#cut of beef

[joehills]

Giant sign at butcher’s shop: “WE NO LONGER SELL MEAT BY THE POUND, ONLY BY THE CUT.”

Me: huh?!

Butcher: what would you like today?

Me: well, I was going to ask for a pound of ground beef, but then I saw your sign. What is a “cut” of ground beef, do I order it by the strand?

Butcher, looking at me like an idiot: no, we sell ground beef by the pound.

Me: one pound of ground beef, please.

[bitchfitch]

My mother's bf had a fairly major surgery (he's fine and recovering well DW) and he's going to be housebound for his birthday this year, so I've been enlisted to come up with a fancy birthday meal for the special birthday boy that's primarily fruit and veg, sweeter than savory, and is something he's never had before.

Bc I'm making watermelington. It's beef Wellington, but watermelon. bc my mom only found out recently you can use watermelon as a tuna substitute. And I know that you can substitute most higher quality beef cuts with tuna or salmon.... usually. Anyways the idea fascinates her so I'm hoping to use that for bonus points.

Now he's off his ass on pain killers so I can't like. Ask him if he's ever had something before. so to meet my brief I've decided to just. commit a novel hate crime against the British I guess.

Anyways. I'm writing this because I need to walk myself through this process and think it'll be surreal enough to be worth taking y'all along for.

So, Beef Wellington. In its most basic bitch arrangement is a beef tenderloin wrapped in prosciutto/really thin bacon, with a layer of mushroom and onion mush, that has been further wrapped in mustard slathered puff pastry.

We will be ship of Theseusing this. bc beef Wellington is like. the opposite of what he wants. Which is why it's funny.

Puff pastry-> it's still just puff pastry

this one doesn't have to change (aka I can't be fucked to do pastry prep and I'm just gonna use store bought it's Fine.)

the prosciutto is also just going to be prosciutto.

Thin meat

Beef tenderloin-> watermelon,

Tbh this is a pretty 1 to 1 substitution. I'll bake the slices at like. 250-300 for an hour or so ahead of the rest of prep to dry it out a bit. bc you can't like. Sear watermelon to seal in the water like you can beef. By definition it's a very wet fruit (like me when I fall into the lake). Ill Add salt and chili and lime juice while baking maybe. this is the easy part

The mushroom mush-> salsa done bad style

As the word mush implies, this is meant to be a very soft mix. It adds a lot of nuttiness to the wellington that rounds out all of the salt from the meats. I'm replacing it with white person salsa(the birthday boy can't handle spice). Tomato, lime juice, parsley, avocado, cucumber, feta, and maybe mango so I can have an excuse to have a lil mango treat. I said I wasn't making it spicy. I'm still putting a bit of chili in it. bc it'll be better like that. This is also a ridiculously wet bit of mush, Even the original mushrooms have too much water. I'll figure something out.

Mustard -> jelly

He lives in a big city. those preserve sections are massive. I'll find a weird one. maybe apricot.

Prep:

We're in the mind palace kitchen, I have not attempted any of this. We're just thinking real hard about it and I'll edit as needed on the day and post results.

The watermelon

Preheat oven to eh. 300f? We want low and slow to dry things out without it taking a year. but idk what his oven is like. If it's gentle I'll bump it up another ten-twenty.

Slather some watermelon slices in salt chili powder and lime juice mixture.

bake for 30 min on a wire rack or directly on the oven racks (after cleaning thoroughly) if he doesn't have a wire rack. with a drip try underneath to catch the drippage. check frequently. Have one slice that's for being poked to see if it's approaching being meat. Bake longer if needed.

Salsa bad style

chop everything up and add it to a pan with some oil in it. Tbh I don't think the type of oil you use for cooking matters if you're not like, getting near any smoke points. Most people can't tell the difference unless you made your food bland as hell.

Anyways there's some wildly different moisture contents on the list so there has to be an Order to cook off as much water as possible without getting yucky.

