Everything you need to know about Beef Chuck In the UK
If you are a fan of beef steak, you may notice a certain variety is much lower in cost than other cuts of steak i.e. beef chuck. Beef chuck is considered one of the most economical primal cuts. Beef chuck comes from the chest, neck and shoulder of the cow.
It comes with a low price tag but offers a delicious taste. You may call it a flavourful piece of meat. Whether you make chuck steak or chuck roast, you may expect an intense flavour. As this portion is the shoulder area that is heavily exercised, that’s why chuck can be gristly and fatty.
To make it a meat fork-tender, cook it slowly in liquid on low heat. It can be used for making stews, pot roasts, casseroles and even curries. In this guide, you will learn everything about beef chuck UK including what is beef chuck, varieties of beef chuck cuts, its uses and where to buy chuck beef UK. Let’s get into it!
What is Beef chuck?
Are you wondering what is chuck beef? Beef chuck is a larger cut of beef from the shoulder area that is popular for its beefy flavour. It is referred to as a braising steak in the UK as it contains more fat and offers great flavour.
This primal cut includes the shoulder blade and parts of the neck and upper arm. This piece of meat is also known as the chuck portion, which is ideally used for slow cooking. The best thing about slow cooking beef is that it will literally fall off your fork and offers juicy tenderness and depth of flavour.
Beef chuck has boneless and bone-in varieties. The most common bone-in variety is a 7-bone steak. The boneless beef chuck is often a bit more costly per pound than its counterpart bone-in. The boneless variety is sold as a steak, roast, or stew meat. It is also used for ground beef because it has more fat.
This fat comes in the marbling of the meat, and this marbling enhances its flavour. The white fat streaks stand out on the red portion of meat. This marbling makes it tender, juicy and supremely delicious. So if you require fatty beef for certain recipes, nothing is better than beef chuck.
It is usually used for ground beef in the United Kingdom. It can be sold as chuck roast, whole and ground beef. If you want to ditch traditional grounded beef and want the more flavourful option, nothing is better than grounded beef chuck. It is the ideal piece of meat for making hamburgers and roasts.
Beef chuck cuts:
Here are a few popular beef chuck cuts:
7-bone steak:
7-bone steak has the cross-cut of the cow’s shoulder blade that is tough than other chuck cuts. Braising is the best cooking method to cook it. However, if you choose broiling or grilling, make sure to marinate it overnight. This way, you can enjoy its tender version.
Arm chuck roast
Unlike a 7-bone steak, an arm chuck roast is more tender. It has a round bone, so it can be hard to cook it with dry heat. Pot roast is a perfect option to cook arm chuck roast. Or you can use it to make stew meat.
Chuck eye
The most tender cut of the chuck section is the chuck eye. The most popular chuck eye steak is the steak cut from the chuck eye roast. Oven roasting or cooking it in liquid are the best ways to cook this primal cut.
Shoulder Steak:
Shoulder steak is also known as cold steak or English steak. As it is a fairly tough steak, grilling and broiling are the best cooking method—all you need to marinate it overnight before it hits the grill.
Cross rib roast
Cross rib roast is a tough cut that is called English roll when it is boneless. If you are looking for a fine pot roast, a cross rib roast is the best option. However, you might not roast it with dry heat.
Chuck steak:
It comes from the shoulder and neck area of the cow. It is likely to be chewy but offers an intense flavour. It is too tough to broil, pan fry or even grill. It is better to braise it or use it for stew.
What are its uses?
The beef chuck has connective tissues that include collagen, which melts during cooking. It is popular for its fair share of gristle and bone. That’s why, if you use the slow cooking method, you can expect a more flavourful meal. To release its flavour and make it softer, it requires slow and low cooking.
It is usually used for slow cooking, stew and pot roasting. Even you can use it for one-pot cooker recipes. Moreover, the top blade of beef chuck is ideal for grilling. The top blade steak is considered as the second most tender steak when you remove the gristle.
As mentioned above, it has connective tissues with collagen, which makes it a good choice for pot roast and beef stew. The braising method of cooking will tenderize this tough cut. It can also be used for making ground beef due to its large amount of fat content. So you can expect a juicy burger and delicious ground beef stew with it. Let’s see where you can use beef chuck!
Stew:
When it comes to making beef stew, chuck roast is the best piece of meat. A thick chuck pot roast will give you a tender flavour when you chop it into bits. However, the chuck roast is a harder cut due to connective tissues than the rib roast. You can make a delicious beef stew by setting the heat to medium-low for slow simmering or through pressure cooking.
Slow cooking:
Slow cooking is the most hassle-free and easy cooking method. Beef chuck is the best-suited cut for slow cooking. It comes from the shoulder area of the cow that contains abundant collagen. When you grill this most affordable beef cut, it gets tough. However, when you slow cook it, it becomes juicier and tender.
Pot roasting
It also has intramuscular fat, which makes it more flavoursome. For weeknight nights, there is no other great option than slow cooker pot roast.
Grilling
Chuck beef comes with a low price tag, but it can be grilled to perfection just like other beef steaks. Whether you want to make juicy steak with finesse or make out of this awesome piece of meat, marinate it for a couple of hours before grilling.
Is Beef Chuck the same as Chuck steak?
Beef chuck is the large primal cut of cow that is fabricated. When you talk about meat cutting, fabricated means to cut that large cut into smaller cuts, which is known as subprimal cuts. These subprimal cuts are further cut into roasts, stir-fry pieces, steaks, chops and boneless cuts for grounded beef. You can get a variety of steak and roast cuts from the chuck roast, such as petite tender roast, blade pot roast, chuck eye roast and more.
The most popular flat iron steak also comes from the beef chuck area that is usually sliced thinly to use on sandwiches, salads and stir-fry. On the other hand, chuck steak is a tough subprimal cut that comes from the top shoulder blade of the animal.
It is best for slow cooking, braised recipes, pot roasts and stewing, which gives the meat more time to tenderize. If you use the right recipe and give ample time to cook this tough cut, you can turn it into a delicious dish.
However, you need to take care that it should not be overcooked to get its tender version. If you have beef chuck roast, you can slice it to make chuck steak.
Can you get it in the UK?
When it comes to beef cuts, different countries have different meat cuts and even names. In the USA, the shoulder area of a cow is called beef chuk, while in the UK; it is called chuck steak and blade.
Beef chuck is not widely available in the UK. You may get it on Amazon, Tesco and Aldi. However, you may not find the chuck roast in the meat aisle of your nearest store in the United Kingdom.
Where to buy in the UK
Chuck beef is more common in the USA than in the UK because of the different meat cuts in both countries. So you may be confused about where to buy chuck beef as most Brits consume chuck steak instead of chuck beef.
This large primal cut is not stocked in the local supermarket, even in butcher shops. You may find it on Amazon UK, Aldi and Tesco. It is a popular choice for hamburgers and cut it up for stew.
If you didn’t find it at your nearest store, you could ask a butcher who fabricates this beef cut. You can even ask him/her to put certain subprimal beef cuts aside for you. You can store different subprimal cuts in the freezer. Keep in mind to store them in airtight packages.
Andy
Ever since I started cooking I’ve been fascinated by how different people’s techniques are and how they best utilise the ingredients around them. Even the person living next door will have their own unique way of frying an egg or cooking a salmon fillet.
This fascination led me on a journey across the globe to discover the countless practices and traditions the world of cooking has to offer. I thought you’d enjoy and find value in sharing that journey with me so I created Cooked Best!