Rib primal · Beef cut guide
Tomahawk Steak
Tomahawk steak is a bone-in ribeye with the entire long rib bone (typically 25 to 30 cm / 10 to 12 inches) left attached and "frenched", the meat scraped clean from the bone for visual presentation. It is the same muscle and same eating quality as a standard ribeye; the bone is for show, not flavor.
Anatomy and naming
A tomahawk is cut from the rib primal between the 6th and 12th ribs (same as ribeye) with one full long rib bone left in place. The meat-to-bone ratio is roughly 1:1 by weight on a typical 1 kg / 2 lb tomahawk, so half the price-per-pound is paying for bone. Whether the bone is worth paying for depends entirely on your priorities, visual presentation for restaurants and special occasions, or pure beef value at the same grade.
The flavor difference between a bone-in tomahawk and a boneless ribeye of the same grade is debatable. Most blind taste tests show no meaningful difference; the bone marrow cooks at temperatures ribeye finishes well below, so it does not directly contribute to flavor during a typical cook. The bone does help with even cooking on very thick steaks (3+ inches / 8+ cm) by acting as a heat sink, but a boneless ribeye of the same thickness cooks almost identically.
Also known as
Cowboy steak (US, slightly different) · Bone-in ribeye with long bone · Bistecca alla Fiorentina (Italy, related)
USDA beef carcass diagram - Tomahawk Steak sits in the Rib primal
How to spot a good one
Visual markers
A long, frenched bone, typically 25-30 cm / 10-12 inches, clean of meat, smooth and white
A thick eye of meat at the base of the bone, ideally 4-5 cm / 1.5-2 inches thick
Same marbling, color, and fat cap markers as a ribeye, see the ribeye guide for visual specifics
A clean separation between meat and bone, sloppy frenching with meat shreds attached suggests careless butchery
The visible spinalis cap on the upper edge (same as ribeye), its presence and quality are the best indicator
Cooking, on Pro
Cook tomahawk steak like its grade
MeatGrader Pro gives you a cooking guide tailored to the exact cut and quality grade in front of you. Temperature, time, primary and alternative methods, resting, pairings.
A USDA Prime tomahawk steak gets a different guide than a Choice tomahawk steak, and an A5 BMS 9 wagyu cut gets something else again. Generic recipes do not know which one you have. Pro does.
Free with 3 analyses on signup. Pro is $1.99/month for unlimited analyses + the cooking guide.
How it grades
Grading tomahawk steak
Same as ribeye, tomahawk is a presentation format of the rib primal, and the underlying meat is graded at the carcass level under USDA, CBGA, JMGA, MSA/AUS-MEAT, or KAPE. A USDA Prime tomahawk and a USDA Prime boneless ribeye eat identically (the bone is decorative). MeatGrader scores tomahawks identically to ribeyes, the bone is ignored, the eye of meat is what is evaluated.
FAQ
Common questions about tomahawk steak
What people ask most about picking, cooking, and grading this cut.
Related cuts
Other cuts to know
Score any tomahawk steak from a photo
Photograph your tomahawk steak and see how it grades against the regional system you select.