Tomatoes and cucumbers go in together with some salt to get the cucs softening, then the mango chunks and lime juice. Once most of the water is gone the avocado feta and parsley can go in. There is a good amount of water in avocados but they're delicate and don't pan fry well, so we're just going to ignore their water crimes and hope for the best. They just need to be evenly mixed through the rest of the mush.

Putting it together

lay out the puff pastry, cut into sections to wrap each watermelon slice individually with.

Slather in jam

Take the prosciutto and lay it out on half of each section of the pastry,

spoon the salsa onto that

Melon

Another layer of salsa

another layer of thin meat

Fold the pastry over the top and pinch the edges bc watermelon slices are not a rollable shape and I don't want to carve a watermelon into a tube for this because that sounds irritating.

Brush with egg wash and more parsley

Cook in oven following the pastry's preferred temp and time. it's fucking watermelon, you're not getting ecoli from it.

watermelington :)

I'm serving it with baked sweet potatoes and spinach based salad with whatever toppings are left over from making the salsa.

anyways thank you for joing me on this thought experiment. I will post updates once the deed is done. I'm sorry to every British person ever.

[amaltheas-garden]

hotd writers thought Rhaena's Vale plot was too boring for tv so they stole a black character's plotline to make a white character more interesting, and they thought we wouldn't notice because they made the Velaryons black in the show (and yes, Rhaena is still written as a white character because she is Valyrian, and the racially based discrimination and violence book Nettles faces has been erased) 🤡

[bloodyhellharry]

I've been reading A Wizard of Earthsea and I could not get past the bit where Ged tries to save a dying child by going to realms of death without sketching it.

[glow-worms-are-believers]

Ask no Question, hear no lie (dp x dc)

"This better be good," Renee started as she slid into the diner booth in front of her best friend. "I had to cancel a date for this."

"Kate?" Charlie said with that placid expression that just begged for a punch. "Or are you two broken up again."

"Charlie if you don’t start talking right now, I’m walking right back out," she warned 

"Still broken up then," Charlie said as he nodded sagely.

Renee took a deep breath before releasing it slowly. She would not shoot her best friend, she told herself. No matter how annoying he was. "Just tell me what I’m here for."

Charlie leaned forward and Renee mirrored him unconsciously. "I’ve been investigating some shady arms deals recently."

"Do arm deals even register in Hub City?"

"They do when it’s a new supplier with tech powered by an all-new power source," Charlie said as he started tapping on the table and Renee leaned back to contemplate the information.

"Who’s the new player?" She asked

"I don’t know," he answered, pondering. "But I've heard Leblanc has insisted on a face to face meeting."

"When?" Renee asked.

"Tonight," Charlie said with a smirk. "You up for it, partner?"

She sighed. "A little forewarning would’ve been nice."

"Please," he tilted his head, amused. "I’m sure you packed everything you need for this and more."

"Still," Renee said though they both knew he was right.

A few hours later, they were laying in wait on the rooftop overlaying a dark, grimy alley that smelled vaguely of urine even so high up. They were both in their Question apparel, only the face mask being left off. 

"It’s been two hours already," Renee grumbled as she looked through the binoculars she’d brought. "Either your guy is late or the tip was bad."

"One would think you’d be more patient on stakeouts considering," Charlie piped up.

"One would be wrong," Renee answered as she turned to glare at the man who looked as unruffled as ever, the bastard. Then he perked up.

"Shhh," Charlie said and she turned back towards their query. 

Out of the shadows were coming a group of men looking armed and mean. 

"Leblanc & goons," Charlie said quietly and Renee looked down, as the guys spread out on one side of the Alley. They settled in place for a few minutes before settling down. It was calm again, but there was now a tension in the air.

Then, from the other end of the Alley walked in a lone man dressed in a black suit with a red bolo tie, his gray hair tied in a ponytail. 

"Gentlemen," he started affably. "What a pleasure it is to meet you at last."

"Masters," Leblanc answered. "You showed up."

"I’m a man of my word," the newly-dubbed-Masters said with a cold smile. "Am I to assume you are as well?"

