Description
Beef chin is the jaw, and it is one of the few cuts that gets better the longer you ignore it. There is bone in it, a lot of connective tissue around it, and almost no lean muscle to dry out. Two hours in a pot and that tissue turns soft and sticky, the kind that thickens gravy without flour. Rushing it is the only way to ruin it.
This is the cut behind a proper beef soup and the wet fry you get in a good local kitchen. Boil it first with salt and a little ginger until the meat pulls off the bone, then either keep the broth for soup or drain it and fry the pieces with onion, tomato and chilli. One kilo feeds four with ugali and greens.
Ask for it cut into stewing pieces rather than whole, unless you are making stock. Keep it in the coldest part of the fridge and cook within two days, or freeze the boiled meat in its broth.
Keeping Beef Chin
- In the fridge
- 3–4 days in the coldest part of the fridge, on the bottom shelf, covered loosely.
- In the freezer
- Up to 4 months. Wrap it tight — air is what turns beef grey.
- Defrosting
- In the fridge overnight, never on the counter. Cook it within a day of defrosting.
Minced beef and offal are the exception: cook within 1–2 days, or freeze on the day you buy.
Questions about Beef Chin
Is this halal? +
Yes. Every cut we sell is halal, and it is butchered at our stall at City Market in Nairobi.
Can I choose the exact weight? +
On the cuts sold per kilogram you can order any weight from 0.5 kg in quarter-kilo steps. We cut as close to the weight you choose as the piece allows, and the price is for the weight you ordered.
When will it arrive? +
Same day across Nairobi if you order before 6:30 PM. You pay by M-Pesa to till 9700565 when you place the order, and we start cutting as soon as it is confirmed.
Can you cut it differently? +
Yes. Thickness, trim, boneless, diced for stew, minced through the mincer — write it in the notes at checkout and the butcher will do it.
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Before you cook it
Nyama choma at home: the fire, the cuts, the timing
Most home choma fails on the fire, not the marinade. Two heat zones, warm meat, big pieces — and ten minutes of rest at the end.
Why your beef turns grey in the fridge (and what to do about it)
It is oxidation, not spoilage — most of the time. How to tell the difference, and how to store beef so it lasts the week.
Reviews
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