Understanding the Basic Cuts

Appears in
Professional Cooking
Professional Cooking

By Wayne Gisslen

Published 2014

  • About
The following discussion of meat cuts focuses on the four primary meat categories in the wholesale and retail markets: beef, lamb, veal, and pork. Keep in mind, however, that game animals, discussed later in the chapter, have the same bone and muscle structure and are generally divided into the same or similar cuts as nongame animals.
Meat cuts are based on two factors:
  1. The muscle and bone structure of the meat.
  2. Uses of and appropriate cooking methods for various parts of the animal.

Food-service suppliers in the United States may follow a set of specifications called Institution Meat Purchase Specifications (IMPS). (IMPS, including numbers and names of cuts, are the same as the North American Meat Processors Association, or NAMP, specifications.) All cuts are described in detail and listed by number. This simplifies purchasing, as you can order by number exactly the cut you want.