The Round is the back part of the cow, consisting of the rump and the shank. The name “Round” comes from the round femur bone found in this area. Meat from the Round is tough, but lean, and a bit more tender than meat from the Chuck area at the from of the cow, because in the Round area the muscles all run in the same direction, and it’s the Chuck area at the front that does the work of moving the cow along — the rest just follows.Beef Round can be made into steaks and roasts (requiring moist heat cooking), stewing beef and ground beef. Cuts from the Round are often used particularly to make ground beef.
There are 6 main sections in the round: the Heel, the Rump and four main muscles (Top Round, Bottom Round, Eye of Round and Sirloin Tip.) Relatively speaking, the Top (aka Inside) Round is the tenderest cut from the Round.
Basically, any cut from this area should be cooked with long, slow, moist heat. Commercially, some delicatessens and restaurants can get away with oven-roasting round cuts because they have the equipment to slice them paper thin afterwards, which makes the meat easier to chew.
Cooking Tips
Long, slow cooking with moist heat.