Now a days there are a lot of beef choices at the meat counter. To understand what you are buying, I have created a small guide to describe the different portions of a cow and the different meat cuts.
The cow is broken down into 12 different sections:
Chuck comes from the shoulder and the next of a cow. This section is a very flavorful section of beef and is generally fairly inexpensive. However, the meat is generally fairly tough, and is best cooked slowly and with liquid. This meat is basically muscle as the chuck is a heavily exercised section. It does have a lot of connective tissue, which includes collagen. Good thing about collage is that it melts during a slow cook providing a lot of flavor to the meat.
Types of Roasts: Chuck Arm Roast, Chuck Shoulder Pot Roast, Chuck 7-Bone Pot Roast, Cross Rib Roast, English Roast, Chuck Eye Roast
Steak Names: Top Blade Steak (Flat Iron Steak, Book Steak, Butler Steak, Lifter Steak, Petit Steak, Top Chuck Steak, Blade Steak, Chuck Eye Steak), Should Steak (Cold Steak, English Steak, Long Broil, Shoulder Steak Half Cut, Arm Swiss Steak, Chuck Steak), Chuck Arm Steak (Arm Swiss Steak, Chuck Steak for Swissing, Round Bone Steak), Chuck-Eye Steak (Boneless Chuck Fillet Steak, Boneless Steak, Bottom Chuck, Boneless Chuck Slices), Chuck Mock Tender Steak (Chuck-Eye Steak, Chuck Fillet Steak, Fish Steak, Chuck Tender Steak), Chuck 7-Bone Steak (Center Chuck Steak)
Brisket is the popular meat when it comes to barbecuing. Briskets require slow cooking to make it flavorful and tender. Generally you can buy three types of cuts, Full Packer, Point, and Flat. The Full Packer is essentially the entire brisket (both the Point and Flat) with the bone taken out. The flat cut has minimal fat and extra caution needs to take place when cooking this section. The Point cut is fattier than the flat and also is more flavorful. Besides BBQ Brisket, you will also see these in a store under Corned Beef, which is the brisket being brined. You can also BBQ a Corned Brisket easily to make Pastrami.
Rib cut is well marbled with fat and tends to be very tender. This makes juicy steaks and roasts that are full of flavor. A lot of times the meat from this section is called prime rib even though it is not good enough to be considered prime by the USDA. Generally you do not want to marinate the meat from this section. This is also the section where you get barbecued beef ribs. The ends of the rib bones are trimmed off in production of a rib roast to make beef short ribs.
Types of Roasts: Rib Roast, Rib Eye Roast
Steak Names: Ribeye, Boneless Rib, Rib Steak, Beauty Steak, Delmonico Steak, Market Steak, Spencer Steak
Plate cuts of beef are extremely flavorful and also streaked with fat. This meat is generally the meat of choice when making beef fajitas, as the meat in this section is ideal to marinating. The main types of meat that come from this section is the Skirt and Hanger steaks. They are both grainy and fatty cuts of beef. The skirt steak is also called the Butcher Steak as it is generally taken home by the butcher which is why it is sometimes hard to find it at the meat counter.
Steak names: Skirt Steak, Inside Skirt Steak, Outside Skirt Steak, Philadelphia Steak, Hanger Steak, Butcher Steak
Sirloin, Tenderloin, Top Sirloin, and Bottom Sirloin cuts of beef are the primal cut from the back of the cow. This section contains some of the most tender and expensive cuts of beef. These cuts are the most sought after pieces of beef as they create the more popular steaks we say at the stores and restaurants. Cuts from the short loin should be grilled or broiled at high temperatures.
Types of Roasts: Tenderloin Roast, Tri-Tip Roast
Steak Names: T-Bone (Porterhouse), Tenderloin (Filet Mignon, Fillet Steak, Chateaubriand), Top Loin Steak, boneless (Strip Steak, Kansas City Steak, New Your Strip steak, Ambassador Steak, Boneless Cub Steak, Hotel-Style Steak, Veiny Steak), Top Loin Steak, bone-in (Strip Steak, Sirloin Strip Steak, Chip Club Steak, Club Steak, Country Club Steak, Delmonico Steak, Shell Steak),
Flank cuts are from the bellow of the cow. This cut is generally very muscular and lean, but can be very flavorful. Since this section is more muscular it takes great benefits from being tenderized, such as marinating or using a tenderizer. This meat is also used for making fajitas.
Steak Names: Flank Steak (Flank Steak Fillet, Jiffy Steak, London Broil.
Round cuts are lean and a bit tough due to the lack of marbling or other fat. This makes these cuts ideal for high cook times with wet heat, such as braising or barbecuing.
Types of Roasts: Bottom Round Roast, Eye Round Roast, Pikes Peak Roast (Heel of Round), Round Tip Roast, Rump Roast, Tip Roast
Steak Names: Round Tip Steak (Ball Tip Steak, Beef Sirloin Tip Steak, Breakfast Steak, Knuckle Steak, Sandwich Steak, Minute Steak)
Shank cuts are very tough due to the amount of muscle and lack of fact. The shank is generally used in two ways, Shank Steak or Ground Beef. When used as a steak, it is ideal to cook it slowly with moist heat (Braising, Stewing, or Barbecuing).