"You’ll get your money once I get my shipment," the arms dealer answered.

"You have it," Masters answered glibly. 

Leblanc gave him a look and Masters smiled.

The arms dealer took out a phone and talked quietly in it for a few seconds before he snapped it close and turned towards Masters again.

"Would you look at that," Leblanc then said, "you really are a man of your word."

"As I said," the suited salt-and-pepper man deferred as he shrugged.

"Pity for you, I’m not," the arms dealer said with a smile, and Renee tensed but even as the goons raised their guns, Masters only sighed.

"What a shame," he said and then snapped his fingers. "Boys," he barked sharply. 

From the ground emerged a handful of giant neon green vultures wearing… were those fez hats?

Renee wasn’t the only one taken aback, as the goons stood gobsmacked for a second, and it was a second too long. As a group, the vultures all dove for the gun-toting goons and in a few seconds it was over.

Masters alone stood in the alley littered with still bodies. 

"I hate when my plans fall through," he muttered as he nudged one of the bodies laying on the floor. Then he continued, his voice pitched louder, "Make sure none of them remember about tonight."

One of the vulture straightened. "Will do, Boss."

"And get the ecto-guns back to the mansion," Masters added. 

The same vulture did a little salute before turning towards the other birds. "You heard the Boss, get to work!"

All the vultures scattered, with half of them flying off and the other half diving for the downed men, as they dove through them - no, Renee thought, it was more like they dove into them.

There were a few moments of stillness before all the birds flew right back out and then away to rejoin their flock.

"Where have the honest crooks gone," the man bemoaned to himself once he was alone once again, walking out of the alleyway. "This industry has gone to the dogs…"

As he disappeared from view, he was soon too far for Renee to catch his mutters and silence fell again.

After a few minutes, once she was sure they were alone, she turned to Charlie, with slightly wide eyes. "What the hell was that?"

"That," he answered with a gleam in his eyes, "is an excellent question."

[c-rowlesdraws]

oohhhh, a new recommended 5-hour-long video about how the star wars franchise is overall repetitive and shallow... I too believe this, but, crucially: do I yet care enough about star wars to watch a 5-hour video about a star wars opinion that I already know I agree with going in...

[om0000]

ahhh ermmm

[therichantsim]

Moving Forward S17.Ep:34

[flowerakatsuka]

kuroba isn't the only person on staff at yotsubana florals, say hello to the other employees of the store!

[ txt transcription + more info under the cut! ]

NANA MIDORIYO ( meant to sound similar to " nanmo da yo, " a phrase meaning " don't worry about it " in the Hokkaido dialect )

~ 26 years old • she / her • 5'1" ( 154.9 cm )

One of the employees at Yotsubana Florals and a college friend of Kuroba's. Originally from Furano, Hokkaido. Dreams of starting a flower farm, works at Kuroba's shop to save towards that goal. Has a fiance back in her hometown named Azuma Shiraki, ( meant to sound similar to " azumashi, " an adjective from the Hokkaido dialect that describes something as comfortable or calming. ) Very sweet and care-free, a bit air-headed at times. Was one of Kuroba's fans back in college, but after a certain " karaoke incident, " she befriended them once she realized they were pretty down-to-earth and easy to talk to. A bit of a busybody when it comes to others' romantic lives, especially Kuroba's

Comes from a big family that runs an osen in Furano, youngest of 5 kids and grew up around a lot of her extended family.

Azuma was a friend of hers since middle school, but didn't confess his feelings to her until she came back from college. They've been engaged for a little over a year, he plans to move to Tokyo once they're officially married and go to school for agricultural economics, ( he wants to be helpful with Nana's dream. )

Kuroba calls her " Nanamo. "

HISOKA KIBATSU ( meaning " secret " & " unusual " respectively )

~ 17 years old • he / him • 5'8" ( 172.7 cm )

Another employee of Yotsubana Florals, a 2nd year student at Akatsuka Highschool and a friend of Kuroba's younger brother, Keshiki. He's a member of the school's Beautification Committee and idolizes Kuroba after finding a hydrangea care guide they wrote up for the incoming underclassmen years ago. Hopes to study botany in college. Comes across as a reserved and serious kid, ( if not a bit of a hardass, ) but is actually on the strange side and only really cares about plants. This extends to his grades, with Science being the only subject he does well in. Collects floral-themed socks and wears them according to the flower's blooming period.

