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Food Values and Adulterations: Cuts

Cuts of Beef. The diagram shows the general method of cutting up a side of beef. The neck piece is sometimes cut so as to include more of the chuck than is here shown. The shoulder clod is usually cut without 1 2 10 12 3 4 7 8 11 13 6 6 I 5 14 15 14 12 1. Neck. 2. Chuck. 3. Ribs. 4. Shoulder clod 5. Fore shank, 11 The 6. Brisket. 10 7. Cross riba 8. Plate. 9. Navel 10. Loin. 11. Flank.. 12. Rump. 3 8 13. Round. 14. Second cut round 15. Hind shank.

Cuts of Meat. - The method of cutting sides of beef, veal, mutton and pork into parts for sale, and the terms used for the different "cuts" as these parts are commonly called, vary in different localities. standard adopted by the U. S. Department of Agriculture is shown in the accompanying illustrations both for the live animal and the dressed carcass. Elsewhere the principal cuts are illustrated as they appear on the butcher's table. Both the lines of the different cuts and the names vary more or less in different parts of the country. The best way to learn the cuts of meat, as sold in your local market, is to ask the butcher to allow you to watch him cut up one or more sides of the different kinds of meat.

Ask him to give you the names of the parts and also to give you his own ideas concerning them. In this way a great deal of valuable information can be obtained. Too many housekeepers are in the habit of buying only two or three of the highest priced cuts of meat. They do not realize that by proper methods of cookery equally as much nutriment can be obtained from cheaper cuts at from one-half to one-tenth the cost. The characteristics of the different cuts are described by Woods, in substance, as follows: 1 2 9 76 4 Diagrams of cuts of beef. (Chas. D. Woods.) bone, and hence is an economical cut, being free from refuse. The shoulder (not indicated in the diagram) includes more or less of the shoulder blade and the upper end of the foreshank. Shoulder steak is cut from the chuck. The blade is sometimes made to include all the parts of the forequarter here shown as brisket, cross ribs, blade and navel.

The different portions of the blade as thus cut are then spoken of as the "brisket" end of the blade, or "navel" end of the blade. This part of the animal is largely used for corning. The ribs may also be divided into first, second and third cuts. The latter lying nearest the chuck are slightly less desirable than the former. The chuck may also be divided in a similar way, the third cut being nearest the neck.

The names applied to different portions of the loin vary considerably. The part nearest the ribs is often called "small end of loin" or "short steak." The other end is called "hip sirloin" or "sirloin". Between the "short" and the "sirloin" is a portion quite generally called the "tenderloin" for the reason that the real tenderloin-the very tenderest strip of meat lying in the tenderloin -is found most fully developed in this cut. "Porterhouse steak" is the term usually applied to either the short steak or the tenderloin. The flank may be cut to include more of the loin, in which case the upper portion is called "flank steak". larger part of the flank is, however, very often corned, as is also the case with the rump. Or the rump may be cut so as to include a portion of the loin, which is then sold as "rump steak". The portion of the round on the inside of the leg is frequently preferred to the outside as more tender than the latter. As the leg lies upon the butcher's table, this inside of the round is usually the upper or top side and is therefore called "top round". Sometimes the blade is called the "rattle".

The Cuts of Veal. - A side of veal cuts up into fewer parts and otherwise quite differently than a side of beef.

The chuck is smaller and is often cut off with the neck. Or the chuck may be so cut as to take in part of the shoulder-more nearly like the chuck of beef. The shoulder of veal, as usually cut, includes the larger part of what is classed as chuck in the full grown animal. The under part of the forequarter, corresponding to the blade in beef, is often called the "breast" in veal. The part of the veal corresponding to the rump of beef is most often cut with the loin, but may be cut to form part of the leg. The fore and hind shanks of veal are sometimes called "knuckles".

Cuts of Lamb and Mutton. - These number but six, three in each quarter. The chuck includes the ribs to the end of the shoulder blades.

Beyond this comes the loin. The flank is made to include all the underside of the animal. Some butchers however include part of the "loin" and "chuck" in a cut known as the 5 2 N 8 12 5 6 3 4 14 RRR 1. Neck. 2. Chuck. 3. Shoulder, 4. Flank. 5. Loin. 6. Leg.

Diagrams of cuts of lamb and mutton. ( Chas. D. Woods.) "ribs" and part of the flank and shoulder in a cut known as "brisket".

The term "chops" is applied to parts of the loin, rib, chuck or shoulder, cut or chopped by the butcher into pieces for frying or boiling. The chuck and ribs are sometimes called the "rack".

Cuts of Pork. A large portion of the carcass of a dressed pig is almost clear fat. This is used for salt pork and bacon. The cut designated as "back" is almost clear fat used for salting and pickling. The "middle" cut is used for bacon or for lean ends of salt pork. The "belly" is salted, pickled or made into sausages.

Beneath the "back" are the ribs and loins. They furnish the "spareribs", "chops" and roasting pieces, here shown by dotted lines. The hams or shoulders may be cured or sold fresh as "pork steak". The tenderloin proper is a very small strip of comparatively lean meat lying under the FOOD VALUES AND ADULTERATIONS bones of the loin. It usually weighs a fraction of a pound. Some fat is usually trimmed from the hams and shoulders. This is called "ham and 1 1 به 2 5 837 738 4 1. Head. 2. Shoulder. 8. Back. 4. Middle cut. 5. Belly. 6. Ham. 7. Ribs. 8. Loin. 5 6 Diagrams of cuts of pork. (Chas. D. Woods.) shoulder fat" and is often used for sausages. The kidney fat from the inside of the back is often called "leaf lard".

Cost of Different Cuts. - The table below is useful as showing the proportion of bone or other waste in the different kinds of cuts and the effect of this waste in the actual, as compared with the apparent cost of meat.

Langworthy says: "The relative retail prices of various cuts usually bear a direct relation to the favor with which they are regarded by the majority of persons. The juicy, tender cuts, of good flavor, sell for the higher prices. When porterhouse steak sells for 25 cents a pound, it may be assumed that in town or village markets round steak would ordinarily sell for about 15 cents, and chuck ribs, one of the best cuts of the forequarter, for 10 cents. This makes it appear that the chuck ribs are less than half as expensive as porterhouse steak and two-thirds as expensive as the round. But apparent economy is not always real economy. In this case the bones in the three cuts should be taken into account. Of the chuck ribs, more than one-half is bone or other materials usually classed under the head of 'waste' or 'refuse'. Of the round, NET COST OF EDIBLE PORTION OF DIFFERENT CUTS AS COMPARED WITH ASSUMED MARKET PRICE (a) PER POUND Kind of meat Proportion Proportion in cut Assumed market price per pound Net price per pound of edible portion of bone or waste of edible material in cut BEEF: