Buying guide · One muscle, either side of the fifth rib

Chuck eye vs ribeye

A chuck eye is the ribeye muscle cut a little further forward: the longissimus dorsi continues from the rib into the chuck, and the steaks cut from the shoulder side are chuck eyes. Only the two or three steaks per side nearest the rib resemble a ribeye in marbling and flavor; they cost less and carry a little more connective tissue to chew.

Buying guides written to the same standard as the rest of Steakpedia: tested or sourced, never ranked by payment. Some links may earn a commission, which never changes what we recommend.

Also known as: Chuck eye và ribeyeLast reviewed Nov. 2, 20266 sources

Is a chuck eye the same as a ribeye?

It is the same muscle, cut at a different place. The longissimus dorsi, the long muscle along the back, does not stop where the rib primal begins. Behind the fifth rib it is the ribeye; in front of it, through the first five ribs and into the shoulder, it is the chuck eye, getting smaller and more mixed with other muscles as it goes.

In US fabrication the chuck is separated from the rib between the fifth and sixth ribs. The chuck eye roll (IMPS 116D) is the upper, central part of the boneless chuck roll, built around the forward longissimus, and steaks cut from it are listed as 1116D.

How do they compare side by side?

The table compares a ribeye with the closest chuck eye steaks, the ones from the rib end. Steaks from further forward fall short of it.

Why is it called the poor man's ribeye?

Because the chuck eye steaks closest to the rib share the ribeye's muscle, marbling and flavor while being priced as chuck. The name is a nickname, not a grade or a specification.

The farther forward the steak is cut, the less it resembles a ribeye. Toward the neck the eye shrinks, more muscles with different grain directions join it and connective tissue increases, so those steaks are chewier and better braised. Muscle-profiling work on the chuck found the forward longissimus among the more tender muscles of the chuck, with tenderness falling toward the neck. That is why “chuck eye” covers steaks of quite different quality.

Which names mean which steak?

Few countries name the chuck eye separately. In Australia the chuck roll and the steaks from its rib end have no chuck eye name. In Argentina the area is the aguja, and the steaks from its rib end are sold as bife de aguja, roughly comparable. In Japan the corresponding section is the kata rōsu (shoulder loin), sliced thin for sukiyaki and shabu-shabu; in Korea it is moksim, grilled at the table.

The ribeye has many more names: scotch fillet and cube roll in Australia and New Zealand, entrecôte in France, ojo de bife in Argentina.

How is each one cooked?

A chuck eye from the rib end is cooked like a ribeye: high heat, 2.5–3 cm / 1–1¼ in thick, about 54 °C / 129 °F before resting for medium-rare. Because it carries more connective tissue, many cooks take it to medium, 57–60 °C / 135–140 °F, where more of the fat has softened. The ribeye is usually pulled at 54–57 °C / 129–135 °F.

Thicker chuck eyes respond to a reverse sear: low heat until about 10 °C / 18 °F below the target, then a short, very hot sear. Rest for 5 minutes and slice across the grain, which makes a noticeable difference here because the grain changes direction where the muscles meet. Steaks from the neck end, or the whole chuck eye roll, are better roasted slowly or braised. Doneness targets are in Steak temperatures.

Why is chuck eye harder to find?

Because each carcass gives only a few rib-end steaks. A whole chuck yields a handful that match a ribeye, so they are not always on display; butchers who break the chuck roll themselves can cut them on request.

The ribeye is sold everywhere, since most of the roll becomes steaks of 250–400 g / 9–14 oz.

What should be asked at the butcher's counter?

How far forward the steak was cut. A chuck eye with a large, round eye, a visible cap and only one or two seams of fat comes from the rib end and will eat close to a ribeye. A steak where the eye is small and surrounded by several muscles running in different directions comes from further forward and is a braising piece.

Marbling matters as much as in the ribeye: a chuck eye from a higher-graded carcass is juicier and more forgiving. For a closer match, the ribeye from the chuck end (ribs 6–8) is the next step along the same muscle.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

6

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. 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
4. AUS-MEAT Limited. Handbook of Australian Meat, 7th ed. (International Red Meat Manual). Brisbane, 2005. www.ausmeat.com.au
5. Instituto de Promoción de la Carne Vacuna Argentina (IPCVA). Cortes de carne vacuna argentina — nomenclatura y usos. Buenos Aires. www.ipcva.com.ar
6. 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.