The Meat
Terms Glossary.

Grading & Quality

BMS (Beef Marbling Score)

Japanese marbling scale, 1 to 12. Higher = more intramuscular fat. A5 wagyu lives at BMS 8+. Full guide.

USDA Prime

Top USDA grade. Roughly 2% of US beef. "Slightly abundant" to "moderately abundant" marbling. How it compares.

USDA Choice

Mid-tier USDA grade. Most steakhouse beef. "Modest" to "moderate" marbling.

USDA Select

Lower USDA grade. "Slight" marbling. Most grocery beef.

A5 Wagyu

Japanese grading: A = yield rank (best), 5 = quality rank (best). Must be 100% Japanese Wagyu raised in Japan. Kobe vs A5.

F1 Wagyu Cross

First-generation cross: Japanese Wagyu sire bred to a Black Angus dam. The marbling sweet spot at half the Full-Blood price. Our F1 ribeye.

Full-Blood Wagyu

Both sire and dam are 100% Wagyu genetics, traceable to Japanese bloodlines.

Marbling

Intramuscular fat. The white flecks running through the muscle. Drives flavor, juiciness, and tenderness when cooked.

Yield Grade

USDA score 1-5 measuring boneless retail cuts per pound of carcass. Lower = more usable meat per animal.

NAE (No Antibiotics Ever)

USDA-verified label claim. Animal received zero antibiotics across its lifetime. Any animal that needs antibiotics for treatment is removed from the NAE program.

Cuts & Anatomy

Primal Cut

One of 8 large sections a beef carcass is broken into. Each primal yields multiple retail cuts. Beef primal map.

Subprimal

Intermediate cuts between primals and retail steaks (e.g., short loin -> tenderloin -> filet mignon).

Tomahawk

Bone-in ribeye with the rib bone Frenched to 5+ inches. Centerpiece cut. Cook guide.

Cowboy Ribeye

Bone-in ribeye with bone trimmed to 1-2 inches. Cowboy vs Tomahawk.

Filet Mignon

Center-cut tenderloin steak. Most tender cut on the cow, leaner than ribeye.

Picanha

Brazilian name for sirloin cap (also called coulotte or rump cap). Fat-cap-on triangular muscle. Full guide.

Zabuton

Japanese for "cushion." Under-blade chuck cut, marketed in the US as Denver steak. Hidden marbling. Full guide.

Teres Major

Small chuck muscle, nearly as tender as filet at a fraction of the price. Full guide.

Bavette

French for "bib." Sirloin flap steak. Loose grain, beefy, like a better skirt steak. Full guide.

Deckle (Spinalis Dorsi)

The outer cap muscle on a ribeye. The best bite on the most popular steak. Full guide.

Hanger Steak

The "butcher's cut." Hangs from the diaphragm. One per animal. Beefy flavor, loose grain.

Skirt Steak

Diaphragm muscle. Inside skirt and outside skirt are different cuts. Both prized for fajitas.

Flank Steak

Abdominal muscle. Lean, grain-heavy, must be sliced against the grain. Cook guide.

Tri-Tip

Bottom sirloin triangle muscle. Santa Maria barbecue tradition.

Brisket (Point + Flat)

Pectoral muscle. Two grain directions: the point (deckle/fatty side) and the flat (lean side). Wagyu brisket guide.

Pork Collar

Anterior shoulder muscle. Italian "coppa." High marbling, fast-cook capable. Collar vs Shoulder.

Boston Butt

Despite the name, the upper shoulder. Classic pulled pork cut.

Picnic Roast

Lower shoulder of the hog. Less marbled than Boston butt, great for slow-cooking.

Frenched

A bone trimmed clean of meat and fat for presentation (tomahawks, lamb racks).

Breeds

Wagyu

Japanese term meaning "Japanese cattle." Four breeds qualify: Japanese Black, Brown, Polled, and Shorthorn. Full guide.

Black Angus

Scottish breed bred into the American beef standard. Solid marbling, beefy flavor, registered through the American Angus Association.

