How To Pick The Perfect Cut Of Meat For Beef Stew

The parts that make beef cuts like chuck roast such horrible steaks, are exactly the thing you should look for in the meat you're choosing for your next beef stew or pot roast. This is all about the connective tissues — the ligaments, the tendons, and the like — which make driving a knife through a piece of meat nearly impossible. But these tough parts of the beef, along with its fatty tissues, undergo a nearly miraculous transformation once they're cooked. Sinew is where the body stores most of its collagen. This material becomes gelatin if cooked long enough, and this substance becomes the key to moist, tender stew meat. As such, the toughest cuts of meat usually give you the best tasting stew.

First among them is chuck steak. It comes from the shoulder, neck, and upper front legs. Chuck counts among the primal cuts, which must be removed from the carcass during the butchering process. Because the animal puts weight on its shoulders in order to move, that area of the body has thick, tough muscles, plenty of connective tissue, and loads of fat. Due to the function of the muscles, some of the texture and thickness of the tissue can be inconsistent. However, all in all, it's still a great piece of meat to put into stew — and arguably, one of the most popular.

Brisket comes from the breast and chest of the animal. Because it responds so well to the low-and-slow method of cooking, it ranks high among barbecue fans. Ditto for those who love to smoke their meats. And, of course, it makes for a mean stew, too. It has two parts to it: its lean and its point or deckle parts. Of the two, the point offers you a better choice for stew, due to its fattiness. That said, it can also be a bit muscular and fibrous, making it less ideal for stew. However, it typically beats out chuck from a price standpoint, so it may make up in cost what it lacks in texture.

Next on the list is the rib. The cow has 13 ribs, seven of which are primal. These cuts also have a lot to offer the stew maker. It is a misconception that the bones, or rather, their marrows, make stews taste better by contributing to more flavorful cuts. What is true is that the bones in the meat make it taste good because the bones slow down the cooking process. This results in a more flavorful, even cook. And since most stew meats need to cook a long time to soften up, beef rib is a natural for the stew pot.

Flank and skirt steaks come from the animal's abdomen. The flank is a lean but tough cut, though when handled with proper care it can be a tasty addition to a meal. The skirt steak tastes like a big mouthful of beef in every bite, and while the flank steak has a less intense flavor, it's also a delish cut. Beef stew is all about the timing, favoring low and slow in this case. Skirt steak may not be as optimal a choice for stew as flank is, but will work if necessary. Flank steak, on the other hand, stars in traditional recipes like Cuban flank and pepper stew.

But if you want a flavorful stew, don't overlook the oxtail. There's a reason why so many people protested when Campbell's discontinued its oxtail soup. Because the meat comes from the tail, it has plenty of bone to draw out its flavor. It's also really, really fatty — like the roughly 70% fat content sort of fatty.

It can also be costlier than some meats, due to the bone weight in the cut. Stews made with oxtail also require plenty of time and patience because the sinewy material takes its sweet time to cook; up to three hours sometimes. That said, if you find yourself on a cold winter day with nothing to do, coaxing a savory stew meal out of your boney oxtail cuts sounds like a pretty good way to while the hours.