Cuts

Before the wholesalers, meat cutters in the processing plant divide all meat into standard,

convenient sections they call primal or wholesale cuts. This helps not only the butcher but the

cook. Except for organ meat and ground meat, every meat label states from which section that

cut came.

Beef is commonly divided into seven primal cuts:

Chuck

Rib

Loin (includes short loin and sirloin)

Round

Brisket

Plate

Flank

Veal has five primal cuts:

shoulder

rib (rack)

loin

leg

breast with shank

Pork has four primal cuts:

shoulder (including the butt and picnic)

loin

leg (ham)

belly

Lamb has six primal cuts:

shoulder

rack

loin

leg

flank

breast with foreshank

TASTINGS Is it a steak or a chop?

Do you know the difference between a steak and a chop? These are old terms

from times when butchers cut meat with hand tools. Any meat that had bones thin

enough for the butcher to chop into slices with a hand tool he called a chop.

Anything that he had to saw through was a steak.

Preserving Quality

Because meat animals are often too large for one or two meals, our ancestors had to

devise ways to preserve it for weeks and months without deteriorating its quality.

Serious Kitchen Play