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Beef council: New cuts of beef offer more valueCOLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP)--With food prices rising, beef promoters are pushing new cuts of meat to offer restaurant customers lower-priced steaks from meat that might otherwise have become hamburgers or roasts. The newer cuts come at a lower price than sirloins and filets because they come from chuck, taken from the cow's shoulder area, or round, a cut toward the rear of the animal. Sirloins and filets come from the animal's fleshy middle. In some cases, the "new" steaks can sell for a third less than traditional steak, yet still bring in prices up to double that of ground beef, Colorado Beef Council Executive Director Fred Lombardi said Nov. 20. "That's very good news, because usually in the past, that meat was just for hamburgers and stew meat," said rancher Wilma Mosher during a Colorado Cattlemen's Association conference where the new cuts were demonstrated. Within the past six months, Black-eyed Pea restaurants have been promoting the new Denver Cut on menus in Colorado. The Denver Cut comes from the chuck roll, from a different muscle than the Flat Iron steak. In Colorado Springs, a sirloin at Black-eyed Pea was listed at $13.99, the same price as a plate of Denver Cut plus shrimp. By focusing on different ways of cutting certain muscles in the chuck, distributors can end up with tender, flavorful, marbled meat that costs consumers less than sirloins, Lombardi said. In time, the Denver Cut could catch on like Flat Iron steaks. Flat Iron steaks were introduced about seven or eight years ago but are now sold in thousands of restaurants around the country, Lombardi said. The newer cuts are welcome by producers, especially with cattle prices down. Mosher, 74, of Hugo, estimated that prices she got for calves this fall were about $100 less per calf this year than last year amid a slow economy. A carcass that has more value means more money producers can ask for their animals. "If someone can get more money from chuck, then maybe they can afford to pay me more," Mosher said. 1/5/09 Date: 12/31/08 Advertisement
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