beef Chuck
Denver Steak
The Denver is the serratus ventralis, a muscle buried under the shoulder blade that helps sling the ribcage between the front legs rather than drive them. That earns it heavy marbling and a tenderness the rest of the chuck never gets. Sear it hard, pull at 130–135°F, slice thin across the grain.
Buy it if
You want chuck-priced beef that behaves like a small ribeye over fire.
Where it comes from: the serratus ventralis, which sits underneath the shoulder blade. Cattle have no collarbone — the ribcage hangs in a sling of muscle slung between the two shoulders, and this is part of that sling. It carries weight, but it never does the repetitive flexing that toughens the muscles actually moving the leg.
Why it is new: the Denver did not exist as a steak until the 2000s. It came out of the same muscle-by-muscle survey of the chuck that produced the flat iron — an effort to find pieces worth selling whole instead of grinding. Japanese butchers had been ahead of that for a long time: the same muscle is zabuton, one of the more prized yakiniku cuts in wagyu.
How to cook it: it is well marbled but it is not tenderloin-tender, and it has a pronounced grain. Sear hard, rest, then slice thin and across that grain. Past medium the connective tissue still in there firms up instead of melting, and you lose the thing you bought it for.
Where it comes from on the animal
| Species | beef |
|---|---|
| Primal | Chuck |
| Subprimal | under blade (serratus ventralis) |
What else it’s called
How to cook Denver Steak
| Best methods | Grill Pan sear |
|---|---|
| Cook to | Sear hot, 130–135°F. Slice thinly across the grain. |
If Denver Steak is sold out
Upgrade
Ribeye
Richer and more tender, from the rib primal rather than the chuck. It is the marbling a Denver hints at, at several times the price.
Common questions
How is this different from a chuck steak?
A chuck steak is cut straight across the primal, so it contains several muscles and the tough seams between them — which is why it wants a braise. A Denver is one of those muscles separated out on its own. Same primal, completely different cooking.
What does zabuton mean?
Floor cushion, in Japanese — named for the shape. It is worth knowing that Japanese butchers have sold this muscle as a premium grilling cut for decades while American ones were grinding it into burger.
Mine came out chewy. What went wrong?
Almost always the slicing. The grain here is coarse and obvious; cut along it, or cut thick, and it chews. Cut thin and across it and the same steak eats tender. Overcooking past medium does the rest.
