An Illustrated Guide to Beef Roasts Supermarkets Carry Many Kinds of Roasts, Often with Confusing CHUCK ROASTS Top Blade Roast Labels

An Illustrated Guide to Beef Roasts Supermarkets carry many kinds of roasts, often with confusing CHUCK ROASTS Top Blade Roast labels. Here’s how to know what you are buying, and how Alternate Names: Chuck Roast First Cut, best to cook it. BY SHANNON BLAISDELL Blade Roast, Top Chuck Roast FLAVOR ★★★★ Choosing a beef roast can be an exas- to Christopher Radley, sales manager generally come from heavily exercised COST $$ perating and confusing endeavor. To of John Dewar & Co., and Mike Lewis, parts of the animal, such as the shoul- BEST WAY TO COOK Braise help make this job easier, we identi- butcher extraordinaire at Star Market. der and rump, respond best to brais- fied the roasts most often found in the These meat experts helped to guide us ing (being cooked in a relatively small supermarket (as well as their aliases), through this process. amount of liquid in a closed container cooked them in the test kitchen, and By definition, a roast is a thick cut of for a long period of time). The primary evaluated each on a range of qualities, meat that is suitable for cooking by dry goal of braising is to melt the colla- from tenderness to fattiness. We also heat (roasting) or moist heat (brais- gen in the connective tissue, thereby rated each roast for flavor (★★★★★ ing or pot-roasting). Tender cuts with transforming a tough piece of meat being best) and cost ($$$$$ being little connective tissue respond well to into a tender one. This broad, flat cut was far and away the most expensive). Our thanks go out dry-heat cooking. Tougher cuts, which best chuck roast we tasted—flavorful, juicy, and tender. Its connective tissue is unattractive but not unpleasant to eat. CHARACTERISTICS OF PRIMAL CUTS Chuck 7-Bone Roast Alternate Names: Center-Cut Pot Roast, Chuck Roast Center Cut ROUND CHUCK/SHOULDER SHORT LOIN SIRLOIN ★★★★ RIB FLAVOR COST $$ BEST WAY TO COOK Braise A bone shaped like the number seven gives this cut its name. We enjoyed the PLATE FLANK BRISKET/SHANK deep flavor of this thin cut, which needed less liquid and less time to cook than other cuts from the chuck. Chuck-Eye Roast Alternate Names: Boneless Chuck Roll, Boneless Chuck Fillet Butchers refer to the first, basic cuts made to an animal as distinct cuts. Both are very tender, very expensive, and ★★★ primal cuts. In a cow, there are eight primal cuts, and beef generally cooked by dry heat. FLAVOR roasts generally come from five of these, listed below. COST $$ Short Loin This part of the cow is usually cut into premium BEST WAY TO COOK Braise or Roast steaks. The tenderloin is the most common roast from the Chuck The chuck section includes ribs 1 through 5 (the short loin. It is very tender and is usually roasted. ribs are numbered from the head to the tail) as well as the shoulder blade bone. Roasts from the chuck contain a lot of Sirloin The sirloin is sometimes referred to as the hip area. connective tissue and generally require moist heat cooking The meat from the sirloin is not as tender as that from the to become tender. short loin, but these cuts are still generally roasted. Rib The rib section contains ribs 6 though 12. A full 7-bone Round Cuts from the steer’s butt and leg are tender rib roast, or a whole standing rib roast, can tip the scales at enough for roasting (though not nearly as tender as the cuts more than 16 pounds, so butchers divide the rib into two from the rib or the short loin), but they are often braised. This boneless roast is cut from the center of the first five ribs (the term eye refers to Illustration: John Burgoyne any center-cut piece of meat). It is very COOK ’ S ILLUSTRATED 16 tender and juicy but was criticized for closer to the loin of the animal. It roast, with good flavor, texture, and