PRE-ORDER −20% until Wednesday 2 December, 17:00 · first orders ship Wednesday 2 December · over €129: free delivery to mainland Spain and a tray of 4 criollo sausages · See the BBQ boxes

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Grand reopening, now taking pre-orders: 20% off everything until Wednesday 2 December, 17:00

Order now and secure your cuts. The first orders ship on Wednesday 2 December with SEUR Frío (refrigerated courier) and arrive the next day (Balearic Islands: two days).

On orders from €129: free delivery to mainland Spain and a free tray of 4 criollo sausages.

Buey · Ox · Castrated male over 48 months · Royal Decree 1698/2003

What Is Buey? Spanish Ox Beef, the Legal Definition and the Real Thing

If you have seen buey on half the menus in town and wondered how there can be so many oxen, good question. Buey is ox. In Spanish law (Royal Decree 1698/2003) it means beef from a castrated male over 48 months. A castrated male younger than that is a cebón, a female over 48 months is a vaca, and an entire male over 48 months is a toro. Real ox is rare and expensive, and the word is often used loosely on menus. We sell two: a dry-aged ox chuletón of 1 kg from Galicia and northern Portugal, and the Andalusian berrenda ox, from animals of about 12 years.

See the ox chuletones Old cow beef explained

  • Ox as the law defines it: a castrated male over 48 months
  • Ox from Galicia and northern Portugal, dry-aged 60 days; berrenda ox, dry-aged 100 days
  • Vacuum-packed, first chilled delivery Thursday 3 December on the Spanish mainland

Raw ox (buey) bone-in rib steak with deep marbling and a thick rim of yellow fat, parsley alongside

Ox to order, and what sits next to it

The ox chuletón from Galicia and northern Portugal is a bone-in rib steak of 1 kg, dry-aged 60 days, listed at €119.90; the breed varies with the batch. The Andalusian berrenda ox comes from animals of about 12 years and is dry-aged 100 days, in limited editions of 1.9 kg and 3 kg. Pre-orders placed by Wednesday 2 December 2026 at 17:00 get 20% off in the basket; the first parcels ship that day and arrive on Thursday 3 December.

For comparison at the same table

The same steak from retinto, the native red breed of south-west Spain, at two other ages: the mature cow chuletón of approx. 1 kg, our best seller at €63.90, and the milder yearling chuletón. Our retinto cebón chuletón is not ox either: it comes from a castrated male of about 4 years, and we sell it as cebón.


Four legal names for a grown animal

Spanish law names beef by the age and sex of the animal. Once cattle pass 48 months there are three possible names, and a fourth for the castrated male that has not got there yet. Only one of the four is ox.

Spanish name Sex Age In English
Buey Castrated male Over 48 months Ox
Cebón Castrated male Under 48 months Steer
Vaca Female Over 48 months Mature cow, often sold as vaca vieja, old cow beef
Toro Entire male Over 48 months Bull

The younger categories, from ternera blanca to novillo, are set out on our page about yearling beef and the word ternera.

Why real ox is rare and expensive

The reason is time. Most Spanish beef is sold as yearling, at 12–24 months. An ox has to be kept for more than four years before it reaches the counter. Few farmers make that commitment, so few oxen exist, and the price of a real ox steak reflects those years.

“Buey” on the menu

Because ox is scarce and the name carries prestige, the word is often used loosely on menus, and a steak sold as buey may in practice be mature cow. That is no disaster on the plate: mature cow is a fine steak in its own right, and it is the meat behind the famous Spanish chuletón. If the distinction matters to you, ask which animal it was: buey, vaca or cebón.

English is just as loose: oxtail and ox cheek are names of cuts, not of the animal. Our own ox cheek is retinto yearling, listed with the other braising cuts.

Where our ox comes from

We sell only two kinds of steak as buey. The ox chuletón from Galicia and northern Portugal is dry-aged 60 days, and its breed varies with the batch. The berrenda is an Andalusian breed; our berrenda oxen are about 12 years old and dry-aged 100 days. Our retinto chuletones, from the native red breed of south-west Spain, are yearling, cow and cebón, a castrated male of about 4 years. If you have never eaten mature beef, begin with the retinto cow and come to the ox later.

How to cook an ox chuletón

  • Take the steak out of the fridge a good hour ahead.
  • Cook over embers on the barbecue (US: grill), or in a heavy pan, as hot as it will go.
  • Sear both sides until dark, then hold the steak on its fat edge with tongs until the fat softens and colours.
  • Serve it rare, 50–52 °C (122–126 °F) at the core, or medium-rare, 54–57 °C (129–135 °F). Use a thermometer.
  • Rest it five to ten minutes, take the meat off the bone in one piece and slice it across.
  • Coarse salt at the end.

Butcher's knife cutting a thick ox (buey) chuletón from a dry-aged loin on a wooden block

Buey questions

Is buey the same as vaca vieja?

No, though they are often confused. Vaca is a female over 48 months; buey is a castrated male of that age. Both are mature beef, with different legal names.

What is a cebón?

In Spanish law, a castrated male under 48 months: a steer. After 48 months it is a buey. Our retinto cebón is a castrated male of about 4 years, and we sell it as cebón, not as ox.

Are your retinto chuletón and steer loin ox?

No, and we prefer to be exact about it. Both come from retinto cebón, castrated males of about 4 years, and we sell them as cebón; so is the chuletón in the Gourmet BBQ box. The only steaks we sell as ox are the chuletón from Galicia and northern Portugal and the Andalusian berrenda.

Is every “chuletón de buey” on a Spanish menu really ox?

The word is often used loosely on menus. If you want to know, ask whether the steak is buey, vaca or cebón.

Do the ox chuletones arrive fresh or frozen?

Chilled and vacuum-packed. They keep in the fridge until the use-by date on the label, or you can freeze them on arrival.