Rambouillet cross

French Merino-derived breed (Dorset Horn x Blackhead Persian, 1930s). Mild flavor, less gaminess than wool sheep. Full guide.

Berkshire

English heritage pork breed. The breed behind "Kurobuta" pork. Deep color, high pH, marbled. Full guide.

Kurobuta

Japanese term meaning "black pig." In the US, refers to 100% Berkshire pork. The "Wagyu of pork."

Duroc

American heritage pork breed. Red color, marbled.

Tamworth

British heritage pork breed. Lean for a heritage breed but with deep flavor.

Mangalitsa

Hungarian heritage pork breed with a wool-like coat. Extreme marbling, used for fat-curing (lardo).

Cooking & Technique

Reverse-Sear

Low oven first to bring internal temp to ~115F, then hot sear for crust. Best for steaks 1.25"+ thick. Full method.

Dry-Brine

Salting meat hours to days ahead. The salt draws moisture out, then back in with dissolved salt. Better seasoning + drier surface for crust.

Wet-Brine

Submerging meat in a saltwater solution. Common for poultry and pork chops.

Sous-Vide

Vacuum-sealing meat and cooking in a precisely-temperature-controlled water bath. Foolproof internal temp control.

Maillard Reaction

The browning reaction between amino acids and sugars at 280F+. Source of the crust on a seared steak.

Carryover Cooking

The 5-10F temperature rise after a steak comes off the heat. Pull early.

Stall (Brisket)

Internal temp plateau around 165F during a long smoke as evaporation cools the surface.

Texas Crutch

Wrapping brisket in butcher paper or foil mid-cook to push through the stall.

Dry-Aged

Hanging beef in controlled humidity for 14-60+ days. Concentrates flavor, tenderizes via enzymes. Full comparison.

Wet-Aged

Aging beef inside a vacuum-sealed cryovac bag. The default for most US commercial beef.

Beef Tallow

Rendered beef fat. Smoke point ~400F. The steakhouse fat. Full guide.

Au Jus

French for "with juice." A thin sauce from pan drippings + stock. Recipe.

Buying & Logistics

Hanging Weight

The weight of the carcass after harvest, hide, head, and organs removed. Most share pricing is quoted on hanging weight.

Take-Home Weight

The final packaged weight you receive. Beef yields ~60-65% of hanging weight as take-home.

Cut Sheet

The form you fill out when buying a share. Specifies steak thickness, grind ratio, organ meats, sausage seasoning, etc.

Whole / Half / Quarter Share

Reservation on a whole, half, or quarter animal. Per-pound pricing typically drops 15-30% vs retail.

USDA Inspected

Processed at a USDA-inspected facility (like BarW in Nephi). Required for any beef sold across state lines.

Custom-Exempt

Animal slaughtered for the owner's personal use only. Cannot be sold by the cut. Different from USDA-inspected.

Cold-Chain

The unbroken refrigerated path from processor to your door. Circle 7 uses insulated EFP liners with Pelton-Shepherd gel packs, 2-day UPS/FedEx.

Vacuum-Sealed

Packaging with all air removed to extend freezer life and prevent freezer burn. Standard at Circle 7.

Flash-Frozen

Rapid freezing at very low temperatures to minimize ice crystal damage to muscle fibers.

Lamb & Pork Specifics

Hair Sheep

Sheep that grow hair instead of wool (e.g., Rambouillet cross). Produce milder-tasting meat because they concentrate quality forage-finishing and branched-chain fatty acids.

Lanolin

The waxy fat secreted by wool sheep. Concentrates in the meat and gives wool-sheep lamb its distinctive "lamby" flavor.

Mutton

Sheep meat from animals over 1 year old. Stronger flavor than lamb.

Heritage Pork

Pork from breeds listed on the Livestock Conservancy registry that pre-date the lean industrial selection of the 1980s. Full comparison.

Pasture-Raised

Animals raised with continuous outdoor access to pasture. Not a USDA-regulated term; verification varies.