Beef is the name given to meat from adult cattle; it is red in colour.
The meat of young cattle (calves) under one year old is known as veal. It is pale pink in colour and very tender.
Cuts of beef commonly used in food service outlets include: fillet, rib, rib eye, rump, sirloin, scotch, and cheek.
These terms indicate which part of the animal the meat comes from.
The fillet of beef is also called the eye fillet and the tenderloin. It is a boneless oblong shaped cut that spans between the shortloin and the sirloin. It is the most tender cut of beef. This makes it the most prized of cuts. Because it is so tender, it has less flavour than some of the other steak cuts. When it has been trimmed it is very lean. It may be cooked whole or cut into steaks, grilled or fried. If it is overcooked, it becomes dry.
The rib is a cut from the forequarter; from the centre section of the rib (the sixth to the twelfth rib). It is also called the ‘prime rib.’ It is the cut that is used for the standing rib roast and for the rib eye steak. It is a tender cut so suits dry-heat cooking. Also known as spare ribs, short ribs are taken from the forequarter after the brisket is removed. They are made up of the rib bone and layers of rib meat and fat. Marinating the ribs before cooking is recommended. They can be cooked on a barbeque or roasted in the oven.
Rib eye is a steak from the rib section. It may be bone in or boneless. When it is boneless it is also called Scotch fillet. It has an open grain and is highly marbled with fat so suits fast hot cooking methods. It also has a strip of fat that runs through its length, tapering towards the chuck end. The fat adds moisture and flavour. It is tender and more flavoursome than some other tender steaks. The rib roast and rib-eye steaks are cut from the rib primal portion of the rib section. It has a smooth, fine texture and exceptional tenderness. A rib roast is slow-roasted in the oven. When individually sliced between the ribs, it becomes a rib eye steak that is best when shallow fried or grilled.
Scotch fillet is also known as rib eye (see above). Whole scotch fillet is a well-flavoured roasting cut which carves into neat slices. The scotch fillet is cut from the whole boneless eye of the rib. The cut has a slightly open grain and some marbling in addition to a strip of fat that runs through the length of the scotch fillet. It can be roasted whole, or cut into steaks and shallow fried or grilled.
The cheek is the hard-working, lean facial cheek muscle. It is a secondary cut. It contains a lot of connective tissue, called collagen. This cut suits moist, slow cooking methods such as braising and stewing. As the collagen breaks down, it becomes tender with lots of flavour. It holds its shape well when cooked.