Beef is a nutritious and delicious meat that forms a major part of many people’s diets When you buy beef at the grocery store or butcher shop, you are usually purchasing sub-primal cuts like steaks, roasts, and ground beef. But where do these familiar cuts come from on the cow? Understanding the primal cuts of beef and how they are broken down helps you make better choices when shopping for and preparing beef
What Are Primal Cuts?
Primal cuts are the large sections that the beef carcass is initially broken down into after slaughter. There are between 5-10 primal cuts depending on the country and butchering tradition, but in the United States the standard is to separate the carcass into 8 primal cuts:
- Chuck
- Rib
- Loin
- Round
- Flank
- Plate
- Brisket
- Shank
These primal cuts are then further divided into sub-primal cuts, which are subsequently cut into the retail cuts you find at the grocery store
Knowing the primal cut a particular piece of meat comes from gives you information about its characteristics. Cuts from different primal sections vary in tenderness fat content and flavor based on the muscle use of that area of the cow.
Below we will go through each of the 8 primal cuts in detail, along with their location on the animal, sub-primal cuts, and best cooking methods.
Chuck Primal Cut
- Location: Chest and upper shoulder
- Characteristics: Tough, but rich in flavor and fat
- Popular sub-primal cuts: Chuck roll, chuck eye, chuck tender, shoulder center (chuck center roast), chuck blade
- Common retail cuts: Pot roasts, stews, ground beef
The chuck comes from the heavily exercised front shoulder of the cow, so it contains a lot of connective tissue. This makes chuck excellent for moist cooking methods like braising, stewing, and pot roasting. It is also popularly used for ground beef due to its rich beefy flavor.
Rib Primal Cut
- Location: Along the upper back behind the chuck
- Characteristics: Tender, flavored, and fatty
- Popular sub-primal cuts: Ribeye roll, rib fingers, rib blade meat
- Common retail cuts: Rib steaks, ribeye steaks, prime rib
Coming from the lightly worked muscles near the spine, the rib primal cut is tender and packed with flavor. It contains the infamous ribeye as well as ribs 6-12. Quick cooking with dry heat, like grilling or roasting, is best to take advantage of the naturally tender meat.
Loin Primal Cut
- Location: Between the rib and sirloin, along the spine
- Characteristics: Very tender, little fat
- Popular sub-primal cuts: Short loin, sirloin
- Common retail cuts: T-bone, porterhouse, strip steak, filet mignon, tri-tip
This area doesn’t get much exercise, so the meat is very tender. The loin is home to premium steaks like the tenderloin/filet mignon. Dry heat cooking like grilling, broiling, pan frying work best. Don’t overcook, as the leanness makes it easy to dry out.
Round Primal Cut
- Location: Rear back leg
- Characteristics: Lean, tough, economical
- Popular sub-primal cuts: Top round, bottom round, eye of round
- Common retail cuts: Round steaks, roasts, stew meat, ground beef
As the cow’s largest primal cut, the round contains lean, hard-working muscles. Moist cooking methods are ideal, like braising bottom round for Swiss steak or roasting eye of round. When sliced thinly against the grain, round steaks do well with quick, hot cooking.
Flank Primal Cut
- Location: Lower abdominal area
- Characteristics: Lean, fibrous, flavorful
- Popular sub-primal cuts: Flank steak
- Common retail cuts: Flank steak, London broil
This primal lies below the loin and is relatively long and flat. Flank steak is the classic cut, containing tough fibers that benefit from marinating. Grill or pan-fry whole flank steak to rare or medium rare to prevent it from getting tough. Slice across the grain before serving.
Plate Primal Cut
- Location: Front belly under the ribs
- Characteristics: Tough, flavorful, fatty
- Popular sub-primal cuts: Short plate, inside skirt
- Common retail cuts: Skirt steak, short ribs, hanger steak
Plate primal contains the short ribs and surrounding belly muscles. It has bold beefy flavor but can be sinewy. Cuts like skirt and hanger steak are best marinated then quickly grilled or pan-fried. Short ribs excel with slow, moist cooking to become falling-off-the bone tender.
Brisket Primal Cut
- Location: Lower chest between forelegs
- Characteristics: Tough, lean, requires slow cooking
- Popular sub-primal cuts: Point half, flat half
- Common retail cuts: Brisket flat, point brisket
The brisket contains hard working chest muscles that require lengthy moist cooking to become tender. When smoked “low and slow”, brisket point and flat yield incredibly flavorful, fall-apart barbecue. The lean meat should be cooked with a water pan or spritzed to prevent drying out.
