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American primal cuts

The following is a list of the American primal cuts. Beef carcasses are split along the axis of symmetry into "halves", then across into front and back "quarters" (forequarters and hindquarters). 

Forequarter cuts

• The chuck is the source of bone-in chuck steaks and roasts (arm or blade), and boneless clod steaks and roasts, most commonly. The trimmings and some whole boneless chucks are ground for hamburgers. 
• The rib contains part of the short ribs, the rib eye steaks and prime rib, and standing rib roasts. 
• The brisket is used for barbecue, corned beef and pastrami. 
• The fore shank or shank is used primarily for stews and soups; it is not usually served any other way due to it being the toughest of the cuts. 
• The plate is the other source of short ribs, used for pot roasting, and the outside skirt steak, which is used for fajitas. The remainder is usually ground, as it is typically a cheap, tough, and fatty meat. 

Hindquarter cuts

The loin has two sub-primals, or three if boneless:

• the short loin, from which club, T-bone, and Porterhouse Steaks are cut if bone-in, or strip loin (N.Y. strip) and filet mignon if boneless, 
• the sirloin, which is less tender than short loin, but more flavorful, and can be further divided into top sirloin and bottom sirloin (including tri-tip), and 
• the tenderloin, which is the most tender. It can be removed as a separate sub-primal, and cut into fillets, tournedos or tenderloin steaks or roasts (such as for beef Wellington), or can be left on wedge or flat-bone sirloin and T-bone and Porterhouse loin steaks. 
• The round contains lean, moderately tough, lower fat (less marbling) cuts, which require moist cooking or lesser degrees of doneness. Some representative cuts are round steak, eye of round, top round and bottom round steaks and roasts. 
• The flank is used mostly for grinding, except for the long and flat flank steak, best known for use in London broil, and the inside skirt steak, also used for fajitas. Flank steaks were once one of the most affordable steaks, because they are substantially tougher than the more desirable loin and rib steaks. Many recipes for flank steak use marinades or moist cooking methods, such as braising, to improve the tenderness and flavor. This, in turn, increased the steaks' popularity; when combined with natural leanness, increased prices have resulted.

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