Hindquarter Beef Primal Cuts Trimming

I am adding a few videos of how to proceed with the trimming down of the hindquarter beef primal cuts so that they are ready for slicing, portioning and ready for cooking or sale to customers.

The videos are short and to the point showing how butchers in Australia prepare meat. The methods shown are pretty much the exact same way that I was taught and how I used to cut.

Things to note:

Watch how the butcher always uses his knife and cuts away from himself so that he avoids any chance of cutting himself. You will notice that he rarely cuts towards himself and when boning you can see the bone is away from his body and the knife is pressed firmly against the bone moving away. When he is cutting towards himself you will notice how his posture changes keeping his body well clear of the knife.

He wears a Stainless Steel Mesh Safety Cutting Glove for protection as well. Stainless Steel Mesh Gloves are commonly used by butchers and when I tried other cloth varieties I found that the steel mesh gloves were easier to clean with hot boiling water and detergent, which is hygienically better.

Visit The Best Butchers Knives for my choice of knives that I use and still have.

Primal Trimming Videos…

There are 6 videos in all showing the breakdown and then trimming of each primal starting in order with: Beef Thin Flank Steak, Rump & Loin, Thick Flank which is also called Beef Knuckle, Topside which is also called Inside, Silverside which is also called Outside and the Shin Shank. The videos are short and to the point. Enjoy.

Beef Thin Flank…

The whole primal here is called the Flap in Australia. We are able to get three main sub primals and trimmings and one special piece of meat that the Argentinians and Urugyans really love.

• Flank Steak being the most popular and liked cut.
• Thick Skirt steak and can be used for stewing or butterflied open, filled with a stuffing, rolled tight and secured with kebab sticks. Leave to set for a day in the fridge and then slice thickly producing a Swiss Roll Spiral effect. Great for pan frying, slow cooker meal or even roasting. 
• Thin Skirt steak is mainly used for stewing or mince.
• The Bark or light coloured piece of meat on the very outside is what the Argentinians call the Matambre. They prefer a long piece taken all the way down to the Forequarter and then once trimmed they fill with a seasoning stuffing and marinate in milk. It is then slow roasted. They also use the Flank steak.
• The whole Flap can be simply trimmed lean for mincing or left with some fat and used for sausages. Just remove the thin membrane skin like the butcher does right a the start.

Beef Rump & Loin…

The Rump & Loin is broken down into 3 primal cuts and then prepared into even further sub primals. 

• Tenderloin needs no introduction as we all know that this is the tenderest of all beef cuts.
• Rump, as we know it in Australia, can be sliced as a large steak from itself but these days we trim it down further into:
  • Rump Cap commonly called Pichan in South America. Greta for bbqing or sliced into steaks.
  • Tritip. A very tender and flavoursome piece for slow roasted or smoked in a bbq cooker.
  • Eye of Rump consisting of two eye pieces very tender for smaller steaks. I would rate these as # 4 on tenderness behind Tenderloin, Ribeye and Sirloin steaks.
• Striploin for the name as a whole boneless piece and then used for Sirloin steaks.
• Shortloin that is the primal left on the bone and sliced into T-Bone steaks.
• Trimmings are used for mince and sausages

Beef Round or Knuckle…

The beef Knuckle  as it is commonly called, is the primal connected to the knee cap. The cut can be used for Round steaks for either:

• pan frying,
• bbq,
• diced for kebabs or
• stewing and
• even roasting. 

Beef Topside or Inside…

The Topside is excellent for roasting. This very lean cut is often also used for making beef jerky as the meat fibres are tight and can be be sliced very thinly. It is tender and great for making kebabs as you are able to cut beautiful perfect sized cubes that thread easily onto the sticks. All other trimmings make great very lean mince.

Beef Silverside or Outside…

The Silverside consists of three sub primal cuts. 

• The Sliverside or also called The Flat is very lean and often used for Jerky for the same reasons as the Topside. Nice tight and lean muscles easily cut into strip steaks. In Australia we use for Brining for Corned Silverside Cooked Cold Cuts.
• The Girrello or Eye Round is a favourite cut by Europeans. I sold many thinly sliced Girrello steaks to my European customers in Australia and China as they used these for Schnitzels and Scalopini dishes. 
• The third muscle is an Inside Shin. This cut is a very tender Shin muscle unlike the Shin Shank Muscle. Diced into large chunks it makes for a fantastic tender stew or casserole meal.

Beef Hind Shin Shank..

This can be sliced on an electric meat saw for Osso Buce as the butcher shows or boned just like the Shin Shank from the Blade. As Osso Buco it makes for a great slow cooked stew with rich flavour coming from the morrow of the shin bone. Absolutely delicious.

I hope you enjoyed the videos and hope that they gave you a bit more of an insight on how to trim down the hindquarter primal cuts. Feel free to send me a comment if you need further clarification or help.

Visit my Beef Forequarter Primal Cuts Trimming article for details and videos to finish off the whole carcass cutting and preparation.

For other helpful videos see the list above from the Meat Cuts Charts & Videos drop down tab.

Regards John