Walk into a butcher shop and you’ll notice the usual suspects gleaming under the lights. Ribeyes, strip steaks, tenderloin. The crowd pleasers. Yet ask any professional butcher what they truly want at the end of the day, and you’ll hear different names entirely. There’s an entire world of meat cuts that rarely grace the display case, not because they lack quality, but because those who know beef best tend to quietly snag them first. Some call them insider cuts. Some call them the best kept secrets of the trade.
These were the cuts butchers would keep for themselves and cook up for lunch, with none of their clients any the wiser. It’s the sort of knowledge that gets passed down quietly behind the counter, a wink and a nod between professionals who understand that premium doesn’t always mean expensive. Let’s be honest, if you spent your whole day breaking down carcasses, you’d know exactly which muscles delivered the most bang for your buck.
Hanger Steak: The Original Butcher’s Secret
The hanger steak is part of the diaphragm of the cow and is often referred to as the ‘butcher’s secret’ because butchers would often reserve this cut for themselves. It dangles from the lower belly, literally hanging between the loin and rib, which explains the name perfectly. There is only one hanger steak per a cow. That scarcity alone makes it valuable, though scarcity isn’t the whole story. The texture is slightly coarser than premium cuts like ribeye, but the intensity of beef flavor more than makes up for it.
Here’s the thing that’ll surprise you. Because the cut is growing in popularity and there’s only one hanger steak per cow, its price is rising in the butcher’s case accordingly. Known as the “butcher’s steak,” the hanger hangs near the diaphragm and was once the insider’s secret for top-tier flavor, bringing together the richness of a ribeye and the tenderness of a strip, all at a fraction of the cost. The trick to preparing it properly involves quick cooking over blistering heat and slicing against the grain. Otherwise you risk chewing on something resembling shoe leather, which would be a shame considering what you’re working with.
Flat Iron Steak: Shoulder Blade Surprise
Flat Iron Steak may be the best-kept secret in the meat industry, with butchers and beef experts having long favored it for its incredible tenderness – it is a close second to filet mignon. The flat iron is found right under the cow’s shoulder blades, and the rarity comes from the fact that there are only about 2 to 4 pounds of it available per cow. Most people assume the shoulder yields only tough roasts requiring long braises. They’d be wrong about this particular muscle.
What results is one of the most tender cuts of beef, with only the filet mignon generally more tender, though the renowned cut will cost you twice as much as a flat iron. The butcher’s skill matters enormously here since a line of connective tissue runs through the center that must be carefully removed. Researchers devised a way to trim the connective tissue from the meat resulting in a tender delicious new steak cut, the flat iron. In skilled hands, you get a steak that eats like luxury but costs like everyday dinner. That’s the kind of math butchers appreciate.
Teres Major: The Petite Tender Nobody Asks For
Some cuts require genuine expertise to extract, which is precisely why they stay off most people’s radar. There’s a lot of work that goes into retrieving these small steaks, with only 2 lbs from every 1,400 lbs beef. The teres major beef steak, also known as the oyster steak, is an underused cut sometimes used as a substitute for beef tenderloin, coming from a lean cut of beef from the chuck section of a cow located right below the front leg and is mostly known only by skilled butchers.
Teres major ranks among the top five most tender steaks according to some texture analyses, behind tenderloin and ahead of or near flat iron steak. With the increased blood flow the muscle receives, this cut takes much longer to rest after cooking than other cuts of beef – around twice as long, with an 8 oz steak resting in a warm place for about 15 minutes before slicing for the best result. It’s the kind of detail that separates someone who knows how to cook from someone who understands meat at a molecular level. Butchers fall firmly in the latter category.
Spinalis Dorsi: The Ribeye’s Crown Jewel
Highly skilled butchers hand-carve this delicious fatty cap of the roast to create the cover rib steak, Spinalis Dorsi, or more commonly known as a ribeye cap steak, delivering all of the full exceptional marbling, exquisite flavor, and extraordinary tenderness. Think about what makes a ribeye great, then imagine concentrating all those qualities into one crescent shaped muscle. The rib cap is highly prized by top chefs, beef aficionados, and butchers alike, and this rare cut is considered to be the single most delectable and flavorful steak available.
Significantly more marbling then the Ribeye itself, the Ribeye cap is well marbled and has a buttery and beefy flavor while also being incredibly tender. A steak so rare and special we can’t keep it in stock. The rarity stems partly from economics. Most butchers sell the entire ribeye intact because customers recognize the name. Separating the cap requires extra labor and yields a cut most shoppers have never heard of. Butchers who break down whole primals for themselves, though? They know exactly where the gold lies.
Denver Steak: Chuck’s Hidden Champion
Denver steak is the fourth most tender steak after tenderloin, flat iron and ribeye cap, being a hidden gem of beef cut 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 reason you don’t see the Denver steak much, is because it is difficult to break down, and is easier to use for ground beef.
