What Are the Most Flavorful Cuts of Beef?

If you have eaten a brisket that someone took seriously, you already know the answer to this. The cuts that taste of the most are the ones that did the most.

“Um, but the mussels that get used, that's where the flavor comes from. That's why the brisket is so good if you can cook it right.”

Gray Shipley

The principle, in Gray's words

He offers it as his own reasoning rather than a fact, and the hedge is worth keeping.

“Uh, those two things, I think, are a little bit of the combination that maybe has a little bit of whatever our secret sauce is that has people to come in and say, this is the best thing I've ever eaten. That's the best, best guess I have as to how to explain it.”

Gray Shipley

So the map is simple. Find the muscles that worked. Those are the shoulder, the belly, the leg and the diaphragm. They need time or they need to be cut thin across the grain, and in exchange they taste like beef rather than like texture.

The flavorful cuts, and what each one needs

• Chuck. The shoulder. Slow and low, or dry-aged and smoked. Our own best meal story involves a dry-aged chuck roast.
• Brisket. The chest. Long, slow, patient. The most rewarding and least forgiving.
• Short rib. Braise it or smoke it. Rich enough to serve in small portions.
• Hanger. The diaphragm. Deep and mineral. Hot and fast, then slice across the grain.
• Skirt and bavette. Loose grain that takes a marinade. Minutes, not hours.
• Oxtail and shank. Collagen heavy, so they turn silky rather than tender.
• Ribeye. The exception. A tender cut with enough marbling to taste like a working one.

Why ours might taste different

Gray has a theory about this too, and it is also offered as a theory rather than a claim. The animals here move up and down hills rather than across flat ground, and what they eat varies across the pasture through the season. He thinks both show up in the fat.

Whether that is the whole explanation is not something a farm can prove about its own beef. It is at least an honest attempt at one.

Cooking for flavor rather than tenderness

1. Dry the surface. Browning is flavor, and browning needs a dry steak.
2. Go hotter on the thin cuts. Hanger, skirt and bavette want a hard, short sear.
3. Go longer on the thick ones. Chuck, brisket and short rib need hours, not minutes.
4. Slice across the grain. On a loose-grained cut this matters more than the cooking.

“Get the moisture off the surface.”

Gray Shipley

Which to buy

If softness matters more to you, the tender cuts are here. For the long cooks, see the best cuts for slow cooking, and the crust article covers the browning.

Follow the work. The animal already told you where the flavor is.