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Chart and Poster — All the Popular Beef Cuts

In this guide to the most popular beef cuts, you can learn the names of all the cuts, where they come from on the cow, the preferred method of outdoor cooking, and their relative costs.

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Last Updated: March 13, 2023

Here is your ultimate guide to all the different popular beef cuts, showing where they come from, what cooking method to use on your grill or smoker, and their costs relative to each other.

All the info is nicely condensed into a poster-style infographic, so it’s easy-to-read and get the information you need.

If you want even more details, including alternative names for each cut, a recipe to follow for each cut, and more, then please check out the accompanying article: Beef Cuts Explained — Diagram, Names, Photos, and How to Cook Them

The Most Popular Beef Cuts in a handy pos.
Click to See in Full Screen

If you’d like to share this graphic on your site, please get in touch using the contact form found here: Contact form.

 

I'm a self-proclaimed BBQ nut, and the founder and chief editor here at Food Fire Friends.

I love cooking outdoors over live fire and smoke whatever the weather, using various grills, smokers, and wood-fired ovens to produce epic food. My goal with this site is to help as many people as possible enjoy and be good at doing the same.

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19 Comments

  1. Avatar for Sandra Davidson Sandra Davidson says:

    We like the guide very much. Very comprehensive.

    1. Mark Jenner says:

      Thanks, Sandra. I’m glad it’s useful 🙂

  2. Avatar for Cathy Jones Cathy Jones says:

    The chart is very helpful. It’s nice to know what are the different cuts come from. Thank you

    1. Mark Jenner says:

      Thanks, Cathy. I’m glad you find it useful 🙂

  3. Avatar for Manuela D Paronzini Manuela D Paronzini says:

    Hello,

    Nice chart, but here I cannot find an Argentina meat cut called, rose meat, which is very elastic, kind of greasy and found as the first meat that appears after the cow’s skin, approximately where the flank meat is. In my country we call it matambre. Can someone tell me where I can purchase this meat cut?

    Thank you,

    Manuela

    1. Mark Jenner says:

      It’s not something I’ve come across in the usual outlets. I guess you’ve tried Googling it, then hit the ‘shopping tab’ to see if they offer anything up? Hopefully somebody who sees this can help.

  4. I was going to make a beef stew and thought I bought stew beef but when I went to use it had some bone on some pieces. I then read the package, and it says it is beef neck (I have never heard of this before, and I am a little weirded out to use it in my beef stew) is it ok?

    1. Mark Jenner says:

      Hi Linda,

      Neck is very sinewy, lots of connective tissues. It would do well in a stew if braised for a looooong time. Treat it a lot like oxtail.

  5. Avatar for Jane McGrath Jane McGrath says:

    Where is a Pot Roast located on a cow?

    1. Mark Jenner says:

      Hi Jane,

      That’s a cooking method, rather than a particular cut, and can be any of the ‘beef roast’ cuts.

  6. Avatar for Sailor Harry Sailor Harry says:

    Thank you so much for your informative site. I especially appreciate the Beef Cuts Chart. It has already answered several questions I have had.

  7. Avatar for Melanie Mose Melanie Mose says:

    Hi, I have a question. I buy a rack of boneless ribeyes every month. My butcher calls them #1 & I pay $219.00 plus tax. My mother-in-law bought us 8 boneless Ribeyes from Piggly Wiggly, and on the package it says ribeyes, and the man that works in the meat department said they were #2’s. After tax, she paid $16.88 for those.

    Just with the price difference, I have an idea of the difference between the 2, but honestly, I don’t know. I’ve looked at a ton of different answers and videos this morning, and everybody says something different on how to cook these. Most do say to pound them out. I’ve never done that to the #1 Ribeyes or t-bones. Now I’m so confused. Can you please help me?

    Can you please explain the difference to me? Can you please give me tips on how to prepare them before I grill them later tonight? Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

    Sincerely, Your Small Town Country Girl.

    1. Mark Jenner says:

      Hi, Melanie.

      I’m not sure what the #1 and #2 are referring to, but I would guess (and it is a guess!) that it’s referring to marbling and fat content. In Europe — and Japan for Kobe beef — they give a marbling score between 1 and 5, or 1 and 12, respectively. So it might be this? However, being in the US, it should be simply choice, select, prime, etc. So I’m afraid I’m not entirely sure. I would suggest asking the butchers you bought from. They will certainly know what that scoring means.

      As to how to prepare and cook them, I suggest googling for ribeye recipes and seeing which you prefer. I typically simply season them with salt a few hours before to essentially dry brine them, then sear them hot and fast before slowly bringing up to temp. Occasionally I reverse sear them if they are 1.5 inches thick or more. I don’t use any other seasonings BEFORE cooking a steak, preferring to add sauce and seasoning after. Adding seasonings before a hot sear can cause them to burn, so I keep it simple and flavor later.

      I have never pounded them out. I like my steaks thick, as it’s easier to get your preferred doneness level (medium rare for me) with a thicker steak. If you pound them thin, it’s hard to cook them well. You either have almost no sear on a medium-rare interior, or a well-done (overcooked) center when trying to get a good sear. You need some thickness for searing while leaving the interior less cooked to hit preferred doneness.

  8. Hi Mark, Love the beef cut chart — Thanks for sharing! Unfortunately, I’m not able to open it on a separate page to print. Any suggestions?

    Deb M

    1. Mark Jenner says:

      Hi Deb.

      Hmmm, I’ve obviously broken something when updating things on my site. There should be no sidebar, the image should be almost full screen width, and when clicked it should open the jpg image in a new window. So yes, I’ve unknowingly broken this somehow while I was changing other things on the site.

      I’m out and about today, but working all day tomorrow. I’ll get this fixed in the morning, so you will be able to click and print it by end of day tomorrow.

      Thanks,
      Mark,

  9. Avatar for Paul wurtz jr. Paul wurtz jr. says:

    That’s an awesome chart. Where can l get one?those

    1. Mark Jenner says:

      Thanks, Paul. If you click it, it goes full screen and you can print it off.

  10. My daughter started a catering smoking meats only called Tejana Smoker
    any little tip will help