United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service

Authority

Official guidance

Territories

US

Primacy

primary

Commercial interest

none

Retrieved

2026-08-13

State

Read and citable

Original document

The definitive US cut specification, and the document that lets BBQHQ anchor the American side of the cut graph. The items that matter most for barbecue: 118/119/120 brisket (bone-in, deckle-on boneless, deckle-off boneless) and 120A flat cut, which is M. pectoralis profundi alone at no less than half an inch thick; 112 ribeye roll; 180 strip loin; 184 top sirloin butt and 184D its cap, which the specification itself says 'is sometimes referred to as the Coulotte'; 185C tri-tip, M. tensor fasciae latae separated through the natural seam; 123/123A plate short ribs and 130/130A chuck short ribs, which are genuinely different products sold under one name.

Terminology, Technical

• Explicitly not safety: A purchase specification defines cuts and trim, not safety endpoints.

• “This item shall consist of the M. biceps femoris which is removed from Item No. 184 by cutting through the natural seams. This item is sometimes referred to as the “Coulotte”.”

  IMPS item 184D, Beef Loin Top Sirloin Butt Cap, shall consist of the M. biceps femoris removed from item 184 by cutting through the natural seams, and is sometimes referred to as the Coulotte.

  The federal specification names the vernacular term itself, which is unusual and removes the need to infer it.

  The same muscle and the same seam separation AHDB specifies as the UK rump cap. IMPS states no fat limit here; AHDB caps the rump cap at 15 mm.

• IMPS item 184, Top Sirloin Butt, contains the M. gluteus medius, accessorius and profundus and the M. biceps femoris, and the bottom sirloin is removed by cutting along the natural seam leaving a portion of the M. tensor fasciae latae attached to the top sirloin butt.

  The tri-tip muscle is split between two primals by the specification itself, which is why a system that does not make that cut has no name for the resulting piece.

• IMPS item 185C, Bottom Sirloin Butt Tri-Tip, consists of the M. tensor fasciae latae from the bottom sirloin butt, separated from the ball tip and the M. obliquus abdominis internus through the natural seam.

  185D is the same item trimmed practically free of fat.

• “This item may be prepared from any IMPS boneless brisket item and shall consist only of the M. pectoralis profundi.”

  IMPS specifies brisket as item 118 bone-in, item 119 deckle-on boneless, and item 120 deckle-off boneless where the deckle — hard fat and M. intercostales interni on the inside surface — is removed at the natural seam. Item 120A, the flat cut, consists only of the M. pectoralis profundi and shall be no less than half an inch thick at any point.

  Item 118 includes the M. pectoralis profundi and superficialis — the flat and the point — plus sternum bones.

  A packer and a flat are different IMPS items, not two names for one product.

• IMPS item 112, Ribeye Roll, includes the M. longissimus dorsi, M. spinalis dorsi, M. complexus and M. multifidus dorsi, with the lip removed at the natural seam and the backstrap and exterior fat cover removed. Item 112A is the same with the lip left on.

  The spinalis dorsi — the cap prized on a ribeye — is inside the specification, so its presence is standard rather than a butcher's choice.

• IMPS item 180, Strip Loin Boneless, is the anterior section of the loin containing the 13th rib mark, with the tenderloin and hanging tender removed and the sirloin end exposing the M. gluteus medius.

  This is the cut British butchery calls sirloin. US 'sirloin' names a different and cheaper cut from behind the short loin.

• IMPS specifies plate short ribs (item 123, ribs 6 through 10, with the M. latissimus dorsi continuous across the cut surface) separately from chuck short ribs (item 130, ribs 2 through 5, containing the M. serratus ventralis). Item 123A is trimmed from the 6th, 7th and 8th ribs of the short plate.

  Different ribs, different muscles, different specification items — all sold as 'short ribs'. The name alone is not an instruction.

• IMPS item 184D, Beef Loin Top Sirloin Butt Cap, consists of the M. biceps femoris removed from item 184 by cutting through the natural seams, and the specification states it is sometimes referred to as the Coulotte — the same muscle, separated the same way, that AHDB specifies as the UK rump cap.
• US brisket is specified as three distinct items: 118 bone-in, 119 deckle-on boneless, and 120 deckle-off boneless, where the deckle is the hard fat and M. intercostales interni removed at the natural seam. Item 120A, the flat cut, consists only of the M. pectoralis profundi and must be at least half an inch thick.
• IMPS item 185C, tri-tip, consists of the M. tensor fasciae latae separated from the ball tip and flap through the natural seam. Item 184 additionally specifies that a PORTION of that same muscle is left attached to the top sirloin butt when the bottom sirloin is removed.

If this source changes, these are the claims that need rechecking. That is the point of recording provenance per claim rather than per page.