Cuts of Meat
Because we strive to offer the highest quantity yields, in addition to the common cuts you see in the grocery store, at Sutter Meats you will find cuts of meat that may sound unfamiliar to you and are unique to whole animal butchers. To help familiarize you with the diversity of our offerings, we’ve compiled this MEAT PRIMER
Additionally, you can check out our article in Bon Appetit Magazine about the cuts your butcher wants you to try.
Bavette Steak
An awesome cut for the grill. It actually sits under the flank and attaches to the sirloin. Think of an extra long and wide skirt steak with less fat, more flavor and twice the tenderness. This is the classic cut to use for Steak Frites or Fajitas.
Denver Steak
This is cut from the Beef Underblade or Chuck Flap and one of our absolute favorites for year round cooking. Left whole, the underblade can be cooked low and slow like boneless short ribs or the leaner brisket flat, but we love to cut one inch thick steaks that can either be sauteed or grilled. Denver is a meat lovers dream, with a little bit of a chew similar to Rib Eye and a beefy flavor that’s off the charts.
Flatiron Steak
Cut from the Shoulder Blade, Flatiron Steak is one of the most tender and flavorful cuts of beef available. It’s a relatively thin cut, just under an inch thick, so it doesn’t need much time in the pan or on your grill.
Merlot Steak
For you Flank Steak lovers, the Merlot is carefully seamed out from the heel muscles of the cow. The Merlot is a dead ringer for lean, grill-and-marinade-ready flank steak, except that it’s worlds more tender and twice as flavorful. It’s also known as a Velvet Steak because of its fine grained texture.
Osso Bucco
Italian for “Bone Hole” Osso Bucco is a cross cut rear shank from either veal or beef. Best served as a braising item, you get super rich and delicious meat as well as the succulence of bone marrow in every bite.
Petite Tender
This eight-inch strip is the Teres Major of the cow’s shoulder and is perfect for the filet-mignon lover in your life—it’s lean, tender, and mild, which makes it especially good for folks who find the stronger taste of pastured beef to be a little off-putting. Plus, it’s much, much cheaper than the marquee cut it matches. Treat it the way you would a tenderloin: Slice it into single-serving medallions, or sear and roast it whole.
Ranch Steak
Also known as a Salad Steak, this is cut from the center of the front arm. It is relatively lean, like sirloin, and is adaptable to many different preparations. It’s great on the grill or sliced thin for a salad. The smaller size of the steak makes it great for children. We have a customer who picks them up for his young sons. They feel like grownups with their own individual steaks.
Sirloin Culotte Steak
Known as Picanha in Brazil, it’s their prized grilling cut. Not many people know this, but the Top Sirloin as we know it in America is actually made of three distinct muscles with their own unique flavor, grain structure and tenderness. The Culotte is the cap of the Top Sirloin, and so contains a strip of unctuous fat on top, not unlike a strip steak or a rib eye. We recommend searing the steak fat side down to render some of that delicious fat, then sauteeing it in the rendered beef goodness until medium rare.
Sirloin Filet
Another one of the three muscles of the Top Sirloin, this runs through the center of the Sirloin and is a dead ringer for Filet Mignon, at nearly half the price. You cook this the same way as Tenderloin; either roasted whole or cut into medallions. We like nice thick 2 inch medallions that you can sear hard on your grill and finish over low heat.
Sirloin Tip Center
Technically part of the hind leg, Sirloin Tip Center, or Knuckle, is a lean, yet flavorful cut that does well roasted whole for a rare roast beef or cut into medallions for sautee or grilling. Because of its lean and mild nature, it takes marinades extremely well.
Tri Tip Steak
This is a large, triangular shaped muscle that is cut from the bottom sirloin. I grew up in California where this is super popular. When my parents had friends over to the pool on summer weekends, this cut would invariably be cooking on the grill. Each Tri Tip averages about 3 lbs and has variable thickness, so it’s great to feed a crowd. I’ve found that since moving to New England, people typically haven’t heard of this cut, but they are familiar with sirloin tips which are a Tri Tip sliced thick across the grain.
