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Meat cuts · Czech cuisine

Beef shoulder (chuck, clod)

The upper foreleg of beef around the blade bone – meat for goulash, braises, beef bourguignon and false tenderloin.

AI illustration of Beef shoulder (chuck, clod)
AI illustration

At a glance

Cut
Forequarter: upper foreleg around the shoulder blade and upper arm bone, above the fore shin.
Production
Boned and divided into velká, loupaná and kulatá plec and the blade-top slice; podplečí is sold separately.
Use
Goulash, braises, beef bourguignon, sauces and svíčková made with false tenderloin.
Cooking time
Braising or boiling roughly 1.5–2.5 hours depending on the size of the piece, sometimes longer.
Substitutes
Podplečí or neck; for svíčková the round.

Where on the animal

Diagram: where the cut sits on beef – shoulder (chuck)Beef shoulder (chuck, clod): Beef – Shoulder (chuck). An approximate diagram; butchers divide the carcass in slightly different ways from country to country.

Beef

  • Shoulder (chuck)

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

The shoulder (plec) is the upper part of the foreleg in the forequarter, around the shoulder blade and upper arm bone; the fore shin lies below it. Boned, it is divided into velká plec, loupaná plec from the middle, where the blade bone was removed, kulatá plec and plátek lopatkový from the top of the blade. In US terms it is part of the chuck.

The meat is long-fibred and laced with connective tissue, so it suits braising above all. Tender velká plec is braised, diced for goulash and used for beef bourguignon. Loupaná plec is more sinewy, with a thick membrane and a central sinew. The fine-grained kulatá plec, known as false tenderloin, often replaces tenderloin in svíčková.

Podplečí, or péro, is not part of the shoulder: it links the neck and the fore rib and is braised, roasted or diced for goulash.

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