$ · steaks, chops and roasts — a reading in a couple of seconds
Pull bottom round at medium-rare so it slices tender
Checking doneness on anything thicker than a finger.
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Also called
🇬🇧Silverside🇲🇽Pulpa blanca🇫🇷Gîte à la noix🇪🇸Contra🇵🇹Chã de fora🇧🇷Coxão duro🇮🇹Sotto-fesa🇩🇪Unterschale
Schalkb2, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — Silverside_beef_being_cured_in_a_vinegar_and_salt_mix.jpg
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The outside group of muscles on the rear leg — the harder, leaner counterpart to *top round* (topside). Anatomically the *biceps femoris* and surrounding muscles, with longer fibres and more connective tissue than the inner thigh. Sold across Anglo and European butchery as one of the canonical round subprimals: a slow-roasting joint when whole, a braising or salt-cured cut when divided. The British *silverside* tradition turns it into salt-beef and corned beef; the German *Sauerbraten* uses it for the long marinade-and-braise; the Brazilian *coxão duro* is a churrasco staple cut against the grain. Best results come from low slow heat or long cures — quick high-heat cooking produces a tough result.
Names by country
| Country | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸United States | Bottom roundprimary | USDA-graded outside-round subprimal; sometimes "outside round" or "bottom round roast." Distinct from top round (topside). |
| 🇬🇧United Kingdom | Silverside | Named for the silvery membrane on the underside of the joint. Classic for salt beef, corned beef, or pot-roasting. |
| 🇲🇽Mexico | Pulpa blanca | Also pulpa larga. Bottom round (gooseneck); cuete is the eye of round. SAGARPA 2013 buyer's guide, via Calderón Alonso et al. 2021 (Nacameh 15:1). |
| 🇫🇷France | Gîte à la noix | Interbev cut #13. |
| 🇪🇸Spain | Contra | The outer-leg subprimal in Spanish butchery; harder than babilla, used for stews and roasts. |
| 🇵🇹Portugal | Chã de fora | Sometimes "ganso redondo"; the outside round of the leg in Portuguese butchery. |
| 🇧🇷Brazil | Coxão duro | "Hard topside" — distinct from coxão mole (top round); the harder, leaner outside-round joint. Often sliced very thin against the grain for churrasco. |
| 🇮🇹Italy | Sotto-fesa | Distinct from *fesa* (top round); the outer-thigh subprimal in Italian butchery. |
| 🇩🇪Germany | Unterschale | The outside thigh in German butchery; the classic *Sauerbraten* cut, marinated for several days before braising. |
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