UncommonShort loin
Tenderloin
Also filet mignon, filet, chateaubriand, fillet
The psoas, under the spine. Least-worked muscle, mildest flavor, highest price per pound.
- Per animal
- 2 tenderloins · about 12–16 filets, or 2 center-cut roasts
- Per half-cow
- 1 tenderloin, 6–8 filets
- How to cook it
- Gentle roast or reverse-sear. Pull 120–125°F. It has no fat to forgive 140°F.
- Rarity
- Only two, and they are small. If the loin is T-boned, the filet is already in those steaks.
- What to buy
- Center-cut roast, or filets 2 inches thick. PSMO if you will trim. Do not buy thin grocery filets.
- Money
- 1.5% of hanging weight. That is why it costs. Chuck-eye is the weeknight filet.
- Trim
- Chain off, silver off. The roast is several inches of work.
- Leftovers
- Stroganoff, sandwiches. It dries — sauce it.
~1.5% of hanging weight. This is why filet costs what it costs.
How many
Buy 4.5 lb · ~3.2 lb to the table · 6 plates at 8 oz
How to cut
Medallions across.
2 cooks in the library for tenderloin.
The whole animal
Every retail cut we track, how many you generally get, and how often it actually shows up in a case. Tap a line to pin it on the chart.
Cook through a half-cow — the order that keeps scarce cuts from becoming grind.
Chuck
26%
Rib
9%
Short loin
8%
Sirloin
9%
Round
22%
Brisket
5%
Plate
6%
Flank
3%
Shank
4%
half-cow counts are typical, not a promise from the plant.