Only child, raised by a single working mother. Grew up in Tokyo, but lives outside of Akatsuka so he commutes to school by train, ( usually with Keshiki. )

He met Keshiki in their first year of highschool, when the latter stopped by the Beautification Committee to check it out despite not wanting to join. Hisoka told him to get lost since he was wasting their time, but switched up real quick once he heard someone call him " Yotsubana. " Despite that rough first meeting, they actually ended up getting along pretty well and became close since then.

Popular with girls, but is extremely indifferent about it and shrugs them off. This kinda pisses Keshiki off, ( like be grateful, damn it, ) but he usually shuts up once Hisoka tells him he'd rather hang out with him.

Kuroba usually calls him " Hisoka-kun " or " Hiso-kun. " Hisoka is very keen on calling them " Sensei " in return, even though they'd prefer he'd not. Also, has called them dad at least once and is forever embarrassed about it.

AAAAND, for a little bonus : here's what they think of the shop's most loyal loiter and temp employee.

[jonahmagnus]

Paranatural fandom rn

[eloquentsisyphianturmoil]

An official silm adaption would cut the whole Thangorodrim incident, and give fingon a wife and son

[red-revival]

Tbh I think just saying “increased appetite” on change lists with T truly doesn’t tell you just how much. So I’m gonna tell you how much for ppl considering starting T

A fucking lot. A “I’ve had an appetite-related eating disorder for years that I barely struggle with since starting T” lot. I am not kidding you will have so much of an appetite. You will be so hungry. Its genuinely incredible

And obviously it’s different for everyone but I just need ppl thinking of starting T to understand they are not fucking around when they say your appetite will increase. T makes you so hungry you will eat so much. Trust me on this please. Learn to make some nice filling meals, find fun ways to cook veggies, get some meat

[batsplat]

☕️ on marc/dani as teammates? bc so many ppl on here especially have such a simplified and maybe even rose-tinted view of their dynamic imo…..

hm yeah it's a tricky one because I do think there's a lot of genuine interpersonal fondness there that was forged in the aftermath of some equally genuine animosity. for me, it's that development that's particularly interesting... what I personally have always found the most appealing about this rivalry is just how ruthless marc as to someone he genuinely admired and considered one of his heroes or 'references'. like, I think it's a bit different from the dynamic with valentino because it's kind of... vale's the childhood hero vs dani as a rider who's ahead of you who you want to directly emulate in rising through the ranks. with valentino, marc didn't really think they'd ever be competing at the top of the sport because of how big the age gap was, but with dani? different story

which does affect the emotional approach, I reckon - you can admire them and still dream of beating them, you know? like, say you're fourteen years old in 2007 and are getting out your customised casey stoner voodoo doll while he's bitch slapping your two guys, what fantasies are you cooking up in your little brain about meeting your heroes? with valentino, it's probably him grinning at you while handing you your tenth consecutive motogp trophy and telling you how amazing you are... how you're his successor, the one carrying on his legacy... lots of daydreaming of him like, hyping you up after he's retired and calling you god's gift to motorcycle racing, etc etc. who knows, maybe marc was also fantasising about beating valentino in epic duels, but he wasn't really expecting to be fighting valentino, right? whereas with dani? oh yeah, marc might have thought he was great... but in an ideal world, he's ripping the crown off dani's head when dani's a three time defending motogp champion! so crucially marc wasn't blindsided by actually fighting him on-track, and was kinda more prepared for that to get ugly? dani acts as a 'direct' reference, where he's just a few years ahead and marc can see how it's done, basically. but what this still means... he'd admired this guy for years, he had posters of him and all that shit, but the moment they're direct competitors and teammates? all that is just... locked away. no interest no mercy, all he cares about is beating the guy. and marc did still talk about using dani as a reference point, about how much he'd learned from him... but of course that scary fast learning of his was all about beating dani

