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I see stores advertising "Shabbes meat". I understand, somewhat, how to decipher meat cuts when listed that way (side steak, shoulder cut, etc.) But this term really baffles me. What makes this cut of meat specifically "Shabbes" more than any other cut?

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It is a cheap meat that you would only use for stew, and it is either an undesirable cut, or scraps from a variety of different cuts. That is my experience. –  Yishai May 16 at 14:08
@Yishai - I assume that by "cheap" you mean, "low quality"? It seems this meat can be quite expensive! –  DanF May 16 at 14:11
by cheap I mean low demand on its own. Per pound, I don't see cheaper meat than the Shabbos meat, other than bones and such stuff. Then again, maybe that is just where I shop. There is certainly no standard definition for the term. –  Yishai May 16 at 14:19
To add to the answers below, less heimishe butchers call it stew beef –  Yitzchak May 16 at 17:19
@Yitzhak - "stew beef" is a term I can understand a bit better. It still would be best if they could use the "cut" phrasing. –  DanF May 16 at 17:27

3 Answers 3

Rockland Kosher calls it Chulent Meat. My butcher told me it is any sort of boneless beef that has been cut off to trim a roast.

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This is not much of an answer but, as I have never seen or heard the term, I googled it and found this website:


It gives Chulent recipes and one of the recipes actually speaks of "shabbos meat". Putting two and two together, I got lunch.

It seems that some people use the term "shabbos meat" to refer to the particular cut (flanken?) or the presentation (precubed) of the meat to be used in a Chulent.

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Definitely not flanken - that is a desirable cut that they would advertise. Maybe flanken scraps (from deboning). But +1 for "I got lunch." –  Yishai May 16 at 14:09
@Yishai I will wait for someone to address the commwent on this cooking.marcgottlieb.com/2013/07/qa-cholent-meat . I was just guessing...I buy whatever is cheapest. –  Danno May 16 at 14:13
Ahhh yes, the flanken ... For my grandmother, that was considered the "cheap" meat of their day, because it was almost all fat and bone. Over the years, SOMEONE made this meat cut a "segulah" and a "yichus" :-) –  DanF May 16 at 15:16

My guess for the derivation is that, since fire can not be kindled on Shabbos, any meat served hot has to have been stewing since the day before... and hence "shabbos meat" would be stew meat, which does tend to be the tougher cuts.

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Welcome to Mi Yodeya, keshlam, and thanks for the educated guess. I hope you stick around and enjoy the site. –  msh210 May 18 at 4:07

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