A Fresh Look at Memorial Day Grilling Selections from Sunset's Meat Department

Looking for the perfect meat to grill this Memorial Day? Try these cuts from Sunset’s Meat Department, cut by Sunset Foods' Master Meat Cutters, who know the difference between a steak that performs on a hot grill and one that just sits there. Chuck Eye Steaks, Boneless Short Ribs, Picanha, are our butcher’s recommendations this Memorial Day for flavorful, yet economical cookouts. Prefer a burger? Our fresh-ground patties made from real beef with no filler.

Ideas for the Home Cook

Prefer to cook it yourself? Try one of these recipes featuring our Master Meat Cutter's recommendations from our Recipe Rack.

Why Chuck Eye Steaks, Boneless Short Ribs, and Picanha Beat Pre-Packaged Cuts for Your Holiday Cookout

Pre-packaged cuts from a standard grocery shelf are cut once, sealed, and sitting for days. Our steaks are cut portioned for your cookout. Chuck Eye Steaks are a perfect example: our Master Meat Cutters slice them from the shoulder end of the ribeye, giving you nearly identical marbling and flavor at a noticeably lower price point. Picanha, a Brazilian favorite with a thick fat cap that self-bastes on the grill, rarely shows up pre-cut at the right thickness. Boneless Short Ribs sliced thin open up entirely different cooking possibilities.

The difference shows up before the grill even gets hot. Our steaks are cut to the right thickness for your cook time, not whatever thickness fit the packaging. That precision matters most with cuts like picanha, where fat-cap thickness determines how much self-basting happens during cooking, and with boneless short ribs, where a quarter-inch difference in slice changes whether you're doing a fast sear or a longer braise.

From Korean Bulgogi to Herb-Rubbed Steaks: Custom Cuts That Transform Your Grill Game

Thin-sliced boneless short ribs take on a soy and sesame marinade faster than any thick-cut steak. Our Korean-Style Boneless Short Ribs Bulgogi recipe puts those cuts to work in a marinade that sears beautifully in a skillet or on a grill grate. For something more traditional, picanha cut as a top sirloin cap roast responds exceptionally well to a simple dried herb rub. Our Top Sirloin Cap Roast with Herb Rub recipe starts the roast cold to render the fat cap gradually, building a crust that holds through slicing. Both recipes are on our Recipe Rack and both start with a cut your butcher makes fresh. Sunset offers both full Top Sirloin Cap Roasts if you prefer to cut your own picanha steaks, or we will custom-cut the picanha for you.

Both recipes are also built around the thickness the butcher sets at the counter. The bulgogi marinade penetrates a thin-sliced short rib in under two hours; a thicker cut needs significantly longer and delivers a different texture entirely. The herb-rubbed picanha roast depends on the fat cap being left intact and even, something a custom cut guarantees and a pre-packaged piece rarely does. Starting with the right cut isn't a detail, it's the recipe.

Custom Ground Wagyu and Brisket Patties: The Difference Fresh Daily Grinding Makes

Fresh Ground Wagyu and Brisket patties are ground on-site every day by our Master Meat Cutters, from real cuts of beef with no filler. The Wagyu brings deep, rich flavor that holds up under toppings; our Umami BLT Cheeseburger recipe shows exactly how far that flavor carries. Brisket patties take a different approach: whole briskets ground to order produce a higher fat content that keeps every patty genuinely juicy through a full cook. Both patty styles are sized to fit a Euroclassic Brioche Bun from our bakery, which has the structure to hold a thick, loaded burger without falling apart. Memorial Day grill deserves the real thing.

Grinding daily means the beef hasn't been sitting in a case oxidizing for days before it hits your grill. Pre-packaged ground beef is often ground at a central facility, mixed for uniformity, and sealed well before it reaches your store. Our ground Wagyu and Brisket patties skip that chain entirely, ground here, that day, from identifiable cuts. The difference in texture and flavor between day-of-grind beef and a package that's been in transit for a week is something you notice on the first bite.

Stop by Sunset Foods Meat Department this Memorial Day

Sunset’s Meat Department has all the steaks, burgers, and more for your Memorial Day Weekend! We know you will love these cuts, find them along with our everyday cuts like Ribeyes, Strip Steaks, and Filet Mignon in our Meat Department!