Your Guide to Grass-Fed Beef Cuts: What to Buy and How to Cook It

Sirloin, rump, brisket, shin, chuck, picanha... choosing beef can become surprisingly complicated.

But it really doesn't need to be.

The key is to match the cut to the way you want to cook it. Tender cuts suit quick cooking, while harder-working muscles reward a little patience and a long, slow cook.

At Dalditch Farm in East Devon, our Aberdeen Angus and Hereford cattle are raised on certified organic pasture and are 100% grass-fed and grass-finished. Their diet is based on grasses, clovers and herbs, with conserved forage such as hay when needed. They are never grain-finished.

After slaughter, our beef is dry-aged on the bone for at least 21 days before butchery, helping to develop both flavour and tenderness.

So, whether you're planning a quick steak supper, a Sunday roast or something to leave bubbling away all afternoon, here's what to look for.

Steaks: quick cooking and plenty of flavour

The most tender muscles on the animal make the best steaks. They generally need very little intervention, just good seasoning, a hot pan, grill or barbecue and time to rest afterwards.

Sirloin steak is a great all-rounder. It is tender, full of flavour and has a strip of fat along one edge which adds richness as it cooks.

Rump steak has a slightly firmer texture and a strong, beefy flavour. Cook it quickly and slice it across the grain before serving.

Ribeye steak contains more internal fat, or marbling, which gives it its rich flavour and juicy texture.

Fillet steak is the most tender of the traditional steak cuts. It has a finer texture and more delicate flavour than rump or ribeye, so simple seasoning is usually all it needs.

There are also some less familiar cuts worth trying. Flat iron is remarkably tender for a shoulder cut, while hanger, or onglet and skirt steak have a looser grain and a particularly deep beef flavour.

For something more substantial, T-bone steak gives you sirloin on one side of the bone and fillet on the other.

Grass-fed beef can be leaner than grain-finished beef, depending on the cut, so keep an eye on it while cooking rather than relying too heavily on fixed timings.

Roasting joints or slow-cooking joints?

This is one of the easiest distinctions to make.

Tender cuts from the hindquarter suit roasting and carving. Harder-working muscles contain more connective tissue and become tender through long, gentle cooking.

Our beef roasting joint comes from the hindquarter and suits a traditional Sunday roast. Season it simply, give it a good rest after cooking and carve thinly across the grain.

For something a little more special, whole beef fillet makes an impressive centrepiece or Beef Wellington.

Picanha, also known as rump cap, is another excellent roasting cut. Its generous layer of fat adds plenty of flavour as it cooks.

Brisket is a very different proposition. Both rolled brisket and flat brisket come from the lower chest, a hardworking area of the animal. Given a long, gentle cook with stock, vegetables and herbs, brisket becomes wonderfully soft and rich.

A useful rule for slow-cooking cuts is simple: if the meat is still tough, it usually needs more time rather than more heat.

Beef mince: 15% or 5% premium steak mince?

There is an important difference between our two beef minces, and it is not simply the amount of fat.

Our 15% grass-fed beef mince combines cuts including shoulder, flank and chuck. The balance of meat and fat makes it juicy and full of flavour, particularly in burgers, meatballs, chilli, lasagne and cottage pie.

Our 5% premium steak mince is made from whole prime rump cuts.

That means it isn't simply a leaner version of ordinary mince. Using prime rump gives it a particularly tender texture as well as a naturally lower fat content.

It is an excellent choice for bolognese, tacos and other dishes where you really want the quality and texture of the beef to come through.

Both come from exactly the same organic, 100% grass-fed Farm2Fork beef. Choose the 15% mince when you want extra richness and succulence, or the premium steak mince when you want something leaner and exceptionally tender.

Slow-cooking cuts: where patience pays off

Some of the most flavoursome and best-value cuts on the animal are also the ones that need the longest cooking.

Our diced beef comes from shoulder cuts including feather, blade and chuck. It is ideal for casseroles, curries, pies and the slow cooker.

Braising steak and chuck steak work particularly well in the same sort of dishes.

For an even richer result, try beef shin, short ribs, ox cheek or oxtail.

These cuts contain more connective tissue, which gradually breaks down during slow cooking. The result is beautifully tender meat and the sort of rich, glossy sauce that is difficult to achieve with a leaner cut.

They are a good reminder that the most expensive cut is not necessarily the most flavoursome.

Don't overlook the rest of the animal

Buying directly from a farm also gives you the opportunity to try some of the cuts and ingredients that have gradually disappeared from many supermarket shelves.

Liver, kidney, heart and tongue have all been eaten for generations and each has its own place in the kitchen.

Beef stock bones and marrow bones can form the base of a deeply flavoured stock, while beef suet is the traditional fat for dumplings, pastry and steamed puddings.

Using more of the animal also makes sense to us as farmers. If an animal has taken years to rear well, making good use of as much of it as possible matters.

What makes our grass-fed beef different?

The name of the cut only tells part of the story.

How cattle are raised, what they eat and what happens to the beef afterwards all influence what eventually reaches the plate.

Our cattle graze certified organic pasture as part of the regenerative farming system at Dalditch. They eat grass and forage throughout their lives rather than being grain-finished.

Grass-fed beef can look a little different too. The fat can have a creamier or yellower colour because of natural pigments in the forage, and the flavour can be deeper and more distinctive.

We then dry-age our beef on the bone for at least 21 days before it is butchered.

So whether you're buying fillet, mince or beef shin, the same farming system and attention to quality sits behind every cut.

Not sure where to start?

If you're trying Farm2Fork beef for the first time, there's no need to start with the more unusual cuts.

A sirloin or rump steak, a pack of 15% beef mince, some 5% premium steak mince and a slow-cooking cut such as diced beef, shin or brisket will give you plenty of options, from a quick midweek supper to something slow-cooked for the weekend.

From there, you can start exploring.

Our beef is supplied frozen, preserving it once it has been butchered and packed. Simply defrost it slowly in the fridge before cooking.

Explore our organic, 100% grass-fed beef range and find the right cut for your next meal.