Cut across the grain of meat when possible.
Use sharp knives and saws for speed and good workmanship.
Keep the cutting table orderly and have a place for everything.
Be clean and sanitary in all operations.
There are different ways to cut the fore- and hindquarters of beef depending on its use, the wishes of the consumers, and the quality of the carcass. Poor-quality meat is normally used for further processing, while higher-quality and thicker-fleshed carcasses are used as fresh meat in the form of steaks and roasts.
Halving
Halving is done immediately after the animal has been dressed and every effort should be made to saw the carcass into equal sides through the centre of the backbone.
Quartering or ribbing down is the division of a side of beef between the twelfth and thirteenth ribs into fore-and hindquarters. One rib is usually left on the hindquarter to hold the shape of the loin and to make it easier to cut steaks.
Dividing between the twelfth and thirteenth ribs splits the carcass almost in quarters, usually with slightly heavier forequarters. Make this cut straight and neat. Locate the exact place between the ribs on the inside of the carcass and make the cut about 5 cm from the midline at the flank. The flank part should be left attached until the quarter is ready to be carried to the cutting table. Then saw the backbone, making the cut even with the incision that was made with the knife to produce a smooth and attractive appearances to the small end of the loin. Make this cut from the inside. The large muscle exposed when this cut is made is the “eye of beef” in which most of the quality characteristics of the meat can be seen including colour, marbling, firmness and texture. High-quality beef will have a bright cherry-red colour, some intramuscular fat or marbling, be firm to the touch and fine in texture.
When the person carrying the meat has a firm grip on the forequarter, the small strip of flesh holding the quarters together should be cut. With some practice and experience, one can learn to carry a forequarter easily by holding below the shank so that the full weight of the quarter is on the carrier's shoulder when it is cut down. By taking a step forward as the cut is being made, it is easier to have the quarter drop with the right proportion of weight on the shoulder. The right forequarter should be carried on the left shoulder and the left forequarter on the right shoulder. When placing the forequarter on the cutting table, always have the inside up.
Bone-in method
Common wholesale or primal cuts of beef from the forequarter are the square-cut chuck, shank, brisket, plate and rib, and from the hindquarter the flank, loin and round. The kidney knob consisting of kidney and fat is removed from the loin. Since the hindquarter contains a higher proportion of tender cuts, it is usually in greater demand and returns higher prices.
Forequarter.
The first cut to make is between the fifth and sixth ribs counting from the neck back. This cut is made parallel with the ribs and produces a cross-cut chuck consisting of a square-cut chuck (also called chuck and blade), foreshank and brisket. Next the foreshank and brisket are removed by cutting through the first sternal cartilage (the first soft segment of the breastbone), and making the cut almost parallel with the backbone of the carcass.
Foreshank.
The foreshank is separated from the brisket by following the natural connective tissue seam between the muscles with a knife. The foreshank can then be sawn into small pieces to be used for soup stock or the lean may be removed and used for ground meat.
Brisket.
The brisket, boned and made into a roll, can be used either as a pot roast or can be cured (corned).
Square-cut chuck.
This wholesale cut contains the first five ribs of the forequarter and may be sawn into steaks or roasts. Several cuts are usually made across the bottom or shank end of the chuck resulting in arm steaks or roasts. The chuck is then turned and cuts are made parallel with the ribs, resulting in blade steaks and roasts. If the carcass is of high quality and thickly fleshed, steaks cut from the rib end of the chuck or across the arm bone will be highly desirable. Blade cuts to be used as roasts should contain two or three ribs and should be trimmed as for standing rib roasts, although for convenience in carving all bones may be removed. The portions nearest the neck usually have more connective tissue and are recommended for simmering rather than for steaks and roasts.
Only the neck remains to be processed. It is usually severed at a point where it enlarges to meet the shoulder. The neck contains a large amount of bone and connective tissue and is generally used for simmering, corning or grinding. All bloody portions should be trimmed off before other cutting is done.
