Cut · Chuck, the shoulder

Chuck roast & chuck steak

A chuck roast is a thick piece of the chuck, the shoulder and neck of the animal over the first five ribs, sold as a 7-bone, blade, arm or chuck roll roast; a chuck steak is the same meat sliced 2–3 cm thick. Hard-working muscles give it deep flavour, marbling and plenty of collagen, so it is cooked slowly with moisture until the collagen turns to gelatin and the meat pulls apart.

Also known as: Chuck roast · pot roast · chuck steak · 7-bone roast · blade roastLast reviewed 25 Oct 202611 sources

The shoulder, in one piece or in slices

The chuck is the front of the forequarter: the neck, the shoulder blade and the upper arm, together with the first five ribs. It is the heaviest primal of the carcass and the busiest, made of many muscles that move the head and carry the animal's weight. Their seams of fat and their connective tissue are what make a chuck roast both flavoursome and tough when cooked fast.

"Chuck roast" is a family name rather than one cut. A 7-bone roast is cut across the blade end, where the shoulder blade shows in section like the numeral 7. A blade roast comes from the same end without that cross-section; an arm roast from the lower part, around the round arm bone. A boneless chuck roll (IMPS 116A) is the long muscle group above the blade, rolled and tied; a shoulder clod or shoulder pot roast (IMPS 114) is the large triceps of the upper arm, leaner and more even. A chuck steak is any of these sliced 2–3 cm (about 1 in) thick, often with a piece of bone.

What sits inside the chuck

Several of the best-known modern steaks are single muscles taken out of the chuck. The chuck eye steak is the rib end of the chuck roll, where the ribeye's muscle continues forward. The Denver steak is cut from the serratus ventralis under the blade, and the flat iron and the oyster blade come from the infraspinatus on the outside of the blade. Muscle-profiling studies of the chuck in the early 2000s measured each of these separately and are the reason they are now sold on their own.

What is left after those cuts are lifted out, or when the shoulder is sold whole, is the chuck roast. Its mix of muscles is also why chuck is the classic meat for ground beef: around 80 % lean and 20 % fat, it gives the burger blend sold as ground chuck.

Cooking it: low heat, moisture, 90–96 °C

Collagen begins to shrink and squeeze out moisture at about 60 °C / 140 °F, but it only turns into gelatin with time at higher temperatures. A chuck roast is therefore taken well past "well done": braised in a covered pot with a little liquid at 150–160 °C / 300–320 °F in the oven, or on a low hob, for 3 to 4 hours for a 1.5–2 kg piece, until the inside reaches 90–96 °C / 194–205 °F and a fork turns in it without resistance. A slow cooker needs 8–10 hours on low.

Browning the meat first adds flavour through the Maillard reaction; the liquid (stock, wine, beer, tomato) only needs to come a third of the way up, so the top roasts while the bottom braises. Resting 15–20 minutes in the liquid lets the gelatin set slightly and the meat reabsorb some juice. The same piece cut into cubes is the base of beef stew; whole, it is the American pot roast.

Chuck steaks follow the same rule: braised, or sliced thin and cooked fast, as in Korean grilling, Japanese sukiyaki or Mexican diezmillo for tacos. A thick chuck steak grilled like a ribeye stays chewy, except for the cuts lifted out above.

What a kilo gives

A chuck roast loses more weight than a steak, because the long cook drives out water and renders fat. In the USDA's cooking-yield study, boneless chuck under blade pot roasts kept on average 64 % of their raw weight after braising (33 samples, 61–78 %), and boneless shoulder pot roasts 66 % (71 samples, 55–81 %). A kilo of raw boneless chuck therefore gives about 650 g of cooked meat; with the bone in, less. Raw, the lean carries about 21 g of protein and 4–6 g of fat per 100 g, more fat in the under blade than in the leaner shoulder clod.

Choosing one at the counter

For braising, look for visible seams of fat and connective tissue running through the piece; a roast that looks very lean and uniform (the clod or the arm) slices more neatly but needs careful timing so it does not dry out. An even thickness of at least 5 cm cooks evenly. Bone-in roasts such as the 7-bone add gelatin to the sauce. Higher grades carry more marbling, which keeps the meat moister after hours of cooking.

