Every butcher shop in Perth ends up in the same argument: which is the best cut of beef? There's no single answer — different cuts win on flavour, tenderness, versatility or value. But after two decades behind the counter at THE BUTCHER BOX, we've settled on this ranking. It's how we'd advise our own family.
Bookmark it. Argue with it. Use it to build your next Build Your Own Box.
12. Mince
Value: ★★★★★ · Flavour: ★★★ · Versatility: ★★★★★
The workhorse. Second only to bread in weekly Aussie shopping baskets. A good grass-fed beef mince at 15% fat does bolognese, tacos, koftas, meatballs, moussaka, cottage pie and shepherd's pie without complaint. Butcher tip: ask for it coarse-ground, not fine — you'll get better texture in burgers. Our own Wagyu Beef Burgers are a fine example of what coarse-ground fatty mince can do.
11. Chuck Steak
Value: ★★★★ · Flavour: ★★★★ · Versatility: ★★★
The unsung hero. Cheap, deeply beefy, loaded with connective tissue that melts into gelatin during a long braise. Chuck is the correct cut for slow-cooked ragù, beef bourguignon, chilli con carne, and pot roast. Never grill it — too tough. Always braise low and slow for 3+ hours. Comes back as the most flavourful protein in your kitchen.
10. Brisket
Value: ★★★★ · Flavour: ★★★★★ · Versatility: ★★★
The king of low-and-slow. Brisket done right — 12 hours at 105 °C, wrapped in butcher's paper, rested for two hours — is a religious experience. Texas is famous for it, but Perth has embraced brisket hard over the past decade. If you own a smoker, brisket is why. If you don't, a good Weber kettle with the "snake method" can produce brisket that rivals any restaurant.
Buy a whole packer brisket (both point and flat). The point end has the fat. That's where the flavour lives.
9. Rump Steak
Value: ★★★★ · Flavour: ★★★★ · Versatility: ★★★★
The middle-class workhorse. Great flavour, decent tenderness, half the price of scotch fillet. Rump is the Aussie pub steak for a reason. Best served medium-rare (never past medium), sliced against the grain into thick strips. Pairs beautifully with béarnaise or a red-wine jus. Family Feast Box regulars will find a couple of rumps in most weekly orders.
8. Osso Buco (Beef or Veal Shin)
Value: ★★★★ · Flavour: ★★★★★ · Versatility: ★★
A less-flashy cut, but the payoff is one of the great Italian braises. Cross-cut through the shin bone with the marrow intact, osso buco takes 2.5 hours in a low oven with tomato, white wine, gremolata and stock, and rewards you with fork-tender meat and marrow-rich sauce over risotto Milanese. A quiet weekend luxury.
7. Beef Cheek
Value: ★★★★ · Flavour: ★★★★★ · Versatility: ★★
If we were forced to name our "sleeper" cut of the last five years — this. Beef cheek is dense, marbled, wildly flavoured, and after 4 hours in red wine and stock it collapses into shreds you can eat with a spoon. Every high-end Perth restaurant serves it. Home cooks are just starting to catch up.
6. Oxtail
Value: ★★★★ · Flavour: ★★★★★ · Versatility: ★★
The most concentrated beef flavour in the entire animal, pound for pound. Oxtail is the cross-cut segments of the actual tail — bone in, ringed with rich connective tissue and fat. Slow-braised for 3.5 hours it produces a broth so intense it stains the pan. Perfect for Jamaican-style oxtail stew, Vietnamese bún bò or a Sunday-arvo pot roast in front of the footy.
5. Porterhouse (Sirloin)
Value: ★★★★ · Flavour: ★★★★ · Versatility: ★★★★★
The classic steakhouse cut. Boneless, leaner than scotch fillet, with a beautiful strip of fat down one side. Easier to cook than scotch fillet because there's less marbling to render — 3 minutes each side in a hot pan and you're done. Porterhouse is our recommended "cook-it-once-a-week" steak: consistent, reliable, always great.
4. T-Bone
Value: ★★★ · Flavour: ★★★★★ · Versatility: ★★★★
Two steaks for the price of one. On one side of the bone: porterhouse. On the other: eye fillet. Grilling a T-bone is the classic Aussie backyard flex. Buy them thick — at least 3.5 cm — so both sides cook to the right temperature. The bone conducts heat inward and adds beefy depth. A T-bone the size of your face, salt, and a bottle of Margaret River cabernet — happiness.
3. Wagyu Rump Cap (Picanha)
Value: ★★★ · Flavour: ★★★★★ · Versatility: ★★★
The Brazilian churrasco favourite. Rump cap has a thick outer layer of fat (score it, don't remove it — that's where the flavour is) and takes to smoke and rotisserie like no other cut. Roast on a churrasco skewer, slice thinly, serve with chimichurri. If you can source Wagyu-grade rump cap (we stock it seasonally in the Carnivore Collection), the marbling takes it to another planet.
2. Scotch Fillet (Ribeye)
Value: ★★★ · Flavour: ★★★★★ · Versatility: ★★★★
The pub-champion. Boneless, deeply marbled, foolproof if you follow our scotch-fillet cooking guide. Scotch fillet is our #1 selling steak by units — the cut we push new subscribers towards. If someone has never cooked a proper steak at home before, we send them a scotch fillet, a small tub of butter, and a text saying "read this article, cook it Friday night, thank me Saturday morning."
1. Wagyu Tomahawk
Value: ★ · Flavour: ★★★★★ · Versatility: ★★
The undisputed champion. The tomahawk is a bone-in ribeye with the rib bone left long — usually 25–30 cm — for maximum theatre. Add Wagyu-grade marbling and you get a single steak that easily feeds two adults, with more intramuscular fat than any other cut we sell.
You cook it reverse-sear (see scotch-fillet guide, thick-steak section) — 45 minutes at 90 °C, then a screaming 90-second sear on each side, 10 minute rest.
It's not everyday food. It's a celebration cut — anniversary, birthday, or "I got the promotion." When you serve a Wagyu tomahawk to guests, the room falls quiet.
We include one in the top-tier Grill Master's Box.
How to use this ranking
- Weeknight cooking? Chuck, mince, rump, brisket (slow-cooker).
- Friday date night? Porterhouse or scotch fillet — 12 minute cook, done.
- Sunday roast? Rump cap, whole rump, or a low-slow brisket.
- Special occasion? T-bone, tomahawk, Wagyu picanha.
- Winter braises? Beef cheek, oxtail, osso buco, chuck.
Build your box around this progression. A good week has one hero cut (scotch fillet or porterhouse), one braising cut (chuck or brisket), and one weekday cut (mince, rump). That's the formula that keeps our subscription customers happy.
Ordering with confidence
Every cut on this list is available in our Build Your Own Box or bundled thoughtfully into one of our seven Signature Boxes. Every steak we ship comes from premium grass-fed Australian beef, dry-aged in-house for a minimum of 14 days, vacuum-packed for freshness and delivered cold across Perth metro every Friday.
Free delivery on every order. Subscribe and save 5% with a free pack of Wagyu Beef Burgers on every delivery.
Now go forth and cook.
