Beef Cut Sheet: How to Fill One Out With Confidence
A blank beef cut sheet can feel like a pop quiz on a subject nobody taught you. I am Jeff Mundorf, fifth generation on our family's seven-generation Iowa farm near Red Oak, and I have filled out hundreds of these with families. Here is how to think it through so your freezer matches how you cook.
Start with how you actually cook
Before you fill in a single box, picture how you use beef in a normal week and work backward. Do you grill three nights a week? Slow cook on Sundays? Need quick weeknight meals more than a fancy roast? The cut sheet is not a test with a right answer, it is a way to translate your real kitchen habits into cuts that actually get used.
Steaks: thickness and type
The more tender the cut, the thicker I recommend cutting it. Filets handle a thick cut and still cook perfectly, while round and minute steaks are best cut thin since they are leaner. You will also choose between big T-bones and porterhouses or filets and New York strips. The more you put toward sirloin and round, the less is left for ground beef, so every choice ripples through the rest of the sheet.
Roasts and ground beef
Decide how many roasts you will realistically cook, and pick sizes for your household. Whatever is not steaked or roasted becomes ground beef, so if ground is what you reach for most, keep the roasts modest. New to shares? See what to expect after ordering, or compare a quarter vs half.
Frequently asked questions
What is a beef cut sheet?
It is the form that tells the processor how to cut your share: steak thickness and type, roast sizes, and how much you want ground.
How do I fill out a beef cut sheet?
Start from how you cook. Pick steak thickness by tenderness, choose roast sizes for your household, and remember that more steaks and roasts means less ground beef.
Do you help me fill it out?
Yes. We build the cut sheet with you, so you are never filling it out alone.
Keep reading
About the author. Jeff Mundorf is the fifth generation raising cattle on his family's seventh-generation Iowa farm near Red Oak, founded in 1873. He studied Meat Science and Animal Science at Colorado State University.