Those who watched last week’s Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards Webinar: Ready, Set, Plate! got a master class from Master Meat Crafter Gregory Burrowes. Indeed, we now fully understand why his burgers taste so good! There’s so much to learn about the meat from a cow, from the primal cuts — the main areas of the animal which include the loin, rib, round, flank, chuck, sirloin, brisket — to when they are broken down into sub-primal cuts, including specific steaks and chops — flank steak, flat iron steak, filet mignon and rib-eye.

There are eight main cuts of beef — chuck, rib, loin (short loin and sirloin), round, flank, short plate, brisket and shank.

Chuck cuts

Chuck meat comes from the cow’s shoulder. Cows use their shoulder a lot, so it’s a tougher cut of beef. However, it’s also a very flavourful cut, and butchers cut it in a variety of ways so you have lots of options.

The types of cuts you’ll see for chuck are ground chuck (hamburger), flat-iron steak, chuck short ribs, shoulder tender medallions, chuck pot roast, blade roast, boneless chuck short ribs, stew meat, country style ribs, and top blade steak, just to name a few.

Rib cuts

Ribs have lots of flavour and marbling. The types of cuts you’ll see for ribs are Delmonico steak, boneless rib-eye roast, cowboy steak, rib-eye steaks and beef short ribs.

Choose ribs when you want a tender cut of beef with extra marbling.

Loin, short loin, strip loin cuts

These are usually leaner cuts of beef, best grilled or fried, and work better with high heat. It’s the T-bone and Porterhouse steaks, the tenderloins, cuts of meat that respond better to dry heat cooking.

Round cuts

The round is a lean and inexpensive cut. It’s found at the cow’s rump and hind legs, so it’s sometimes tough. Round is often sold as ground beef. Other common cuts are round steak, eye of round, tip steak, tip roast, top round and bottom round roasts.

Plate

The plate, or short plate, is the other source of short ribs and it’s found near the abdomen. It is fattier. Make fajitas, pastrami, skirt steak, Philadelphia steak and short ribs with this cut and you’ll be happy with the results.

Flank

The flank is located below the loin. It has no bones, and is very flavourful but also very tough.

Popular flank cuts are flank steak and London broil.

Brisket cuts

The brisket is made up of two different muscles: the point and the flat. The point cut is the fatty part of the brisket, which is called the deckle. The flat cut, also known as the “first cut”, has the deckle removed, which makes it leaner and causes it to lie flat.

Shank

The shank is located at the animal’s forearm in front of the brisket. It is one of the toughest cuts. Make stews and soups with the shank.