Anyone who has looked in a butcher’s cabinet window or the beef section of the supermarket knows that there are lots of different beef cuts available. Each cut has varying taste and flavour profiles, and recommended cooking methods.
Some of the popular grain fed beef cuts include:
Rump Steak Rarely a pub menu is without this favourite cut. Great value with hearty flavour, grain fed rump is perennially popular with meat lovers who appreciate its lean, firm and flavoursome texture.
Sirloin/Porterhouse/New York Striploin
Often called the steak lovers’ steak, this cut is picked for its lean and tender qualities. Cooked well it’s extremely well flavoured and retains its desirable juiciness.
Fillet/Eye Fillet/Tenderloin The most tender of all cuts, fillet/eye fillet is one of the most prized of steaks. In term of leanness nothing else can match this cut, complemented by a milder and more subtle flavour profile.
Rib Fillet/Scotch Fillet/Boneless Rib Eye When you think of juicy tenderness and rich, meaty flavour, the rib eye is one of the first cuts to come to mind. No wonder it’s one of the most popular grain fed steaks in Australia.
T-bone Steak One of the most unusual yet popular cuts available. Featuring a tender fillet muscle on the smaller side of the bone and a juicy sirloin on the other, Grain fed T-bone is a true-blue Aussie favourite.
Brisket Brisket is a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest. The brisket is perfect for slow cooking to create tenderness and create a delicious flavour. When it comes to brisket, more fat is a good thing as it helps to keep the meat moist.
Chuck Chuck is one of the eight primal cuts and consists of the shoulder area of the cow. This cut is best for slow cooking, making it great for casseroles and curries.
Shank Alternatively referred to as beef shin, the shank is a cut of beef taken from the lower leg. Flavour is pleasingly robust, and when slow-cooked, the gristle will transform to jelly and moisten the cut beautifully. This grain fed cut is sold as bone-in or boneless medallion-shaped pieces of meat, perfect for osso bucco.
Have a look at the video and see Blackbird Bar & Grill’s executive chef, Jake Nicholson, explain some of the popular grain fed beef cuts that professionals work with.