Grill | |
| Porterhouse Steak | There seem to be multiple definitions of a porterhouse with one common theme - they're all HUGE! Two most popular definitions are a 32 Oz (~1kg) rump (Heugh-bone steak) or a double T-bone, taken from further down the sirloin & fillet where it's bigger. | Fry/ BBQ/Grill | |
| Rib Roast | Front end of rib cage. Fattier than sirloin roast, particularly on naturally reared beasts, but looks quite spectacular and taste superb hot & cold. 4 ribs in Scotland, 5 ribs in England. | Roast / slice up eye (main bit) for ribeye steaks. Use reaminder for roast /spare-ribs. | |
| Ribeye | Slices of the eye (meaty bit) of the rib roast. Looks fatty but tastes amazing! Also known as the butcher's fillet, has become very popular recently. | Fry/ BBQ/Grill | |
| Round Steak | The tubular muscle within the shoulder, well marbled with a lovely meaty flaour that grows as you chew. Too loose a grain for anything other than slow cooking. | Curry / Stewing / Braising | |
| Rump (Scot Borders) | Beef with lower density of sinews but too tough to eat without thorough, slow, cooking. Taken from top of rear leg. Known as Braising steak in England & Stewing steak in further North. | Casseroles/pot roast if whole. | |
| Rump Steak | Steak, also known as Top rump, frying steak or Popeseye). Can be pretty tough on occassions, but if you see a nice bit of beef that's been slow grown (see buying advice at top of page), it won't be. Furthermore it'll have a fabulous full flavour with a sweet fat that's crisp and enjoyable. Provides amazing value for money. My personal favourite. | Fry/ BBQ/grill | |
| Salmoln cut | Toblarone shaped piece of silverside which, when seen whole looks a salmon. Our's produces a flavour that lasts a good 5 mins in the mouth and eats well cold. Quite forgiving if you run a little late too, unlike the better known Topside. Also known as Popeseye if you live in Dorset. | Slow roast @ 150 deg C /pot roast | |
| Shin | Upper l.eg, sold either on or off the bone. Bubbled away for hours, it's wonderfully rich & meaty. | Braise | |
| Silverside | Comes in two forms. Rolled up and tied or in a "toblarone" shaped piece (Salmon cut/Pope's Eye). The former's best pot-roasted, the latter slow-roasted (see above). | Pot roast, unless Salmon cut, which roast at 150 | |
| Sirloin | Rear end of rib cage, also known as loin or striploin (trade name). Legend has it that one was so enjoyed by George III(?) that he knighted it - hence Sir Loin. Most commonly found as very tender, very pleasent steaks off the bone. Personally I think they're better roasted still on th ebone, though they don't look as spectacular as a Rib Roast, which is taller. N.B. One rib shorter in England than Scotland. | Roast or cut into steaks and fry/grill | |
| Skirt (Eng) | As Skirt (scot), also underside of beast towards back-end. Also known as hind quarter Flank | Marinade & grill, or braise | |
| Skirt (Scot) | Darker, rough-edged bit of braising steak that goes from between the ribs up into the body. Tender with quite a strong flavour. | Marinade & grill, or braise | |
| Spale Bone | Top of foreleg covering the shoudler blade. Also known as Spoul. Tastey, but I prefer the brisket when it comes to pot roasts, I think the flavour's more interesting. | Pot roast | |
| Spare Ribs | Tips of the ribswith the meat still attached between the ribs, not taken out for use as mince. | BBQ | |
| Spaul | Top of foreleg covering the shoulder, also known as Spale bone (see above). | Pot roast | |
| Steak-in-a-piece (Scot) | Solid lump of rump (frying) steak, roasted with the fat on. Takes quite a large oven if you're going the whole hog - and some hungry friends! Scaled down is also known as a Heugh-Bone steak. | roast/slice into steaks & fry or grill | |
| Stewing Beef (Scot) | Beef with high density of sinews from neck & whithers. Also known as neck/clod & stewing steak in England. | Stews/ Steak pies | |
| Stewing steak (Eng) | See stewing beef above | Stews/ Steak pies | |
| Stewing steak (Scot) | Beef with lower density of sinews but too tough to eat without thorough slow, cooking. Taken from top of rear leg. Known as Braising steak in England | Casseroles | |
| Striploin | Trade name for a whole sirloin, normally trimmed down and ready to slice into steaks. | roast or cut into steaks and fry/grill | |
| T-Bone steak | A cross section of the Chateau Briand. The bone is shaped like a T, with the fillet one side and the sirloin the other. | Fry/ BBQ/Grill | |
| Thick Rib | A lean frying steak from the fore shoulder. Similar flavour to rump but a wee bit tougher. It takes me 3-5 chews, but the flavour grows as you chew, making it great steak for people who like e.g. a pepper sauce with their beef. | Treat as rump steak but remove the fat. Fry/grill | |
| Thick Runner | See Thick Rib above | Treat as rump steak but remove the fat. Fry/grill | |
| Thin Rib | See Boiling Beef above. Also known as Jacob's Ladder when in a piece. | ||
| Tongue | Looks a lot better cooked & peeled than when its raw. Subtle flavour with a fine grained texture & can be eaten hot or cold, Usually bought pickled, which saves you several days of preperation. It's fallen out of fashion simply for being what it is, which means it's perfect for anyone looking for a tasty meal on a tight budget. | Boil , peel, braise then slice. | |
| Topside | Rolled roast, often smaller at one end than the other. Very popular as a Sunday roast as it's reasonably priced and easy to carve. Best with a covering of fat and either slow roasted (150 deg C for 25 mins/lb) or pot roasted (cooked higher it shrinks more and dries out). Definitely one which improves with basting and, if you can, using the oven with the fan off. | Roast (slow), pot-roast. |