The Round Steak is cut from the back of the cow. This is from a work muscle, making it leaner and a tougher cut of beef. This cut of beef requires a little more care in cooking to ensure a quality eating experience. Several methods of cooking to provide a tender meal include, braising, marinating and also mechanical tenderization. Braising invloves cooking the beef in a slow moist method in order to infuse the beef with additional juices. Mechnical tenderization can occur at processing or simply by taking and pounding the steak flat, breaking up the muscular tissue by force. Marinading involves the immersion of the beef in a solution.

Many different marinades are available. Two basic actions take place in the marinating process. First is in proteases enzymes breaking down the protiens. These enzymes are found in pineapple, papaya and other fruits. However these are killed in the pasturization process. This is a very aggressive tenderizer and can give the beef a very mushy texture quickly.

Another action involved in the marinading of meat is brining of beef. Soy sauce has a high salt content and makes for a good marinade base. You can also experiment and dissolve the salt in water and then combine it with an oil, as salt will not disolve in oil. When using a salt based marinade, an hour long marinade is optimal as longer will allow parts of the steak to become too salty.

Common recipes include chicken fried steak, barbqued beef, stew and it is also used in a small pot roast dinner.