A Certified Angus® tenderloin, larded with a strip of bacon. Photo courtesy of RockyMountainSteaks.com.

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June 2005
Updated March 2008

Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Beef

Beef Glossary & Beef Cut Diagram

Page 8:  T, U, V, W

When looking up cuts of meat, it’s helpful to refer to the beef cut diagram, courtesy of the National Cattleman’s Beef Association. If you enjoy this Beef Glossary, we have a food glossary for almost every category of food.

Click on the letter of the alphabet in this bar to get to a term
without having to scroll manually; letters other than T, U, V & W
will take you to the appropriate page of the glossary.

a  b  c  d  e  f  g  h  i  j  k  l  m  n  o  p  q  r  s  t  u  v  w  x  y  z

TARTAR STEAK

See Steak Tartare.

T-BONE STEAK See Porterhouse. TENDERLOIN or SHORT LOIN or FILET MIGNON The two main muscles in the short loin are the tenderloin and the top loin. The most tender area of beef, with the most mild flavor, is the tenderloin, in the middle of the back between the sirloin and the rib. The tenderloin can be cooked whole, in smaller sections like Chateaubriand or cut into individual filets mignon. The top loin can get cut into a club steak with the bone attached, a New York (or Kansas City) strip steak or Delmonico steak without the bone. When the bone is left in and portions of both the tenderloin and top loin muscles are included, the short loin is the source of porterhouse, a.k.a. T-bone, steaks.

The tenderloin or short loin, with cuts of filet mignon. Photo courtesy of Morton’s The Steakhouse.

TOP LOIN

See New York Strip Steak.

TOP ROUND ROAST

The round is the most tender of the four round cuts. See Round. Photo of top round roast at left, courtesy of GlacierBeef.com.

TRI-TIP

See Sirloin.

URMIS

URMIS, the Uniform Retail Meat Identity Standards, is a standardized nomenclature system that provides a uniform method for labeling meat throughout the U.S. The URMIS program, developed in the early 1970s, was updated in 1995.

USDA

The United States Department of Agriculture administers programs and services covering farmers and consumers. These include grading and inspection of meat and other products, and conducting research programs in animal and plant production and human nutrition.

USDA PRIME and USDA CHOICE

All beef is not created equal. The quality depends on not only the stock but the animal’s environment, type of feed, slaughter technique, aging, butchering, packaging and other factors. The eight USDA grades are Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter and Canner. USDA Prime is generally only available to restaurants and specialty butcher shops. The best quality sold at supermarkets is generally USDA Choice, although many markets sell only Select. If the grade is not indicated, ask. Only 2% to 3% of all beef produced is graded Prime. Prime is at its best in both flavor and texture when it is aged 18 to 24 months. About 58% of all beef produced is graded USDA Choice. The grading is based on three factors: the proportion of meat to bone (conformation), the proportion of fat to lean (finish) and overall quality. Beef grade is largely determined by the nature of the steer, although the industry tries, through breeding and feeding practices, to raise cattle that will earn a Choice grade.

VACCUUM AGING

Aging in vacuum packaging. Also referred to as wet aging, the beef is packed in a bag for several weeks to allow the enzymes to break down and tenderize the muscle tissue. This technique is used by some of the finest steak houses, such as Morton’s, Others prefer Dry Aging.

VACCUUM PACKAGED

Refers to the process of encasing meat cuts in bags or pouches fabricated from laminated plastic, evacuating air from the bags and sealing them for extended refrigerated storage.

WAGYU

Wagyu refers to several beef breeds of cattle (Japanese Black, Japanese Brown, Japanese Polled, and Japanese Shorthorn), which are genetically predisposed to intense marbling, which provides enhanced flavor, tenderness and juiciness (and a high market price, up to $150/pound). The translation of Wagyu is “Japanese cattle”: wa means “Japanese,” and gyu means cattle.” Wagyu is also known as Kobe-style beef, although only beef raised in the Kobe prefecture of Japan can be called “Kobe”—it is a branded name, like Certified Angus®. Wagyu cattle are raised in Japan, the U.S. and elsewhere. In Japan, each calf stays with its natural mother for about 10 months, then is fed hay, rice, straw, barley and corn for 24 months. Because of both the cattle’s genetic predisposition and this special diet, the beef contains a higher percentage of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids; the increased marbling provides a higher ratio of monounsaturated fats to saturated fats. Wagyu have about 70% monounsaturated fatty acids, specifically oleic and stearic acid, which make the beef “melt in your mouth.” As you can see in the photo above, the high percentage of fat to meat means a very mouth-watering experience. As with USDA grading, Wagyu is also graded; A5 is the highest grade, with the most marbling, snow-white fat and red-orange lean (the muscle, or meat). See also Kobe Beef.
Wagyu strip steak available from TheWagyu.com.

WET AGING

See Vacuum Aging.

YIELD GRADING

A system of grading that estimates the percentage of boneless and closely trimmed cuts that can be obtained from the round, loin, rib and chuck/shoulder. Yield grades are Y.G.1 (leanest) through Y.G.5 (fattest).

Go To Glossary Alphabet Index, Above

Go To The Beginning Of This Article

© Copyright 2005- 2008 Lifestyle Direct, Inc. Some definitions were provided by the Cattlemen's Beef Board  and are © Copyright 2005 Cattlemen’s Beef Board. All rights reserved. Images are the copyright of their respective owners.