from dani's side... I'm glad he's gotten to a stage where he's at peace with his career, but. god, it must have been tough. at the end of 2012, he's the in-form rider - more so than jorge. he won six of the last eight races that year. incidentally, this is how jorge is talking before the 2013 season:

obviously, jorge is trying to fuck with dani here, but he's also not really wrong. all four of the aliens have got a lot going on early 2013, but if you had to point at the guy who is dealing with the most pressure? well, it's got to be dani, doesn't it. he was the one who still had something to prove in the premier class, who was now being thrown together with the super hyped rookie. this is how dani spoke about marc at the start of the year:

and here:

and then of course marc beat dani at qatar and then won at cota... granted, dani does a good job of keeping his head and regrouping for the next few races - but it was still an auspicious start, provoking a lot of discourse that wasn't particularly kind to dani. so in that first year, you've got all these different elements - you've got how marc is competing on-track, dani's injury, how marc is already attempting to assert himself within the team, how you've got the behind the scenes warfare between their two teams (again, see this article)... and then dani's issues with marc's actual riding (x, x). now, I think it's worth saying that aragon 2013 is not a case where marc has clearly fucked up. he makes a mistake, yes, but he couldn't have known the slight contact he made with dani would lead to that wire breaking and dani's highside. here's what dani said:

this is a case where different racing philosophies clash, right? what dani's saying is that what happened was a direct consequence of how marc approaches riding - that he's always flirting with contact and this time it finally went wrong. it's the kind of riding dani has consistently disliked, and it's something marc is the poster boy for. in this case, this crash essentially ends dani's title bid. he couldn't walk for three days afterwards. dani criticised race direction for choosing not to give marc a penalty (apart from the penalty points) - this was not something he just brushed off

and, look, you do have to bring it up... dani's experiences with sic will inevitably have influenced how he approached the marc rivalry. I mean, it kind of did for all of them - there's elements of that tragedy that will have bled into how valentino, jorge, dovi and dani reacted to marc. with casey, it's one of the reasons why marc never even had an on-track rivalry with him. now, obviously, dani had big, big issues with sic, a lot of tension including harsh comments in the press and refused handshakes and all of that, as a result of sic's very aggressive approaching to racing. dani was also the one who suffered the most as a direct result, in particular after the broken collarbone at le mans. he's spoken after sic's passing about his regret about how he handled that relationship... how it changed his approach to rivalries, that reminder that there might be things he'd never have the chance to fix

the other sic-related element is that of course, there were easy parallels to be drawn between him and marc, and his shadow did at times loom uncomfortably over debates over hard racing during that period. I think you can feel it most strongly in jorge's response to marc... the echoes of when jorge had gotten in a verbal clash with sic at one of the 2011 pressers and his frustration when his complaints were just laughed off by journalists:

this press conference was from the race before le mans, where sic was responsible for dani's broken collarbone. so if two years later, you've got marc publicly shrugging off jorge's complaints in an only slightly more respectful manner, how can you not be at least a little concerned? yes, marc did have a better feeling of where the limit was, he didn't really push things too far, but... this was still a very recent trauma for everyone and nobody knew how far marc would or wouldn't push it at the time. especially not after the kind of reputation he'd gotten himself in his 125cc/moto2 days. (though of course it's important to note that sic's death wasn't caused by his style of racing, and if anything he'd gotten more sensible in the latter stages of 2011). so the influence goes both ways, right? on the one hand, it all feels a bit too familiar, on the other... well, that's actually a reason why you probably don't want to be too harsh on this kid. because you never know

