A primal cut or cut of meat is a piece of
meat initially separated from the
carcass
Carcass or Carcase (both pronounced ) may refer to:
*Dressed carcass, the body of a livestock animal ready for butchery, after removal of skin, visceral organs, head, feet etc.
*Carrion, the decaying dead body of an animal or human being
*The str ...
of an animal during
butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishm ...
ing. Examples of primals include the round, loin, rib, and chuck for beef or the ham, loin, Boston butt, and picnic for pork.
Different countries and cultures make these cuts in different ways, and primal cuts also differ between type of carcass. The British, American and French primal cuts all differ in some respects. For example,
rump steak
Rump steak is a cut of beef. The rump is the division between
the leg and the chine cut right through the aitch bone. It may refer to:
* A steak from the top half of an American-cut round steak primal
* A British- or Australian-cut from the ru ...
in British and Commonwealth English is commonly called ''sirloin'' in American English. British ''sirloin'' is called ''porterhouse'' by Americans. Another notable example is
fatback
Fatback (also known as streak of lean or streak of fat) is a cut of meat from a domestic pig. It consists of the layer of adipose tissue (subcutaneous fat) under the skin of the back, with or without the skin (pork rind). Fatback is "hard fa ...
, which in Europe is an important
primal cut of pork, but in North America is regarded as trimmings to be used in sausage or rendered into lard. The primal cuts may be sold complete or cut further.
The distinct term ''prime cut'' is sometimes used to describe cuts considered to be of better quality; for example in the
US Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...
meat grading systems, most use ''prime'' to indicate top quality.
US primal cuts
Beef
Beef primal cuts:
Major
* Round
* Loin
* Rib
* Chuck
[Also known as: ''chingolo'' (Spanish), ''Scotch tender'', ''boneless chuck roll'', ''mock tender steak'', and ''chuck tender steak''; see ]
Minor
* Plate
* Brisket
* Foreshank
Veal
Veal primal cuts:
* Legs
* Loin
* Hotel rack
* Square cut chuck/shoulder
Pork
Pork primal cuts:
* Ham
* Loin
* Boston butt
* Picnic
* Belly with spare ribs
Lamb
Lamb primal cuts:
* Leg
* Loin
* Rack
* Chuck
National variations
File:US Beef cuts.svg, American
File:British Beef Cuts.svg, British
File:Beef cuts France.svg, French
File:Rind-Ganz.svg, German
File:Korean cuts of beef 4.png, Korean
See also
*
Cuts of beef
During butchering, beef is first divided into primal cuts, pieces of meat initially separated from the carcass. These are basic sections from which steaks and other subdivisions are cut. Since the animal's legs and neck muscles do the most work ...
*
Cuts of lamb
Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep meat, are the meat of domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries''. A sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. The meat from sheep in their second year is hogget. Older sheep meat is mutton. Gen ...
*
Cut of pork
File:British Pork Cuts.svg, 400px, British cuts of pork
poly 187 219 187 194 173 196 Trotters
poly 372 226 373 207 361 204 359 216 Trotters
poly 171 141 166 104 287 117 294 152 Belly
poly 167 102 178 27 315 23 274 102 Loin
poly 361 201 371 181 ...
References
External links
{{commonscatinline, Meat cuts