What's the beef cut with solid, thick bone?

Question

I need a cut of beef with very specific requirements. I'm interested in bone first:

1. It should have it medullary cavity approximately in the size of a small finger.
2. It should have compact (dense, cohesive) bone walls as thick as possible.
3. It should be cut perpendicularly to the bone, in a way that does not create fracture.

Seasoning and cooking it to preserve bone strength may be a follow up question, but it is out of scope for now. Now I want to know:

What cut I should ask a butcher for?

I want meat and bone, for specific aesthetic purpose. I want it to be edible, but artistic vision comes first.

Answer 1

You're doing it wrong™.

Your question is, essentially, "What code-word should I use to tell my butcher to give me a cut of beef with properties X, Y and Z?" Don't do that. Just go to your butcher and describe what you want.

Quite apart from anything else, the cuts of meat that, say, a British butcher understands will be different to the ones that and American butcher understands and you haven't told us what language your butcher speaks.

Answer 2

If you are looking for a bone-in cut of beef for an aesthetic purpose then it would be hard to do better than beef shin, also known as shank. It has a good, strong bone with a cavity and the bone will be cut straight across. It's also very flavorful meat.

The consideration with it is cooking, shin is very tough and requires low and slow with moisture, typically braising for at least 2.5 hours.

Answer 3

I believe an arm roast is what you are after: For cooking purposes note that this is a "roast" (and not just a 'big honk'in steak') and is suitable for a low & slow cook time in a crock pot but not just 'throwing it on the grill'.