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Chuck steak

Chuck steak – a wide choice of savours

Chuck steak is used in many dishes

Like other second choice meat cuts, chuck steak, also known as shoulder, is often served braised or boiled. It is used in many traditional French dishes (pot-au-feu, bœuf bourguignon, daube, bœuf carotte, etc.). As the famous chef Jean-François Piège says: “Chuck steak is a cut that can be served very well done or rare, offering a wide choice of savours.”

Crédit photo : CIV

Identity card

Beef is usually divided into three categories. The first includes rumpsteak, entrecôte, sirloin steak, etc. and corresponds to the cuts that are most tender. The second category includes less tender cuts that take longer to cook, like chuck steak and ribs. Then there are the cuts for stews like the middle-cut breast of beef, brisket or neck.

Chuck steak is braised or boiled and usually left whole as it tends to stay tender. If it is to be grilled, the butcher cuts it in two to remove the membranes and just keep the upper section (the other, firmer part is kept to make hamburgers or stews). Lastly, veal chuck is good for making the famous dish blanquette de veau

Production and consumption

Chuck steak is full of proteins with few lipids so it is quite compatible with any diet to lose weight. Furthermore, it is a cut with a high iron content (100g of chuck steak provides half an adult’s daily iron requirement).

This cut is generally served in autumn or winter, the seasons for stews. So its consumption is highly dependent on the weather; the colder and wetter it gets, the more butchers sell. On the other hand, its consumption drops in summer. (Source: CIV, Mecarungis)

At Rungis Market

768 tons of chuck steak were sold at Rungis Market in the first eleven months of 2009, compared to 850 tons in 2008. “We sell about one ton of chuck steak a week from October to March, with a break at Christmas,” saysAlain Chamois, salesman for GRG. “Our clientele is composed of traditional butchers and local authorities. It’s a stable market but very dependent on the weather.”  

Matthieu NOLI

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