Short plate.
The cut to divide the short plate from the rib is made 18–25 cm from the inside edge of and parallel with the chine or backbone. This division varies according to the thickness of the carcass. With a thick carcass, the cut may be made further down the ribs, and with a thin carcass nearer the spinal column.
The plate may be used for different purposes, but it is commonly used for stews or further processing. Short ribs, which are suited for broiling, are also cut from the upper portion of the plate, usually about 5–8 cm in length. If the plate is to be used for corning, all of the ribs should be removed. If used for stews, the ribs can be left in and the plate sawn crosswise into small pieces. The plate can also be boned and the meat used for ground meat or sausage products. Before cutting the plate in any way, remove the tough membrane lining the inner portion below where the ribs join the breastbone.
Rib.
The rib cut is made up of the rear seven ribs in the forequarter. This is the most valuable piece of meat from the forequarter because it is the most tender and has the least amount of bone. It has a large bundle of muscle fibre that runs parallel to the backbone.
There are several different ways to prepare the rib cut for cooking as a roast. It may also be used for steaks. It may be prepared as a bonein, folded or rolled roast. If prepared as a bone-in roast, the superior spinous processes of the vertebrae or featherbones are loosened from the meat and then cut off with a saw. In making this cut, keep the knife as close to the bone as possible to avoid removing the thin lining that surrounds the bundle of muscle fibre next to the bone. With the saw, cut across the ribs at intervals of about 8 cm, just deep enough to cut through the ribs. Also remove the yellow connective tissue or ligament found between the outer covering and the layer of muscle.
The only difference between bone-in and a folded rib roast is that a small 5-cm piece of rib is removed so that the thin end of the cut may be folded and skewered to the heavy portion. This simply makes a neater, more compact package.
Hindquarter.
Place the hindquarter on the cutting table with the inside of the carcass up because the first cut made is to remove the kidney knob from the inside of the loin. (However, loosening of meat cuts is also possible from the hanging beef side or beef quarter.)
Kidney knob.
Begin removing the kidney fat at the lower end and loosen it with a knife where it is attached to the loin, leaving a thin covering on the inside of the loin and being careful not to cut into the tenderloin muscle.
Flank.
Remove the flank next by cutting into the scrotum or udder, following the round muscle and cutting close enough so little of the lean meat is taken from in front of the stifle joint. Continue cutting along and below the outer portion of the line of the kidney fat, or in a straight line to leave 10 cm of the thirteenth rib in the flank. This cut may vary with the thickness of the carcass and is lowest in thick or heavy carcasses.
The tough membrane covering the inside of the flank must be removed by cutting off a thin strip on the lower side and then peeling off the membrane. A small piece of lean meat on the inside of the end portion of the flank, weighing 1.2–1.4 kg, is known as the flank steak. This heavy bundle of muscle fibres is dry and if used for steak is often scored on both sides, marinated or sliced thin to make it more tender and desirable as a steak. The entire defatted flank may be used for stew or ground beef or rolled around stuffing and pot-roasted.
Round.
The round and loin are divided at about the fourth sacral joint in the spinal column to almost parallel with the back end of the round, or to about 5 cm in front of the stifle joint. The aim is to cut the tip of the ball-and-socket bone in the hip joint, cutting off a piece about 2.5 cm in diameter. The round includes the rump, round cushion (consisting of knuckle piece and inside round muscle or topside), outside round muscle (also called bottom round muscle or silverside) and hind shank.
Remove the rump by cutting just below the exposed pelvic or aitchbone. The rump usually has a large amount of bone. The most desirable piece of rump is cut from the upper portion and is composed of eye and bottom round muscles. The removal of bone and tying the rump means that it requires less oven space and is easier to carve.
Round steak is cut in comparatively thin slices from the full round after removal of the rump. The choicest round steaks are cut from the centre section.
