Hindquarter Beef Cuts Breakdown By A Pro
I have already written an article on the breaking down of a beef forequarter and now it is time to to get to the other end of the carcass…the Hindquarter.
The hindquarter carries most of what we butchers call, the Premium Cuts. Most of the hind leg cuts are of great eating quality with these cuts being the tenderest of the animal. Basically the back end of the beef doesn’t do as much heavy work as the front end and hence the meat muscles are looser and tenderer.
You can see more on details on my Beef Cuts Chart page that explains where each cut comes from and what they end up looking like once a master butcher breaks and portions each sub-primal into its retail or food service size.
Again I have selected master butcher Michael Cross with his 3 part videos of breaking down a beef hindquarter, and again you will see how easy he makes it look cutting through the seams and muscles of the hindquarter and turning it into sub-primal cuts ready for the next portioning stage of the butchering process. You will hear how with his precise cutting he keeps each primal squared and paralleled as best possible for optimum yield return. A true master butcher.
Michael will explain that there are many different techniques of performing the breakdown but what he shows is a common method. Michael will also name the cuts and these names are the terms we use in Australia. Each country uses many different names for their domestic industry sub-primal cuts and you can visit my Beef Cuts Chart page for the international names of each cut for the exporting markets description.
Still you can hear many weird and wonderful cuts description from all over the world, but basically, it is still all meat. Enjoy.
You can see my other article with video demonstration by clicking on the links below as well:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Michael makes it look so easy and when you have the experience it certainly is. Each primal cut that Michael removed will be trimmed down further and prepared into other sub-primal pieces. These will then be sliced into portions of steaks, diced and other value added products. You would be amazed the amount of different products that can be made from a single whole primal cut. Top gourmet butchers turn out delicious tasty ready meals for their customers to enjoy.
I hope you have enjoyed the videos and be sure to watch other demonstration from the links above. Feel free to visit my recipes page for some ideas of how you can prepare a tasty meal for you and your family.
And as always drop me a line if you have a question on anything to do with meat, I would be glad to help you out anytime.
John