The Denver came onto the culinary scene relatively recently, which tells you something about innovation in butchery. One of our butchers lovingly dubbed this cut “butter meat” thanks to its rich flavor and tenderness. There’s only about 12 steaks per cow. That combination of difficulty, scarcity, and exceptional eating quality means skilled butchers often pocket this one before it sees daylight. Can you blame them? I certainly can’t.
Bavette: France’s Flavorful Export
The Bavette is thicker and more tender than flank or flap steak, however a cow will only carry about 10 pounds of bavette on it, which is a fraction considering the steer could weigh up to 1,400 pounds on average. It’s known for having a rich, beefy flavor, similar to that of a flank steak, and it’s often referred to as ‘the butcher’s cut’ as it’s known to be reserved by butchers for their own enjoyment because it is comparably cheaper than other cuts.
This steak has become very popular in recent years, and there isn’t a whole animal butcher in America that isn’t asked about bavette. The French have understood its value for generations. Americans are finally catching up, which means the secret is getting out. The bavette demands respect in cooking. High heat, fast sear, cut against the grain. Do those three things right and you’ll wonder why anyone bothers with more expensive options.
Tri Tip: California’s Grilling Gold
This triangular-shaped cut comes from the bottom of the sirloin and is often referred to as a “Poor Man’s Brisket” as it grills fast like a steak, but cuts like a brisket, making it a faster and cheaper alternative. This cut has a fascinating history of being overlooked until California pitmasters discovered its potential, and prior to the 1950s, the cut was only used to make stew meat or ground beef.
The tri-tip has long been a favorite in California, but it’s slowly gaining recognition in other parts of the country. Regional preferences in butchery are fascinating. What one area considers scrap, another elevates to delicacy. The tri tip exemplifies this perfectly. Santa Maria style barbecue built an entire tradition around this cut, and smart butchers across the country started paying attention. It’s versatile enough to roast whole or slice into steaks, robust enough to handle aggressive seasoning, and forgiving enough for backyard cooks. That’s a winning combination.
Secreto: Pork’s Hidden Treasure
Not all butcher secrets involve beef, honestly. The Secreto is an aptly named sneaky cut, really just the skirt steak of the pig, laying over the belly next to spare ribs, often removed before bellies are turned into bacon, looking just like a beef skirt steak but smaller at 4 to 6 ounces, benefiting from being tenderized and cooked as quickly as possible over high heat for 1 to 2 minutes per side. It lays over the belly, right next to the spare ribs, and is often removed before the bellies are turned into bacon so that the baconers can have lunch.
The name tells you everything. It’s literally called “the secret” in Spanish, which should raise your suspicions immediately. Pork butchers working on belly cuts would quietly trim this piece before the rest went to the bacon makers. Smart thinking. Much like the skirt steak on a cow, the secreto benefits from being tenderized with a Jaccard knife or marinade, and because it’s so small and so thin, it should be cooked as quickly as possible over high heat. Think tacos, think salads, think anything that benefits from intensely flavored, properly seared pork.
Oyster Steak: The Butcher’s Personal Lunch
The oyster steak is found in the cow’s hip pocket, and it is almost too small to sell, and is the perfect size for a hearty butcher’s lunch. There are only two oyster steaks in the cow, each weighing about eight ounces, and it’s the hardest cut for butchers to get to, as it cannot be removed until the entire cow is de-boned, adding yet another layer to why it’s so rare to see.
This cut is quite rare to find but is filled with an awesome natural flavor and quite a bit of marbling, with the oyster steak representing the ultimate insider knowledge requiring you to understand bovine anatomy to even know this cut exists, as butchers that still break down whole animals by themselves and cut steaks by hand know just where some of the tastiest meat is on every cow and traditionally keep these cuts to themselves. It’s like discovering a hidden room in a house you’ve lived in for years. The knowledge itself becomes currency among professionals. The oyster steak is pure butcher privilege, plain and simple.
Picanha: Brazil’s Best Kept Secret Goes Global
Hugely popular in Brazil, the rump cap or picanha is one of the most flavourful cuts you can find, being a flat, triangular, boneless cut taken from the cap of the top sirloin with a distinctive thick cap of fat running across the top, which adds a great depth of flavour when cooked. Picanha can be a steal but only if you find it at a Brazilian butcher or specialty shop, though in mainstream grocery stores, it’s often marked up as a ‘premium cut’, with butchers who understand this cut’s true value often keeping it for themselves rather than explaining its greatness to customers.
Brazilian churrascarias made this cut famous, spinning it slowly over open flames until the fat cap renders into liquid gold. People that love a fatty cut really enjoy the crispy fat cap when cooked correctly. The picanha represents a perfect example of cultural knowledge shaping butchery practices. What Americans historically discarded or ground into hamburger, Brazilians elevated to steakhouse glory. Smart butchers noticed and adapted accordingly, though many still keep the best pieces for themselves rather than trying to explain why this unfamiliar cut deserves premium pricing.
