Think you know everything about the meat counter? There’s a whole world of delicious cuts most customers never see. Butchers have secrets they’ve been keeping close to the chest for decades, quietly taking home the best cuts while selling you the familiar ribeyes and sirloin strips. These aren’t just random pieces either – these are some of the most flavorful, tender cuts on the entire animal.
The tradition goes back generations when local butchers would break down whole animals and discover hidden gems that customers didn’t recognize or ask for. Rather than waste these exceptional cuts or struggle to explain their appeal, many butchers simply slipped them into their own bags at closing time. Smart business meets pure indulgence.
What started as necessity became a closely guarded tradition that continues today. Though modern meat education has blown some of these secrets wide open, smart shoppers still need to know what to ask for. Ready to discover what butchers have been secretly savoring all these years?
Hanger Steak – The Original Butcher’s Secret
Known as butcher’s steak or onglet, this cut was historically kept by butchers rather than offered for sale because of its incredible flavor and tenderness. Due to its limited quantity, hanger steak is rarely marketed to consumers, with most cuts being diverted to restaurants. Hanging from the lower belly between the loin and the rib, there’s only one hanger per animal, earning it the longtime nickname ‘butcher’s steak’ as butchers would secretly keep this cut for themselves.
The anatomical positioning makes this cut special beyond just its rarity. The hanger steak is the crura, or legs, of the diaphragm, literally “hanging” from the diaphragm of the animal, and is considered more flavorful than the outer skirt steak from the tougher dome muscle. This unique cut from the diaphragm muscle boasts an intensely beefy flavor and juicy texture, making it a favorite among chefs for its quick-cooking nature when grilled or seared over high heat.
What makes butchers love this cut personally is simple economics and flavor. Compared to premium cuts like ribeye or New York strip, hanger steak is often more budget-friendly, offering gourmet quality at a fraction of the cost while smart butchers have been quietly enjoying this gem while selling the more expensive cuts to customers.
Flat Iron Steak – The Chuck Champion
Flat Iron Steak may be the best-kept secret in the meat industry, with butchers and beef experts favoring it for its incredible tenderness – the second most tender cut after filet mignon – with no connective tissues, fine grain, and rich marbling making it amazingly buttery and juicy. This cut costs only half the price of filet mignon, making it a perfect example of how knowledge is power in the meat world – those who know get premium eating at budget prices.
Coming from the shoulder of the cow cut off the blade and named after its resemblance to an old-fashioned metal flat iron, this is another lean and tender steak option that butchers like to keep for themselves, though it can be tough if the line of gristle running down the center hasn’t been properly removed. The flat iron’s origin began with a 1998 research program to reduce waste and promote beef, with university researchers discovering that the chuck’s top blade contained tender meat once the tough connective tissue was removed.
The Flat Iron is one of the most tender parts of the cow despite being sliced from the tougher shoulder section, well-marbled with intense flavor rivaled only by the tenderloin, and in Wagyu versions shows even more marbling that brings out a beefier taste when grilled, broiled, or sliced thin for fajitas and sandwiches.
Chuck Eye Steak – The Poor Man’s Ribeye
The chuck eye is known as the poor man’s ribeye, being the beginning of ribeye with only two chuck eyes per cow, and being so close to the ribeye family allows you to get ribeye flavor without the ribeye price point, though chucks are usually braised or roasted, when cut into steaks they can be grilled or pan-seared for a better flavor profile. When butchers’ eyes light up at the mention of ribeye alternatives, they often suggest chuck eye steaks, explaining it’s not a well-known cut with only two per cow, yet customers discover it’s the most tender and best tasting steak they’ve ever had.
Tender rib-eyes come from the sixth to twelfth ribs of a cow while butchers cut the chuck eye from the fifth rib, and this proximity means the chuck eye steak shares many characteristics of a rib-eye, though chuck eye steaks aren’t always available since there are just two per cow, they tend to be budget-friendly when found. Local grocery stores probably have chuck eye steaks available though you might need to reserve one in advance because there are only two chuck eye steaks per cow so they get bought up quickly, sometimes by the butchers themselves.
Known as the “butcher’s secret,” this tender and flavorful cut offers incredible taste at a more affordable price point, delivering rich, beefy goodness with the right balance of marbling and tenderness unlike other cuts. Often called the “poor man’s ribeye,” this flavorful steak boasts impressive marbling that locks in moisture and enhances every bite with rich, beefy taste, delivering that same great beefy flavor as ribeye at a fraction of the price thanks to its beautiful marbling.
Denver Steak – The Chuck Roll Treasure
Denver steak is the fourth most tender steak after tenderloin, flat iron and ribeye cap, and is a hidden gem that not many butcher shops carry as it requires nice butchering skill, being tender, juicy and beautifully marbled, coming from deep within the chuck primal underneath the chuck eye, making it a true treasure hunt for skilled butchers. The Denver steak comes from a chuck roll, which is the fattiest and most flavorful part of the cow, comparable to pork shoulder but in beef form, and the reason you don’t see Denver steak much is because it’s difficult to break down and easier to use for ground beef, but if your butcher knows what he’s doing and can actually cut this beef into a steak, this tender cut is a flavorful way to get the best bang for your buck, though there’s only about twelve steaks per cow.
Denver steaks, also known as boneless chuck short ribs or zabuton, are tender and delicious cuts from the shoulder called the chuck, and though some butchers call it “boneless chuck short rib,” don’t be fooled – this isn’t a deboned short rib and doesn’t need to be braised, as the cut is a butchers favorite, and when there’s a lot of marbling, butchers may call it zabuton, a Japanese word meaning “cushion.”
The technical skill required to extract Denver steaks properly is what keeps them off most retail counters. The chuck is complex with muscle groups located in and around the front shoulder having more variability than any other, making for interesting cuts which can only be sourced from hands-on whole animal butchery, and asking any butcher their favorite primal, they will invariably say “the chuck,” home to flat iron, teres major, denver, and other specialized cuts. This complexity means most butchers find it easier to grind these sections rather than take the time to separate the individual muscles into distinct steaks.
Bavette – The French Connection
This cut comes from a cattle’s underbelly and was originally called by the unappetizing name “flap meat,” but switching to the French word for bib allows this cut to sound better on fancy menus, though there’s no denying its full-bodied flavor and pronounced grain, and it should be cooked fast and dry, never past medium-rare, while also doing well in marinades and adventurous recipes from Asian or Latin cultures.
The bavette comes from the same area as a flank steak and has a similar chewy and lean consistency, and if you’re not careful, it can be mistaken for a flank or flap steak, however the bavette is thicker and more tender, with this steak becoming very popular in recent years, and there isn’t a whole animal butcher in America that isn’t asked about bavette, requiring fast cooking – “fast, fast, fast” – and cutting against the grain.
The Flap Meat or Flap Steak is often referred to by its French name, Bavette, for obviously appetizing reasons, and similar to the flank or skirt, this tougher cut from the bottom sirloin tenderizes in marinades and is quite flavorful, being quite versatile as a stellar selection for kabob cubes while also able to be grilled or seared whole for a flavorful steak. The French name transformation shows how butchers and chefs have learned to market these cuts more appealingly to discerning customers who appreciate international culinary terminology.
