Beef is meat obtained from a bovine. Beef is one of the principal meats used in European cuisine and cuisine of the Americas, and is important in Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia as well. In the Middle East, it is very rare to have lunch without beef.

Beef can be cut into steak, pot roasts, short ribs, or ground into hamburger. Several Asian and European nationalities include the blood in their cuisine as well -- it is used in some varieties of blood sausage, and Filipinos use it to make a stew called dinuguan. Other beef variety meats include the tongue, which is usually sliced for sandwiches in Western cooking; tripe from the stomach; various glands—particularly the pancreas and thyroid—referred to as sweetbreads; the heart, the brain, the liver, the kidneys; and the tender testicles of the bull commonly known as "beef balls", "calf fries", "prairie oysters", or "Rocky Mountain oysters."

The better cuts are usually obtained from steers, as heifers tend to be kept for breeding. Older animals are used for beef when they are past their reproductive prime. The meat from older cows and bulls is generally tougher, so it is frequently used for ground beef. Cattle raised for beef may be allowed to roam free on grasslands, or may be confined at some stage in pens as part of a large feeding operation called a feedlot.

The United States, Brazil, the EU, China, and India, are the world's five largest producers of beef. Beef production is also important to the economy of Argentina, the Russian Federation, Australia, Mexico, and Canada.

USDA Beef grades

In the United States, the USDA operates a voluntary beef grading program. The meat processor pays for the presence of a highly trained USDA meat grader who grades the whole carcass prior to fabrication. The carcass grade is stamped on each primal cut (six stamps) and applied with roller stamp to each side as well. You can often see traces of the USDA grading stamp on boxed primal cuts.

The grades are based on two main criteria, the degree of marbling (intramuscular fat) in the beef rib eye and the age of the animal prior to slaughter. Some meat scientists object to the current scheme of USDA grading since it does not take tenderness into account. Most other countries beef grading systems mirror the US model. Most beef offered for sale in supermarkets is graded choice or select. Prime beef is sold to hotels and upscale restaurants. Beef that would rate as Standard or leaner is almost never offered for grading.

• Prime — most tender and highest in fat
• Choice
• Select — the leanest grade commonly sold
• Standard
• Commercial
• Utility
• Cutter
• Canner

Cuts of beef

(This section denotes the American system of beef cutting. Other cultures have similar systems, but the exact cuts and terminology differ).

Primal cuts

Beef is first divided into primal cuts. These are basic sections from which steaks and other subdivisions are cut. The following is a list of the primal cuts, ordered front to back, then top to bottom. The short loin and the sirloin are sometimes considered as one section. When looking at a diagram such as the one above, note that the closer to the middle back, the more tender the meat is. Since the animal's legs and neck muscles do the most work, they are the toughest; the meat becomes progressively more tender as distance from "hoof and horn" increases.

upper half

• Chuck - one of the most common sources for hamburger.
• Rib
• Short Loin - the most tender, and the most expensive; from which porterhouse steaks, and filet mignon are cut.
• Sirloin - less tender than short loin, but more flavorful.
• Round

lower half

• Brisket and Shank
• Plate
• Flank

Also see the external links section below for links to more beef cut charts and diagrams.

Special beef designations

• Buccleuch Scotch beef originates in a designated area on and around the estate of the Duke of Buccleuch in Scotland.
• Certified Angus Beef ™ is beef certified by the USDA to have come from Angus cattle.
• Dry aged beef has been aged using a special process.
• Grass fed beef has been raised primarily on forage rather than in a feedlot.
• Halaal beef has been certified to have been processed in a prescribed manner in accordance with Muslim tradition.
• Kobe beef : Cattle of the Wagyu breed raised and fattened in the hills above Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. During the fattening period, the beef is hand-fed (using high-energy feed, including beer and beer mash) and hand-massaged for tenderness and high fat content.
• Kosher beef has been certified to have been processed in a prescribed manner in accordance with Jewish dietary laws.
• Organic beef is produced without hormones, pesticides, or other chemicals though requirements for labeling something "organic" vary widely.
• Roast beef

Religious proscription

Beef is a taboo meat in a number of religions, most notably Hinduism, whose adherents consider cows deserving of reverence. This taboo is believed to have arisen from the necessity of cattle for milk and draft labor preempting the slaughter of young cattle for veal. Also, consumption of beef (along with other meats) is frowned upon by many Buddhists, although it is not strictly taboo.

In Judaism, Beef is one of the meats considered Kosher, if butchered and prepared in accordance with religious law, under the supervision of a Rabbi. Beef is also considered Halal by Muslims under similar strictures.

"Mad cow disease"

The over-intensive farming of beef resulted in the world's first recognised outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or, colloquially, "mad cow disease") in the United Kingdom in 1986. Eating beef from cattle with BSE is thought to have caused the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD) in about 131 cases (2003 June data) in the United Kingdom and some few in France. The perception of beef as potentially lethal caused significant damage to the UK beef industry. The attempts to wipe out BSE in the UK by a kill-and-burn campaign, although ultimately successful, did further damage from which the beef industry is only recently recovering. Since then, a number of other countries have had outbreaks of BSE. BSE is an illness that cattle can get by feeding them other animals (especially their brains and spines), including their own. Due to a BSE scare last year, the American border is currently closed to live Canadian cows.

Beef in the English Language

Beef occurs in various slang forms in American English that are unrelated to it being a type of meat, but perhaps more to the animal it comes from. Beef is used in a noun form in the phrase "to have (a) beef", the use of which dates back to the 19th Century, when "to beef" initially meant to loudly complain about something. The phrase means to have a feud or dispute with another party, usually an odious and publically known one. It was re-popularized by hip-hop music, especially the late Notorious B.I.G., who had a song entitled "What's Beef". Beef can also be used as the adjective "beefy" describing someone's weight, or rather their excess amount of it. However, a "beefcake" is a male considered desirable by women, due to his robust physique. This meaning relates back to an earlier meaning of "beefy" as a synonym for "muscular" or "well-built". Finally, "to beef up" has the same meaning as "to reinforce" or "to shore up", usually seen in connection with increasing numbers of soldiers, police, or other security measures in response to a perceived threat.

The absence of beef also made a notable appearance in American pop culture. During the 1980's, there was an ad campaign entitled "Where's the Beef?" in which patrons of other fast food restaurants examined the hamburgers and pronounced the amount of beef lacking. The phrase has become synonymous with anything lacking substance.

In British English, beef is far more established in colloquialisms, though many are vulgar. Beef also gets a more playful treatment from the British through Cockney Rhyming Slang; instead of saying "beef" one could say "stop thief" or "itchy teeth" to start the non-completed rhyme format. And, according to Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, there is a rhyming slang to describe the act of flatulation - "beef-heart".

External links

• as food
• Information on Grass Fed Beef
• National Cattlemen's Beef Association Site
• Food TV diagram of various cuts of beef
• Many different meat cut charts (Internet Archive version)
• Montana Beef Network
• USDA beef grading standards (PDF) *Internet Archive version)de:Rindfleisch