The remaining portion is made up of the hind shank and the piece called the heel of the round. The heel of round is used as a pot roast and is removed by cutting close to the bone and tearing away as much meat as possible from the backside. The shank can be sawn into pieces to be used for soup stock.
Loin. The loin is usually completely sawn into steaks beginning at the large end. Sirloin steaks are cut first and the first three or four are known as wedge or round bone sirloin steaks. These are the least desirable pieces of the sirloin. The last sirloin is cut where the hip-bone is separated from the spinal column and the steak cut there is known as the hip-or pin-bone sirloin steak.
The small portion of the loin known as the short loin is the source of Tbone steaks. This area contains the two most tender muscles in the whole carcass, namely, the loin eye muscle above the bone and the tenderloin muscle below the bone. T-bone steaks are cut to about 10 cm from the end of the short loin. This tip portion can either be used as a roast or be cut into rib steaks. Rib steak from the short loin is identified by the piece of the thirteenth rib remaining on it.
When beef is to be cured and dried, pieces should be taken from either the chuck or the round. If the round is used, remove the rump and follow the procedure for muscle boning. If taken from the chuck, use the heavy muscle lying over the outside of the shoulder-blade commonly known as shoulder clod.
Muscle-boning method
One excellent approach to the cutting up of meat animal carcasses which is becoming more popular and utilized by large meat processors is the procedure commonly referred to as “muscle-boning”. While this procedure is particularly adaptable to large carcasses such as beef, it can be successfully used on carcasses or cuts of any size. Muscle-boning is also popular among hunters who do not have meat saws but who want to cut up a whole carcass with a knife while removing the bone that would otherwise fill valuable freezer space. Any animal carcass with a complete and thick layer of subcutaneous or cover fat would have to have most of the fat removed in order to expose the muscles. Once the fat is removed, a boning knife can be used to separate each large individual muscle or group of muscles. This is done along the seams of connective tissue that encases each muscle. Once separated the muscle mass is then cut from the bone, thus the term “muscle-boning”. The advantages of this procedure are numerous; however, the principal reasons for using it are to obtain small-sized portions for sale or preparation; to permit each muscle or muscle combination to be treated or prepared according to its individual characteristics of size, tenderness, flavour or fibre orientation; and to remove much of the bone and fat that would otherwise take up packaging and storage space.
Directions for muscle-boning a side of beef are given here. Initially for muscle-boning, the side of beef is divided into fore-and hindquarters as described for the bone-in method. Also, both the fore-and hindquarters are placed on the cutting table with the inside up. One muscle-boning method is as follows:
Forequarter.
The forequarter is sawn into square-cut chuck, foreshank, brisket, rib and plate as in the bone-in method.
Foreshank.
The foreshank has attached to it, behind the elbow joint, a relatively large, thick piece of muscle. This is usually cut out by following the connective tissue seams and produces a fairly large triangular-shaped cut correctly identified as boneless arm roast. The remainder of the foreshank can be sawn into soup bones or can be separated into bone and soft tissue with a knife. The soft tissue is composed of muscle, fat and a large amount of connective tissue which is best utilized as ground meat.
Brisket.
The ribs and sternum are lifted from the inside of the brisket and the excess fat is removed. The brisket can either be rolled and tied to be used as a pot roast or it can be cured.
Square-cut chuck.
The neck is sawn from the chuck and trimmed of bone, fat and the large prescapular lymph gland. The boneless neck can be utilized as a pot roast; however, it is more often cut into cubes for stew or ground meat.
From the large remaining portion of the chuck, the ribs and feather bones (superior spinous processes) are removed with a knife and the heavy, yellow connective tissue or elastin is removed from the top of the cut. With a knife the thick portion is then separated into outside and inside portions by following the inside or smooth side of the blade-bone which is then lifted from the outside piece along with what remains of the arm bone. The inside portion which contains some of the rib eye muscle is often rolled and tied to be used as a pot roast. There is a part of the outside chuck, a muscle that somewhat resembles the tenderloin muscle in size and shape but not in tenderness, which is often cut into steaks known as chuck fillets.
