More About
Your Beef
Learn about our cuts of meat and how you can use them at home to create delicious meals, made ready easily. If you aren’t sure which cut of meat you need, feel free to ask our in-store butchers! They’re always happy to help you decide.
The chuck, or seven-bone steak, is located near the shoulder and neck area. It provides some of the more economical cuts of beef, such as the chuck roast or stew meat. These cuts have great flavour and are best cooked slowly over time.
Brisket is cut from the breast or lower portion and is one of the most flavourful cuts. The brisket can be cut into the brisket flat cut or the brisket point cut. Brisket can be quite tough and needs a lot of time and low temperature cooking to tenderize.
The flank is a long, flat cut from the abdominal region. It’s usually cut into flap steaks or flank steaks. Typically, it’s one of the toughest cuts of meat, making it easy to overcook. Marinating is a great way to add flavour and moisture to this cut.
Sirloin is cut from the back and is a popular, tender cut of beef. Popular cuts include: top sirloin, bottom sirloin, and centre cut sirloin steaks, the tri-tip steak, filet of sirloin, and the ball tip roast. Sirloin is best cooked grilled, but can also be broiled, sautéed, or pan-fried.
Short loin is taken from the back and creates some highly desirable cuts of beef. The short loin is best known for producing filet mignon, porterhouse steak, strip loin, and T-bone steak. These cuts are best cooked over dry heat like a grill, but can also be pan-fried to enjoy the meat’s full flavour.
The shank is taken from the leg. Because the leg is constantly used, it creates a tough, sinewy cut. The shank only yields the shank or the shank cross cut and is used in low fat ratios of ground beef. The shank is best in soups, stews, or to make beef broth.
The round is a lean cut of meat from the back leg. Like the shank, the round is tough from its constant use. Despite its toughness, the round produces rump, top round, bottom round, eye of round, and sirloin tip centre roasts and steaks. Round cuts are best braised or roasted with low levels of moisture.
The plate is located on the front belly just below the ribs. It contains a few different cuts, including the short ribs, hangar steak, and the skirt steak. While extremely flavourful, this cut has coarse muscle fibres and a lot of cartilage. The plate is ideal for braising at low temperatures.
The rib is known for its juiciness, tenderness, superb marbling, and flavour. The rib cut includes ribs 6 through 12 and produces prime rib, short rib, rib-eye steak, and rib eye roasts. Rib cuts are best cooked over dry heat for long periods of time. BBQ-ers favour grilling or smoking these tender cuts.
Did you know?
Every Freson Bros. Butcher Shop has a well-trained Butcher who’s happy to custom cut your choice of meat to your favorite thickness or share their own great grilling tips. After all, they love Alberta meat as much as you do. And, if you need a specific cut for a special occasion, they can help with that too!