Labels vary by shop. "Chuck roast" and "pot roast" are used for almost any of the pieces above; "chuck tender" or "mock tender" is the small supraspinatus muscle, lean and best braised despite the name. For a grilling steak from the same region, ask for the chuck eye from the rib end or a Denver steak.

Names around the world

22

The same muscle, named by language and by trade system.

English	Chuck roast · pot roast · chuck steak · 7-bone roast · blade roast
Español	Aguja · paleta · diezmillo · espaldilla
Tiếng Việt	Nạc vai bò (chuck)
Português	Acém · paleta
Français	Paleron · macreuse · train de côtes
Italiano	Spalla · copertina di spalla
日本語	肩ロース (kata rōsu) · 肩 (kata)
한국어	목심 (moksim)

All the cuts' names, country by country →

Trade and national systems

System	Name	Reference
United States	Chuck roast · pot roast · 7-bone roast · blade roast · arm roast · chuck steak	IMPS 113 / 114 / 116A
United Kingdom	Chuck and blade · braising steak · chuck roll	AHDB · USMEF 2013
Australia / NZ	Chuck · chuck roll · blade (clod)	HAM · USMEF 2013
Argentina	Aguja · paleta (shoulder clod: carnaza de paleta)	USMEF 2013
Mexico	Diezmillo · rollo de diezmillo · planchuela (clod)	USMEF 2013
Spain	Aguja · espaldilla (clod)	USMEF 2013
Colombia · Peru	Lomo de aguja (Colombia) · asado de aguja (Peru)	USMEF 2013
Chile	Huachalomo · sobrecostilla · posta de paleta	USMEF 2013
Brazil	Acém · agulha · miolo da paleta (clod)	USMEF 2013
France	Train de côtes · paleron · macreuse	USMEF 2013
Italy	Spalla · copertina di spalla	USMEF 2013
Japan	肩ロース (kata rōsu, chuck roll) · 肩 (kata, shoulder) · チャックロール (US import)	JMGA · USMEF 2013
Korea	목심 (moksim, chuck roll) · 척롤 (US import)	KAPE · USMEF 2013
Vietnam	Nạc vai

Frequently asked questions

Sources

11

1. USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications: Fresh Beef Series 100. Washington, DC, 2014. www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/IMPS_100_Fresh_Beef%5B1%5D.pdf
2. North American Meat Institute. The Meat Buyer's Guide, 8th ed. Washington, DC, 2014.
3. AUS-MEAT Limited. Handbook of Australian Meat, 7th ed. (International Red Meat Manual). Brisbane, 2005. www.ausmeat.com.au
4. Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (UK). Beef Meat Purchasing Guide. Kenilworth, 2016. ahdb.org.uk
5. McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, rev. ed. New York: Scribner, 2004.
6. Korea Institute for Animal Products Quality Evaluation (KAPE). Beef cuts and grading. www.ekape.or.kr
7. Japan Meat Grading Association. Beef Carcass Grading Standard. Tokyo, 1988 (rev. 2014). www.jmga.or.jp
8. Huerta-Leidenz, Nelson. International Nomenclature Guide of Beef Cuts for the U.S.A. and Other Countries Targeted by the U.S. Meat Export Federation. Denver: U.S. Meat Export Federation, 2013. www.usa-beef.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/1064.GUIDE_beef-cuts_ingl%C3%A9s_09oct13.pdf
9. Showell, B. A.; Williams, J. R.; Duvall, M.; Howe, J. C.; Patterson, K. Y.; Roseland, J. M.; Holden, J. M. USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry. Beltsville, MD: USDA Agricultural Research Service, Nutrient Data Laboratory, 2012. www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400525/Data/retn/USDA_CookingYields_MeatPoultry.pdf
10. USDA Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, SR Legacy (National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference). Beltsville, MD, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov
11. Von Seggern, D. D.; Calkins, C. R.; Johnson, D. D.; Brickler, J. E.; Gwartney, B. L. "Muscle profiling: characterizing the muscles of the beef chuck and round." Meat Science 71, no. 1 (2005): 39–51.

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