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Beef might be purchased as veal, yearling, young prime beef (young steer). Regardless of their quality
grade, some cuts of meat are naturally more tender than others. Cuts from the less-used muscles
along the back of the animal-the rib and loin sections-will always be more tender than those from the
more active muscles such as the shoulder, flank, and leg.
Since the most tender cuts make up only a small proportion of a beef or lamb carcass, they are in
greatest demand and usually command a higher price than other cuts.
When purchasing veal, assess colour and fat. If a calf has been fed exclusively on its mother's milk it
gives a very pale pink meat smelling of milk, with satiny white fat having no tinge of red (which would
indicate the animal had eaten cereals or grass) . If the meat is reddish, or greyish-white, soft and
damp with thick shiny tendons, the animal has not been fed with its mother's milk but with
reconstituted milk. Its meat cooks badly, gives off water, and reduces in volume, whereas white or
pink veal remains moist and does not dry out.
When placing an order for beef or beef products you should specify whether you want grass fed,
grain fed beef (GFB) (held in a feed lot for a minimum 100 days) or grain fed young beef (GFYB) (held
in a feed lot for not less than 50 days).

Beef might be processed as:
• veal - light weight- under 3 months (approximate weight 40 kg)

• veal - heavy weight - under 1 year (approximately 70 kg)
• yearling beef- 1-2 years (approximately 150 kg)

• prime beef- 2-4 years (approximately 200 -2220 kg)
• mature beef 4 years and over (approximately 220 kg and over)

When ordering, it is also possible to specify the sex of the beast.
Beef cuts can be divided into fore and hindquarter cuts.

Forequarter cuts include: rib eye roll, chuck, blade shin, oyster blade, brisket and bolar.
Hindquarter primal cuts include the short leg and the argentine.