in the end, the tensest year of their teammate partnership was 2013 - because after that title was sealed marc had won. by the end of the year, it wasn't really dani's team any more. his internal position had already been de facto undermined by casey, but not to the same extent because casey wasn't really interested in playing these games - plus the end stretch of 2012 had definitely cemented dani's role in the team. I've already given most of my thoughts here about how marc takes control of that team, which inevitably touches on some of his nastier behaviour. lying about what parts suited him is the obvious example... he's a ruthless teammate, he openly admits to it. and obviously, dani wasn't always just fine with that. who would be? he's accepted that's part of who marc is as a competitor, and at the end of the day he also had to accept losing. sometimes you just gotta make your peace with a status quo, yeah? it's tricky to strike the balance between not losing the competitive edge and not letting losing to your young teammate year after year drive you insane... dani's always been quite good at focusing on himself, even if a lot of the time 'focusing on himself' involved 'recovering from some horrid injury'

so you know, it's nice that their relationship has gotten warmer since they've no longer been teammates, and for the most part they did keep things civil while they were directly working with each other. also, you do just get over things when you're no longer competing with someone... I've said this before, but there's really only a relatively small number of truly burnt bridges in the paddock ecosystem. thing is, it's quite impressive of dani to seemingly not hold any grudges over what marc did to him... but he easily could have, and it kinda would've been justifiable? it's also primarily down to dani that this teammate dynamic didn't get worse than it was... which, y'know, you can argue if that was the right or the wrong approach, but it also meant he increasingly had to accept a subordinate role within that team - become a non-problematic teammate that honda was happy to sign again. and then you've got marc, who spent years looking up to dani and then spent years being pretty vicious to him and never saw the slightest contradiction between those two things, because of course he didn't! and of course he still has some historical fondness for him as a result of once being his fan... which is an element that has gradually snuck to the foreground again after marc increasingly managed to dismiss dani as a competitive threat. overall, then, as teammates they had their early tensions, then they were 'reasonably friendly coworkers', now they get on quite well. over the course of his career, dani's hardly been immune to drama with other riders, but at the end of the day he's pretty feud-proof on the whole. what kind of a nutter would you have to be to start a feud with dani pedrosa, eh

[daydadahlias]

there is not a single prettier man on earth

[scarapanna]

[WIP] I FINISHED SKETCHING ALL THE 6 PANELS I'LL LINEART AND COLOUR FOR THE AU INFODUMP WOO

It's gonna take a while (Considering there's another pic I need to work on out of the 9 I've started shfhsh), but it's possible bsbfbs

[fineyoungcarnivores]

The 8 Primal Cuts of Beef — A Beginner’s Guide

One of the first steps to making smarter choices with beef — whether from your local butcher or other cattle farm, is understanding what cuts come from where on a cow. This helps you understand typical fat content, uses, and get an idea of why some cuts are pricier than others.

There’s a lot of jargon in beef. From hanger steaks to delmonico steaks, there are a lot of terms to remember. Today, we’re going to start with the fundamental 8 primal cuts you need to know.

These are the 8 parts of the cow (steer) that all American butchers organize their cuts from, and if you’re looking to cut your own steaks, save money on volume, buy in bulk for a large gathering, or buy wholesale for a restaurant, this is your first step to understanding the steer.

The 8 primal cuts of beef:

• Chuck

• Rib

• Loin

• Round

• Flank

• Plate

• Brisket

• Shank

Within each of the 8 primal cuts are what are known as “sub-primal cuts”. These are just specific names for large parts within each primal cut. Within each sub-primal cut are the “portion cuts”, which are the consumer-facing portions you see in stores.

We’ll cover what each primal cut is and include some of the sub-primal and portion cuts found within each primal. We’ll also provide rough weights and percentages based on a 1,300-pound steer [*].

1. Chuck

Portion of the cattle carcass: 29%

Average weight after fat and bone loss: 198.4lbs

Chuck is the primal cut that includes the shoulder of the steer and is arguably the most versatile cut. It’s delicious, plentiful, and used in a wide variety of cooking applications.

The chuck primal is rich in meat and marbling, which helps add flavor and tenderize the surrounding meat. Although rich in flavor, chuck cuts are not as tender as the elegant middle steak primals; consequently, they are perfectly suited to pot roasts and braising cooking.

