Cut of beef

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During butchering, beef is first divided into primal cuts, pieces of meat initially separated from the carcass. These are basic sections from which steaks and other subdivisions are cut. Since the animal's legs and neck muscles do the most work, they are the toughest; the meat becomes more tender as distance from hoof and horn increases.

Different countries and cuisines have varying definitions for cuts of meat and their names, and sometimes the same name is used for different cuts. For instance, the cut described as brisket in the United States comes from a different part of the carcass than the "brisket" referred to in the United Kingdom. Cuts typically refer narrowly to skeletal muscle (sometimes attached to bone), but they can also include other edible parts such as offal (organ meats) or bones that are not attached to significant muscle.