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Meat cuts · Czech cuisine

Beef neck

Marbled meat from the neck of beef, coarse-grained and sinewy – for braising, boiling and mincing.

AI illustration of Beef neck
AI illustration

At a glance

Cut
Forequarter: the neck between the head and podplečí, with the neck vertebrae.
Production
Sold boneless as neck tip and neck; vertebrae and neck ligament are removed.
Use
Braising, boiling and mincing.
Cooking time
Braising or boiling roughly 1.5–2.5 hours depending on the size of the piece, sometimes longer.
Substitutes
The less sinewy podplečí or the shoulder.

Where on the animal

Diagram: where the cut sits on beef – neckBeef neck: Beef – Neck. An approximate diagram; butchers divide the carcass in slightly different ways from country to country.

Beef

  • Neck

An approximate diagram; butchers divide the carcass in slightly different ways from country to country.

The neck is the front end of the forequarter, between the head and podplečí, through which it passes into the fore rib. It is built around the neck vertebrae, which are carefully removed in retail cutting together with the neck ligament and other coarse connective tissue. Czech butchers sell it as neck tip and boneless neck; in British and American trade terms it is neck of beef, part of the chuck.

Neck meat is lightly marbled with fat, coarse-grained and high in connective tissue. It therefore belongs to braising and boiling, and long, moist cooking makes it tender. Trimmed neck muscle is also excellent for mince.

In Germany beef neck is called Kamm, Hals or Nacken and is braised as a sinewy but inexpensive cut. In Austria the lean neck meat (Hals) is mostly minced, while the fattier Fettes Meisel goes into soup.

Techniques and tips

Related entries

Sources