This primal cut is also the most popular source for ground beef, thanks to its rich flavor and its balance of meat and fat. Over half of the chuck is typically harvested for ground beef.

Chuck subprimals

The chuck’s sub-primals are the chuck roll, chuck eye, chuck short ribs, chuck tender, clod top blade, clod heart, and teres major.

Chuck portion cuts

Portion cuts from the chuck primal include ground beef, cubed beef, shoulder center roast, and chuck eye steak.

Chuck can be cooked about any way you like. If you’re using chuck ground beef, fire up the grill and have some burgers. If you go with the shoulder center roast, try braising it since chuck can be a bit tougher than other cuts.

2. Rib

Portion of the cattle carcass: 9%

Average weight after fat and bone loss: 63.2lbs

The rib primal includes the meat cut from the ribs and backbone of the cow. Rib meat has a distinctive, sought-after flavor and is more expensive than many other cuts.

This primal is the source, as you might expect, for ribs. Although there are 13 pairs of ribs, only ribs six through 12 fall into the rib primal. (One through five are part of the chuck cut and the 13th rib is part of the loin.)

Rib subprimals

The rib’s sub-primals are the ribeye roll, peeled cap, beef rib / blade meat, and short ribs.

Rib portion cuts

Portion cuts from the rib primal include the ribeye roast and steak, prime rib, the rib short ribs, the ribeye petite steak, and ribeye filet.

Popular cuts like prime rib, short rib, and ribeye steak do best with high, direct heat and short cooking times, but the back ribs are best suited for indirect cooking methods like smoking.

3. Loin

Portion of the cattle carcass: 16%

Average weight after fat and bone loss: 99.5lbs

Because this primal is from some of the least-used muscles of the cow, meat from this cut is particularly tender. As a result, these cuts do not require long cooking times and are often the most expensive.

Loin subprimals

The loin’s sub-primals are the butt tender, peeled tenderloin, strip loin, top butt, ball tip, tri-tip, and bottom sirloin flap. Looking to cut your own steaks? Try our 100% grass-fed whole primal striploin.

Loin portion cuts

Portion cuts from the loin primal include the t-bone steak, filet mignon, delmonico steak, ny strip steak, sirloin roast, porterhouse steak, and tri-tip roast.

Loin cuts take well to open flame and other direct heat methods. Some of the loin cuts are the priciest cuts on the steer, so we recommend cooking them medium-rare to get the most flavor.

4. Round

Portion of the cattle carcass: 22%

Average weight after fat and bone loss: 140.9lbs

The round is cut from the rear of the cow, including the hind shank and the rump. Because the round is so lean and doesn’t have as much marbling, your cooking method will vary depending on the subprimal cut.

You can slice the round into 5/8 inch thick steaks for country fried round steaks. The round can also be separated into sections or seamed out into the Top, Bottom, and Eye of Round. The top can be cut 1 ½-2 inch thick steaks and makes for a fantastic London Broil, and the Bottom Round is often used for corned beef.

Round subprimals

The round’s subprimals are the round tip, top round, bottom round, and rump.

Round portion cuts

Portion cuts from the round primal include the bottom round steak, eye of round steak, top round roast, and round tip steak.

Meat from the round tends to be very lean and not as tender — making it best suited for moist cooking. There are exceptions to this: London broil is delicious when grilled, and sirloin tip and sirloin sandwich steaks are light, healthy meats that require minimum preparation times.

Any of the round items makes for a wonderful beef roast, too. Just remember to serve it medium and slice it thin. If you’re a jerky fan, any of the round pieces make great jerky, too. Just remove all fat and silver skin before drying it.

5. Flank

Portion of the cattle carcass: <1%

Average weight after fat and bone loss: 4.6lbs

The flank is the primal cut just below the loin primal, so it is the “bottom most” primal excluding the little bit of meat you can collect from the shank (legs) of the cow. Flank has been historically cheap but with lean meat on the rise, flank has inflated in price.

