Anyone who cooks beef eventually wonders where the major cuts on the cow originate. The locations of popular beef cuts like chuck, rib, loin, and brisket are illustrated in this practical guide. Additionally, you’ll learn which cuts are thought to be the best and the most dependable methods of cooking each one.
How Is Beef Made Into Ground Beef?
Interestingly, I came across the query “is there cow poop in ground beef” while compiling this article. There is no cow poop in ground beef!.
Cutting a whole beef chuck, which resembles muscle, into smaller pieces produces ground beef.
After that, the chuck is put into a meat grinder to be cut up into smaller pieces.
Additionally, ground beef may include beef fat trimmings that have been thoroughly ground to blend in with the ground beef.
What Part of the Cow Is Ground Beef?
To produce ground beef, various cow parts are utilized. Therefore, any large cow muscle could be ground beef.
However, chuck, round, brisket, and sirloin are the most widely used cuts of beef for ground beef.
The lower portion of the cow’s belly, below the loin, is where the flank cut is located.
The names beef steak, flank steak fillet, bavette, jiffy steak, and London broil are also used to refer to flank.
These flank cut scraps can be used to make ground beef.
Although flank cuts can be very tough, use caution when purchasing ground beef made from them.
The chuck primal is located on the upper portion of the animal and extends from the neck to the fifth rib.
For ground beef, bone-in chuck cuts are preferred because they are flavorful and not overly fatty.
Check scraps can also be used to fabricate ground beef. Chuck is most commonly used to make 80-85% lean beef.
Plate cuts appear on the animal’s belly’s underside, similar to flank cuts. However, they are closer to the ribs.
Skirt steak and hanger steak are popular plate cuts. However, plate ribs can also be used to make stew meat, short ribs, and pastrami.
Typically, ground beef is made from the leftovers from plate cuts. When buying ground beef made from plate cuts, use caution because they are tough and fatty.
Near the back of the steer, in the area of the loin, are sirloin cuts. In particular, the loin primal is divided into the beef cuts sirloin and short loin.
The sirloin connects the hip region to the ends of the pelvic socket. Sirloin is a tender yet flavorful cut of beef.
This is a great option even though sirloin scraps are typically used to make ground beef, especially if you prefer lean ground beef.
Round steak cuts are the back of the cow. From the top of the leg to the rump and the hind shank, the round primal extends.
Although it might seem like the round’s meat is tough, it is actually lean and tender.
Round steak scraps or cuts can be used to make ground beef. But be cautious when purchasing ground beef made from round cuts.
Because round cuts are generally low in fat, they will quickly dry out, and no one wants to eat dry ground beef.
Ground Beef Fat Percentages
After discussing the various cow parts from which ground beef can be sourced, let’s talk about the various fat contents of ground beef.
According to its meat-to-fat ratio, ground beef can also be divided into different groups.
Understanding the fat percentage will help you determine what part of the cow the ground beef comes from, even though it may seem irrelevant.
All of the aforementioned cuts are divided into various varieties of ground beef with various levels of fat.
Essentially this batch of ground beef contains 70% meat and 30% of fat Regular ground beef is made with scraps and trimmings from the cow and is a 70/30 blend.
Fat adds a lot of flavor to ground beef. As a result, 70/30 beef has a beefy flavor that is ideal for taco meat or barbecued burgers.
80/20 ground beef is made from ground chuck, more specifically, scraps from the chuck roast, which is located in the back of the shoulder.
When buying 80/20 ground beef at the grocery store, it is almost always identified as lean ground beef. 80/20 ground beef is perfect for meatloaf, burgers, or meatballs.
Typically, 85/15 ground beef is fabricated from the round primal. To be more precise, 85/15 ground beef is made from beef that is removed from the back of the cow, just above the tail.
While 85/15 ground beef is undoubtedly tender, its low levels of fat prevent it from being as moist.
Therefore, 85/10 ground beef is ideal for chili, meat sauce, or any dish containing sauce and ground beef.
(0/10 ground beef is usually fabricated from the sirloin. Less than 5 grams of fat are present in every 100 grams of extra lean ground beef made from sirloin.
Even less juicy than 85/15 ground beef is 90/10. It will therefore require a lot of seasonings, such as herbs or spices.
Additionally, more oil will be needed to ensure that the ground beef doesn’t dry out.
You can confidently choose the appropriate type of ground beef now that you are aware of what part of the cow ground beef is.
Additionally, you have a profound comprehension and appreciation, which will be evident the following time you prepare a dish with ground beef.
Additionally, you can inform your friends and family about what you learned from this article.
You might also be interested in the following:
How a Cow (Humanely) Becomes a Burger
FAQ
What cut of beef is used for ground beef?
Although any beef cut can be used to make ground beef, chuck steak is a preferred option due to its flavorful texture and high meat-to-fat ratio. Round steak is also often used.
What part of the cow is in McDonald’s burgers?
False Many people started to speculate that, among other parts, cow eyeballs were used as filler in the patties of McDonald’s hamburgers. As it turns out, the company uses meat from the shoulder, chuck, brisket, rib eye, loin, and round instead of grinding up the entire cow to make the burgers.
Is ground beef from one cow?
Our premium ground beef is 1 Source, which means it comes from a single traceable animal. Up to 1,000 different cows from various nations can be used to make other commercial ground beef.