Rib.
The rib is prepared by first sawing across the rib bones to facilitate the removal of both the backbone and the ribs with the knife. Another procedure often used to bone out a rib is carefully with a sharp knife to loosen the small strip of meat found between the ribs. The ribs are then loosened by cutting close to the bone and removed by striking with a blunt instrument. After removing all bones and the heavy yellow connective tissue, the meat may be rolled into a tight bundle with the thin portion on the outside and tied tightly. Preparing ribs in this way makes for convenient carving and requires less cooking and storage space. About 25 percent of the initial rib weight is lost when the bones are removed. The boneless rib may also be sliced into boneless rib steaks.
Plate.
After the heavy connective tissue lining is peeled from the inside of the plate, the bones are removed and the lean meat cubed for stew or prepared for grinding in a way similar to the trimming of the brisket.
Hindquarter.
As a first step, the kidney and accompanying fat are removed from the hindquarter carefully with a knife so as not to cut into the tenderloin muscle. The hindquarter is then separated into flank, round and loin as described in the bone-in method.
Flank.
Remove the flank by cutting into the scrotum or udder, following the round muscle and cutting close enough so that little lean meat is taken from the front of the stifle joint. Continue cutting along and below the outer portion of the line of the kidney fat in a straight line and saw through the thirteenth rib. Again the flank steak is removed as described in the bone-in method.
Round.
The round and loin are separated with a saw as described in the bone-in method. The pelvic bone is removed from the round and the muscle sections of the round are exposed.
Muscle-boning the round means that the large muscle masses of the round are separated from each other by following the natural connective tissue seams. In front of the stifle joint, the tip or knuckle piece is removed, then the topside or inside round muscle, and then the remaining silverside or bottom round muscles. The latter is often divided and the eye of the round removed separately. All of the separated muscles may then be used as roasts or sliced into steaks. Muscle-boning is particularly useful when beef is prepared for roasting for large groups such as pit barbecuing.
Hind shank.
The hind shank, somewhat like the foreshank, has a large muscle group attached to it that can be removed and utilized as a pot roast. This cut is sometimes referred to as the “duck” of beef.
Loin.
The tenderloin muscle is carefully cut from the inside of the loin and usually cut into individual steaks. The remainder of the loin is then sawn just in front of the hip-bone into the short loin and sirloin sections. The bone is removed from the sirloin which is a somewhat complicated procedure because the pelvic bone is fused with the backbone. The short loin is boned and the muscle that is known as boneless top loin is usually cut into boneless top loin steaks.
On-the-rail boning
This is a modification of the muscle-boning method. Typical for on-the-rail boning is the hanging position of the hindquarter or the entire beef side during the boning procedure. The removal of the different meat cuts from the hanging carcass is considerably facilitated. Beef cuts can easily be pulled downwards under their own weight after cutting them free along their natural connective tissue seams. Special hooks with handles used by the operators are an additional aid for the correct fixation of the cuts during boning.
On-the-rail boning is the most hygienic way of meat cutting. Contamination by hands of operators, tools, cutting-boards, etc. is less than with other methods.
The technique is also suitable for smaller operations. Final trimming of the meat cuts takes place on cutting tables as usual.
When meat cuts are produced by muscle-boning it is often difficult to identify them, primarily because traditionally the size and shape of the accompanying bone has been used as the major means of identification. Also, the traditional shape of muscle in a cut of meat is often determined because of its attachment to bone. Many conventional cuts of meat combine muscles because of their association, size and proximity to bone or general location. The basic principle of merchandising meat is to separate the tender from the less tender and to sell each according to its palatability characteristics and its possible method of preparation. Muscle-boning facilitates this type of merchandising.
In the book 'Guidelines for Slaughtering, Meat Cutting and Further Processing' published by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), Rome, 1991. Edited to be posted by LC.
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