its excessive fat content. contains the large rib-eye muscle and Top Sirloin Roast juiciness. We like the top round roast was judged to be extremely tender Alternate Names: Top Butt, sliced thin because it can be overly Under Blade Roast and flavorful. The clearest way to indi- Center-Cut Roast chewy if sliced thick. Alternate Names: Bottom Chuck Roast, cate what you want when you order FLAVOR ★★★★ California Roast a rib roast is to ask for “the first four COST $$ Bottom Round Rump Roast FLAVOR ★★★ ribs from the loin end.” BEST WAY TO COOK Roast Alternate Names: Round Roast, COST $$ Bottom Round Pot Roast, Bottom Round Oven Roast BEST WAY TO COOK Braise Rib Roast, Second Cut Alternate Name: Large End FLAVOR ★★ FLAVOR ★★★★ COST $ COST $$$$$ BEST WAY TO COOK Braise or Roast BEST WAY TO COOK Roast This cut has big beefy flavor. Aside from the vein of gristle that runs We found this roast’s flavor to be through it, which we found slightly quite similar to the 7-bone roast, but unpleasant to eat, the roast was ten- it had a bit more connective tissue. der and juicy. It also had a fair amount of fat, which For the money, we think this cut enhanced the flavor but made the Sirloin Tri-Tip Roast makes a juicy, relatively beefy roast. It meat fall apart when carved. The large end of the rib roast is cut Alternate Name: Triangle Roast was slightly less tender than the top from ribs 6 though 9. Though it is still FLAVOR ★★ round roast and should be sliced thin Chuck Shoulder Roast an excellent roast, we thought this COST $$ for serving. Alternate Names: Chuck Shoulder Pot cut was fattier, a little less tender, and BEST WAY TO COOK Roast Roast, Chuck Roast Boneless slightly more irregularly formed than Eye-Round Roast FLAVOR ★★ the first cut rib roast. Alternate Names: Round-Eye Pot Roast COST $$ FLAVOR ★ BEST WAY TO COOK Braise SHORT LOIN AND COST $ SIRLOIN ROASTS BEST WAY TO COOK Braise or Roast Tenderloin This cut is popular out West, but Alternate Name: Whole Filet butchers on the East Coast usually cut FLAVOR ★★★ it up into sirloin tips or “steak tips.” COST $$$$$ This small, triangular roast is moist BEST WAY TO COOK Roast but has a strange, spongy texture and mild flavor. Our tasters thought this roast had an This boneless roast had mediocre unpleasantly chewy, almost bouncy ROUND ROASTS flavor and was considerably less juicy texture and relatively mild flavor. than any other roast. Top Round Roast R I B R O A STS Alternate Names: Top Round First Cut, Bottom Round Roast The tenderloin sits just under the Top Round Steak Roast Alternate Names: None Rib Roast, First Cut spine of the steer, so it gets no exer- FLAVOR ★★★ FLAVOR (no stars) Alternate Names: Prime Rib, Loin End, cise and is the most tender piece of COST $ COST $ Small End beef you can buy. Our tasters found BEST WAY TO COOK Braise or Roast BEST WAY TO COOK Braise or Roast FLAVOR ★★★★★ its flavor to be pleasantly mild, almost COST $$$$$ nonbeefy. Unpeeled tenderloins, BEST WAY TO COOK Roast which come with an incredibly thick layer of exterior fat still attached, also come with a tremendous amount of waste (the fat should be removed) and cost more (in both time and money) than peeled roasts, which have scattered patches of fat that need not be removed. Even peeled This cut was the tasters’ least favor- roasts, however, usually come with This affordable roast is the most com- ite. It was essentially devoid of flavor some silver skin, a sheath of thin, mon choice in supermarkets. Our and had a rubbery, chewy texture. This cut consists of ribs 9 through 12, opalesque membrane that must be tasters liked it, commenting that it This roast is not worth even the little toward the back of the rib section, trimmed. was very similar to the top sirloin that it costs. NOVEMBER & DECEMBER 2 0 0 2 17 .

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