Shredded beef - what joint to use

clint_silver

I slow cooked a round joint a few weeks ago, seared it off, braised it for 4.5 hours in stock, onions and veg. took the meat out, cooled down, sieved the veg out of the liquid, shredded the joint in seconds with 2 forks and back in the liquid for serving.

Now, the meat was soft as bejaysus and shredded very easily and Im happy enough with the cooking method, however, whenever I read up on whats the best meat to use for shredding they speak of this "chuck steak" but this seems to be on american sites. Does chuck come in a joint like our traditional housekeepers cut? Do we call it something else?

and what would be different between a chuck and a round? Traditionally the irish round housekeepers cut isnt very marbled so not a lot of fat to break down.

Does it really matter after 4-5 hours of slow cooking though?

Edit: tis ok, found the answer here
http://www.livestrong.com/article/540614-chuck-roast-vs-rump-roast

Both same quality so no real difference. flavour will be in what I ad.

Dizzyblonde

I don't know about chuck or rump because these often have different names depending on what country you're in. Round, however is no use because it's too lean. For roasting or shredded beef I use rib because the marbling of fat through the meat gives it a great flavour and keeps it succulent.

weemcd

Chuck steak is cut from the front of the neck on cattle, quite coarse beef with a fairly high fat content. Hope this helps.

vibe666

if i was doing it i'd be using the same cut as they would for pulled pork which is normally shoulder if i'm not mistaken?

clint_silver

I had a party on saturday and got the chuck beef from my butcher. He had a catering 5kg bag which he gave me for 35 quid. The chuck beef looks like steak pieces, 6 hours braised at 160 with onions celery and carrots and stock. Could have used the back of a spoon to break it up.

the one thing Id say is that while there was no difference in taste between the chuck and the round, when you slow cook the round, the shredding leaves longer strands from the larger joint which Id prefer, the chuck was in smaller pieces so for me it was starting to look like dog food by the time it was finished. Every bit of it was lapped up but maybe just didnt look as appetising as the round shredded.

the beer revolu

I'd recommend shin beef for shredding - great flavour and plenty of connective tissue which breaks down with long, slow cooking and keeps everything moist and nice.

Brian?

What americans call chuck covers neck, chuck and thick rib steak in Ireland AFAIK. Best bit of meat to braise is thick ribsteak, IMO. Any decent butcher will do you a decent lump of rib steak.

Chewabacca

Cheeks are best for this IMO. Very cheap but hard to source.