Shank Primal Cut
- Location: Front legs
- Characteristics: Extremely tough, sinewy, flavorful for stocks
- Popular sub-primal cuts: Foreshank, hindshank
- Common retail cuts: Soup bones
The shank or leg contains lots of connective tissue from weight-bearing activities. It is primarily used for ground beef or in moist dishes like soups, stews, or braised osso buco to slowly tenderize through wet cooking. Bones can be sawn into cross-sections for beef marrow.
How Are Primal Cuts Broken Down into Retail Cuts?
As you can see, the 8 primal beef cuts each have distinct characteristics based on their location on the animal. The next level down is sub-primal cuts. These are portions within each primal cut that are grouped together for handling, such as the chuck roll or beef rib from the chuck and rib primals respectively.
Sub-primal cuts are then broken down further into retail-ready cuts like steaks, roasts, and other meat products. Here is a quick overview of how the primals are portioned into cuts you find at the store:
- Chuck – chuck roasts, chuck arm roasts, chuck shoulder steaks (chuck steaks, blade steaks)
- Rib – rib steaks, ribeye steaks, back ribs, short ribs
- Loin – T-bone steaks, Porterhouse steaks, strip loin steaks (NY strip), filet mignon, tri-tip roasts/steaks
- Round – top round steaks/roast, bottom round steaks, eye of round steaks/roast
- Flank – flank steaks, London broil
- Plate – skirt steaks, hanger steaks, short ribs, ground beef
- Brisket – brisket flats, brisket points, corned beef
- Shank – soup bones, marrow bones
How Are Primals Used for Ground Beef?
Ground beef allows the utilization of lean trimmings as well as pieces of meat from the chuck, round, brisket, plate, and shank that might otherwise be less value. The ratio of fat to lean is carefully controlled to produce various options:
- Regular ground beef – 75% lean / 25% fat
- Lean ground beef – 85% lean / 15% fat
- Extra lean ground beef – 90-95% lean / 5-10% fat
Fattier ratios like 70/30 or 80/20 make for juicier burgers, while very lean 90/10 or 95/5 is lower in fat and calories. Ground chuck has robust beefy flavor from its higher fat content.
Knowing the primal cuts of beef empowers you to make better choices when buying beef and determining the optimal cooking methods. Different primal sections have inherent characteristics based on their location and muscle use. Keeping the primal origins in mind provides helpful clues about the flavor profile and texture you can expect. With smart shopping and proper cooking techniques, you can enjoy delicious beef dishes using primal cuts from chuck to shank.
The 8 Primal Cuts of Beef
- Chuck
- Rib
- Loin
- Round
- Flank
- Short Plate
- Shank
- Brisket
Location: Chuck primal cut is located at the front chest and top of a cow including shoulder and neck parts.
Sub-primal cuts: Neck, shoulders, top blade, bottom blade, ground beef, chuck steak, chuck filet.
The Best Cooking Methods When Cooking Sub-Primal Cuts
- The shoulder and neck are best when cooked in a conventional oven with low temperature.
- Beef Ribs should be smoked over an indirect heat smoker with low temperature. Blade cut is best when you grill it with direct heat.
- Chuck Steak & Chuck Filet can be cooked over a conventional oven, skillet, direct heat grill. They need to be tenderized with a meat mallet before cooking since the thinner the better.
- Chuck and round make up a majority of the meat in the US because they’re cheaper.
Location: The ribs are located in the center back of the cow. The rib is quite a flavorful part of the cow. That’s why it’s one of the most expensive cuts.
Sub-primal cuts: Rib steak, ribeye steak, prime rib, short rib, back ribs.
The Best Cooking Methods When Cooking Sub-Primal Cuts
- Prime Rib is best when cooked at a very high temperature for a short time in a conventional oven or a direct heat smoker.
- Ribeye Steak should be cooked over a direct heat grill. Any fuel type should be fine but charcoal is better to add some flavor to the meat.
- Back Ribs are best when cooked in an offset smoker with a low temperature and long time. In other words, indirect heat is needed.
- Short Ribs are very popular in Korean BBQ. They’re great when braised and rubbed with bbq sauce, then off to the grill. Cooked in a direct heat grill is the best way to enjoy these.
Location: It is located in the lower back of the cow. This part of the meat is very soft and tender, that’s why loin cuts are great for juicy steaks.
Sub-primal cuts: T-bone, club steak, filet mignon (tenderloin), New York strip, sirloin cap, sirloin steak, tri-tip, Chateaubriand, Porterhouse.
