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 st ...

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 Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred spec ...

in British and Commonwealth English is commonly called ''sirloin'' in American English. British ''sirloin'' is called ''porterhouse'' by Americans. Another notable example is fatback, 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 comm ...

meat grading systems, most use ''prime'' to indicate top quality.

US primal cuts

Beef

Beef primal cuts:

Major

* Round * Loin * Rib * ChuckAlso 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

References

External links

{{commonscatinline, Meat cuts