Journal · Started October 2026
Why Steakpedia exists
There was no neutral, multilingual reference on beef steak that put the trade standards, the science and numbers measured in real kitchens on the same page. Steakpedia was started in October 2026 to be that reference.
At a glance
- Started
- October 2026
- Languages
- English, Spanish, Vietnamese first
- First field data
- 279 sheets, 1,604.6 kg
- Rule
- Every article sourced; no paid articles
One striploin, a dozen documents
Ask what a striploin is called in Buenos Aires, Sydney, Seoul and Bangkok, and the answer is spread across a dozen documents: the USDA's purchase specifications, the AUS-MEAT handbook, the Argentine cut nomenclature, Korean and Japanese grading manuals, supplier price lists. Most are in one language, written for the trade, and silent on how the cut is actually cooked or what it yields.
Ask how much of a whole tenderloin ends up as steak and the answer is harder still. Trade manuals give reference yields for idealised specifications. Kitchens measure their own, every day, and almost never publish them. Recipe sites and brand pages fill the gap with confident claims and few sources.
What did not exist was a single, neutral reference: one that names every cut in every language it is sold in, explains grading systems without ranking countries, cites its sources, and publishes numbers measured piece by piece with the name of the kitchen that measured them.
Numbers only kitchens have
Standards describe how a cut should be made; they do not say what it yields once a real butcher trims it to a real kitchen's specification, or how much two pieces of the same cut differ. Those numbers exist only in kitchens that weigh every piece before cutting and every portion after.
Steakpedia starts with one such kitchen, the Steakpedia Field Kitchen: a restaurant butchery that cuts whole primals every day, from Australian, Argentine, Japanese and American beef. Between July and October 2026 it recorded 279 butchery sheets and 1,604.6 kg of measured meat. Those records are the first field data on the cut pages, and they are summarised in the note on 279 butcheries.
English, Spanish, Vietnamese
English is the language of the trade. Spanish is the language of the Río de la Plata, where much of the grill culture described here comes from, and is written here in a neutral form that reads the same in Mexico and in Argentina. Vietnamese is the language of a fast-growing market for imported beef that has almost no reference material in its own language, and it tests whether the names and explanations survive translation. Other languages appear in the "also known as" names from the start and will follow as full translations.
Two sources, or no article
An encyclopedia that sells is not worth citing. So the articles describe, and do not recommend a restaurant, a brand or a country. Every article lists at least two real sources, and without sources it is not published. Field data is signed with the kitchen, the period and the number of sheets, and small samples are flagged. Producers and industry bodies may review the articles about their own system, never the comparisons. Sponsorship, if any, will be labelled, and paid articles will not be accepted.
More kitchens, side by side
More cuts, origins and cooking methods; recipes documented with their history; tools for kitchens built on the same field data; and, above all, more kitchens. The reference becomes useful when the yield of a ribeye is not one kitchen's number but several, each signed, side by side. The next kitchens join by invitation; how that works is on the contribute data page.
Frequently asked questions
Who writes Steakpedia?
The Steakpedia Editors, following an editorial policy that keeps articles neutral and sourced. Field data is signed by the kitchen that measured it.
Is Steakpedia sponsored by beef producers?
No article is paid for. Producers and industry bodies may review the articles about their own system and be credited; any sponsorship would be labelled.
Sources
3
- USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications: Fresh Beef Series 100. Washington, DC, 2014. www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/IMPS_100_Fresh_Beef%5B1%5D.pdf
- AUS-MEAT Limited. Handbook of Australian Meat, 7th ed. (International Red Meat Manual). Brisbane, 2005. www.ausmeat.com.au
- Instituto de Promoción de la Carne Vacuna Argentina (IPCVA). Cortes de carne vacuna argentina — nomenclatura y usos. Buenos Aires. www.ipcva.com.ar
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