Have you ever broken down a cow? Right. Probably not. After all, we're not all butchers. But that beef we love throwing on the grill, griddle, or cast iron doesn't just fall off the bone as a beautifully cut steak. It takes a lot of work and technical know-how to get it to that point.
That's why we enlisted Jason Yang, of Fleisher's Craft Butchery, to help us understand how our filet mignon, skirt steak, and brisket, amongst other cuts, come to be. What's the difference between the chuck and the round? How do giant, dinosaur-sized ribs become short ribs? Where the hell do you find the Denver steak? (It's actually in the underblade, not Colorado.) In the video above, Yang answers all of these questions, while defining cow terminology, explaining anatomy, and turning large hunks of meat into the beautifully butchered steaks you recognize.
You could go to butcher school and get a hands-on experience in breaking down a half cow, or you could just watch Yang do it. Either way, the next time you grill a top round steak, you'll appreciate how damn skillful you'd have to be to separate it from the knuckle, bottom round, and eye round. And then, hopefully, enjoy it even more.