Flank subprimals

The flank’s subprimals are just the flank.

Flank portion cuts

Portion cuts from the rib primal are just the flank steak and any ground beef the butcher collects.

This cut requires a bit of love and attention, but it can be worth it. It’s wonderful baked, and make sure you give it a good marinade to tenderize the meat.

6. Plate

Portion of the cattle carcass: <2%

Average weight after fat and bone loss: 9.2lbs

The plate primal (also called the short plate) is located under the rib primal, close to the stomach of the cow. The cuts from the plate are slightly tough and therefore better prepared with moist cooking methods. It is generally a cheap cut of meat, and a leaner plate can be used for beef bacon. Most butchers use the plate for ground beef, though.

Plate subprimals

The plate’s subprimals and portion cuts are one in the same. Since there isn’t a lot of meat in the plate, it is cut directly into portion cuts or ground into ground beef.

Plate portion cuts

Portion cuts from the plate primal include the hanger steak, short ribs, skirt steak, and beef bacon.

Low and slow is the name of the game with the plate primal. This meat is inexpensive, tough, and takes best to moist cooking methods.

(Jingo's commentary- think of this like brisket but not as thick and more ribby rich flavor. This is one of the primals used to cure beef bacon. Yes I know it says that up there but this is important)

7. Brisket

Portion of the cattle carcass: 11%

Average weight after fat and bone loss: 27.6lbs

The brisket primal is from the front of the animal beneath the chuck primal. It’s essentially the breast meat of the cow. Because cuts from the brisket are among the less tender, they are best suited for moist cooking methods like braising, stewing, and steaming.

Common cuts from the brisket primal include the brisket point and brisket flat. The point is fattier and better suited for pot roast, and the flat is a bit leaner and better for square cuts and corned beef.

Brisket subprimals

The brisket’s subprimals are simply the brisket.

Brisket portion cuts

Portion cuts from the brisket primal include the point cut and flat cut.

Brisket is famously delicious but also known to be tough and sinewy. To combat this and unlock the unique meaty flavor of the brisket, you should stick to moist cooking methods like braising, smoking, steaming, and stewing.

(Jingo's commentary- if it is tough, then you fucked up. Fact statement. There are techniques. Ask me and we will start up a thread and get a bunch of the boys to do a brisket bull session. Second bit, this is one of the primals you can use for beef bacon. Yes...you heard me. Beef bacon. Assume that an angel's choir just fired up)

8. Shank

Portion of the cattle carcass: 10%

Average weight after fat and bone loss: 40.3lbs

Meat from the shank primal is some of the toughest; as a result, most stores and retailers do not offer cuts from this primal. If you do get some, it is great for marrow and lean ground beef, but in general, it is so tough and sinewy it’s difficult to get much more out of it. Other miscellaneous pieces that are sometimes harvested include the kidneys.

Shank subprimals

The shank’s subprimals include marrow bones and ground beef.

Shank portion cuts

Apart from the bones and a little bit of beef, most retailers don’t sell shank. Beef kidneys are fairly popular, though.

The best use for a shank is to use them to make beef broth or to cook them low and slow in a dish like osso buco. Because shank has such little fat, you’ll need to cook it for a long time to make it worth it.

(Jingo's commentary on shank, not part of the article - adding shank to almost any crock pot meal, up to and including chili is outstanding. The steak from that area is fine but it is the bone marrow is what you want. The amount of satiety you will get from high amounts of bone marrow in solution in dishes will shock you. Even higher satiety...long term satiety is even better than even the fattiest meal you have ever had. It also helps to act as a binder and a bit of a food glue if that makes sense. If you don't want to buy flank steaks, ask the meat counter guys about cross cut large bones and throw them any slow cooker meal. It is so good, good for you and will help tighten up that loose skin as you loose weight.)

Credit Nathan Phelps

Congratulations on getting to the end. Here is your reward

(There are tonnes of additions I would make and things said in the article I would disagree with but it is a good general guide)