The Best Cooking Methods When Cooking Sub-Primal Cuts
- Porterhouse, club steak, and T-bone are usually best when cooked at medium-rare temperature. Both open flame or direct heat grill could work for mouthwatering steaks. Its worth mentioning that these three sub-primal cuts are very pricey.
- Filet mignon (tenderloin), tri-tip, and Chateaubriand are known as pricey cuts of meat. The tri-tip is the cheapest you can get among them but it still isn’t that cheap compared to other sub-primal cuts. They are best when cooked medium-rare. You can use a conventional oven, open flame or direct heat grill to get the best results.
- Sirloin steak and New York strip are considered as an everyday type of steak. Same as the other loin sub-primal cuts, they are also best medium-rare and you can cook on an open flame or direct heat grill.
Location: It is located in the rear part of the cow, the butt. Round cut contains a lot less fat content so this makes the round meat a tough cut, which also means that it’s a very cheap meat cut.
Sub-primal cuts: Top Round, Eye of Round, Heel of Round, Sirloin Tip and Bottom Round.
The Best Cooking Methods When Cooking Sub-Primal Cuts All types of round sub-primal cuts are not the best for BBQing. Cooked in an oven with low and slow temperature is the recommended cooking method.
Location: This primal meat cut is from the belly – underside part of the cow.
Sub-primal cuts: Ground Beef, London Broil, and Flank Steak.
The Best Cooking Method When Cooking Sub-Primal Cuts Flank steak, for example, needs to be marinated for a long time, maybe even overnight, and then should be cooked on an open flame or direct heat grill. The flank steak tastes best when cooked to medium.
Location: Short plate cut is located below the rib cut, in other words, the center belly of the cow.
Sub-primal cuts: Hanger Steak, Ground Beef, Brisket, Skirt Steak.
The Best Cooking Methods When Cooking Sub-Primal Cuts
- Hanger Steak is best when cooked on a grill to medium-rare temperature. You can use an open flame or a direct heat type of grill. It can be very tender when cooked properly.
- Skirt Steak is usually marinated for a while and then grilled on direct heat. It’s important that the marinade process lasts 12 hours.
Location: It’s in the lower abdomen, the chest part of the cow. Due to the muscles, its quite tough meat.
Sub-primal cuts: Fore Shank, Hind Shank, and Ground Beef.
The Best Cooking Methods When Cooking Sub-Primal Cuts All shank sub-primal cuts contain very little fat and so it’s quite tough. Shank cuts must be cooked for a long time at low temperatures in crockpots or at higher temperatures in an oven. As for ground beef, it can be cooked on direct heat.
Location: It’s located at the cow’s breast, the lower chest area. Brisket cut is low in fat content, it’s one of the cow’s most used muscles.
Sub-primal cuts: Brisket Point and Brisket Plate.
The Best Cooking Methods When Cooking Sub-Primal Cuts Brisket cuts require a low and slow type of cooking method. As we know, brisket is a very tough part and needs a longer time in order to be cooked properly. An indirect heat smoker is the best option for smoking brisket.You can refer to our Hassle-free Texas Style Beef Brisket Recipe to find out more about how to cook your brisket to perfection!
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So, what’s a primal cut?
First things first, “Primal Cut” and “Prime Cut” are not the same thing! Simply put, “Prime Cut” is used for high-quality meats.
Primal Cut refers to the first piece of meat to be separated from the carcass of an animal during the butchering process. That is why it is called “Primal Cut”.
After the Primal Cut has been done, the next cuts are called “Sub-Primal Cuts”, or the secondary & tertiary cuts of meat. The meats we see and buy in grocery shops are sub-primal cuts like steak, ground beef, and more.
Breaking down the eight primals of the beef carcass
FAQ
What are the 9 prime cuts of beef?
- Chuck.
- Rib.
- Short Plate.
- Brisket.
- Foreshank.
- Short loin.
- Sirloin.
- Round.
What are the 7 primal cuts of beef?
Primal beef cuts include the Shank, Brisket, Rib, Short Plate, Flank, Round, Chuck, and Loin. Each of the primal cuts are broken down into sub-primal cuts.
What are primal cuts on beef?
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.
What are the 4 beef primal cuts?
- Brisket Cut – The front of the cow near the breastbone. …
- Chuck Cut – The forearm through the shoulder blade to part of the neck.
- Rib Cut – The sixth through twelfth ribs. …
- Shank Cut – The upper section of the legs.