Beef trimmings are the lean offcuts, fat and connective tissue left when you cut a primal into steaks, and nearly all of it is useful.
Cutting a whole cube roll, striploin or rump always leaves end pieces, a pile of beef trim and some sinew, and that trim is part of what you paid for.
This guide explains what each kind of trim is, then covers six ways to use it: mince, stir fry strips, jerky, skewers, tallow and stock, plus which trim suits which job.
What Are Beef Trimmings?
Beef trimmings are everything cut away when a primal becomes steaks, and they fall into three groups: lean trim, fat trim and connective tissue such as silverskin and sinew.
- Lean trim: end pieces and offcuts of muscle, such as cube roll ends, the striploin tail and vein end, and the rump tail.
- Fat trim: the outer fat cap and the seams of fat between muscles.
- Connective tissue: silverskin, sinew and gristle, which stay chewy however you grill them.
Lean trim is the valuable part, fat trim earns its keep once rendered, and connective tissue is mainly good for stock.
Wholesale listings use labels such as 85CL. CL stands for chemical lean, and research on chemical lean testing describes it as the complement of chemically measured fat, so 85CL trim is roughly 15% fat.
How much of each you get varies with the primal, its fat cover and how closely you trim. As you cut an AMG A Budget cube roll or any other primal, sort the trim into these three piles so each one goes to the right use.
Lean Trim: Mince, Stir Fry Strips, Jerky and Skewers
Lean beef trimmings are steak meat in smaller pieces, so treat them like the cut they came from: mince them, slice them into strips, dry them into jerky or cube them for skewers.
Trim away fat and sinew first and keep the meat cold until you cook it. Small, mixed offcuts suit mince, and checking how much mince per person to allow shows how many meals they will cover.
Mince It at Home
Chill the trim and the mincer blades or food processor bowl until very cold, then mince in small batches so the fat stays firm. Leave a little fat in for juiciness.
The Food Safety Information Council recommends cooking mince to 75C.
Stir Fry Strips
Striploin tail, vein end and rump offcuts slice neatly into thin strips across the grain. Cut them to a similar size so they cook evenly, then sear them in a very hot wok for a quick beef stir fry.
Beef Jerky
Jerky needs the leanest trim only, with every trace of fat and sinew removed, because fat turns rancid as the meat dries. Slice it about 5mm thick and follow the homemade beef jerky recipe, which heats the strips to 71C before drying.
Skewers
Larger, chunky offcuts cut into even 3cm cubes make excellent beef skewers. Remove all sinew and silverskin first, and thread cubes of a similar size together so every piece cooks at the same pace on a hot grill.
Fat Trim: Render It into Tallow
Hard beef fat trim renders into tallow, a cooking fat for roast potatoes and shallow frying, so save it rather than throwing it away.
The idea is simple. Cut the fat into small pieces, melt it slowly over gentle heat, strain out the crisp bits, then let the liquid fat cool and set. The crisp bits left in the strainer, often called cracklings, are good salted as a snack or scattered over a salad.
Not every piece of fat renders equally well. Firm, white fat from the outer fat cap renders more cleanly than soft fat with meat or sinew still attached.
Keep most fat out of your mince and all of it out of jerky. Collect fat trim in a labelled bag in the freezer until you have enough to make rendering worthwhile, then render it in one batch.
Fat also changes what the lean trim is good for. The marbled ends of a cube roll carry plenty of fat through the meat, so they mince into a richer result than lean rump offcuts, which suit jerky and stir fries better.
Sinew and Scraps: Make Beef Stock
Sinew, silverskin and small scraps make a light beef stock: roast them until well browned, cover with cold water, simmer gently, then strain and chill.
Roasting first gives the stock its colour and a deeper, savoury flavour. Add an onion, a carrot and a stick of celery if you have them, and skim the surface as it comes to a simmer. Starting with cold water and heating it slowly gives a clearer stock than dropping the trim into boiling water.
Expect a lighter result than a classic bone stock, because trim brings flavour but little of the gelatine that bones give. Apart from the Roam bone-in Wagyu ribeye steaks, the Cost Cut Meats range is boneless, so trim is the stock source that comes with most orders.
Chill the strained stock overnight, lift off the set fat for your tallow bag, then freeze the stock in portions. Season the dish you make with it rather than the stock itself, so it stays useful for reducing. A rich red wine jus is a good first use, since it is built on beef stock, and gravies, braises and soups all benefit too.
Which Use Suits Which Trim?
Match each piece of trim to the use that suits its fat and texture: marbled ends to mince or a small roast, lean tails to strips and jerky, fat to tallow and sinew to stock.
| Trim | Where it comes from | Best use |
|---|---|---|
| Cube roll ends | Both ends of a whole scotch fillet | Small roast, shaved steak, mince |
| Striploin tail and vein end | Trimmed from a porterhouse striploin | Stir fry strips, skewers, mince |
| Rump tail (tri tip) | A whole rump | Strips, skewers, a small barbecue roast |
| Lean rump offcuts | Squaring off the rump muscles | Jerky, skewers |
| Fat cap and seam fat | Striploin, rump cap and cube roll | Tallow |
| Silverskin and sinew | Every primal | Stock, never mince or skewers |
Store raw trim as carefully as raw steak. Bag it by use, label it with the cut, the use and the date, and refrigerate or freeze it as soon as you finish cutting, since small pieces have more exposed surface than a whole steak.
If in doubt, mince it: any lean trim free of sinew works in mince, while anything chewy goes to stock.
Conclusion
Nothing on a whole primal needs to go to waste.
Sort your beef trimmings into lean trim, fat and sinew, then turn them into mince, strips, jerky, skewers, tallow and stock.
Start with whole primals by the box, delivered chilled to every state and territory except the NT.
