# Butchering Lamb, what cuts to get?



## Old Mission (Dec 26, 2009)

Its kinda late to ask this question since our one and only meat lamb for ourselves just went to the butcher today, but what cuts are the best to get? 
The butcher had a website to choose what cuts you want, the only part I could figure out is chops, the rest I have no idea so I just picked something from the options. what are the pros/cons of each primal cut available?
I have cooked chops once in my life and never had anything else, so I dont know what to do with most the stuff so it was confusing to figure out what cuts to get, I recorded about 10 cooking shows with all the other parts so its a start!
Since I dont really know what I want to do with the meat I dont know what cuts to get.
I wanted to get it processed professionally for the first time then I will see how its 'supposed' to look and maybe try myself next time.:goodjob:


Stephanie


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## Ebenezer (Jun 5, 2010)

Leg roasts and loin roasts are good if you like roasts. Kabob cubes are good if you "kabob". Chops work pretty well. Loin chops are the tenderest. Sirloin and neck chops need a little more cooking time. Shanks and shoulders are OK but I'd prefer them as lean ground lamb.


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## PNP Katahdins (Oct 28, 2008)

Lamb and mutton roasts are great. We love the chops and steaks too. The stew meat (little bits trimmed off) usually go to the dogs and cats if they're too hard to trim clean for vegetable soup. Haven't had any of our own lamb made into lamb burger yet. 

The critters love raw organ meat (like heart and liver) too. Make sure your butcher includes those, we used one twice that didn't (I think one of the workers took them home for his own pets). We went back to our original butcher over that.

Ask your butcher if you can get organ meat that others don't want. Your dogs and cats will thank you. I have friends that give theirs to us right away. This is beef as well as lamb.

And if you have any older sheep you think won't sell for much, look into having sausage made from them. Costs more but mutton summer sausage is oh so good. 

Peg


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## Old Mission (Dec 26, 2009)

Thanks for the tips, I requested that organs and scraps/bones be returned for my pets so hopefully there is something there. We used to feed the dogs 100% raw diet but when we moved 'out here' there are thousands of farms but no bulk/cheap suppliers! I have to go 90 minutes to a 'big city' to find anything!?!? I could not find enough to feed all 7 of my dogs 100% of their diet, so now they get things on occasion when I can find something or we raise something for them. Most people who feed raw were telling me that farmers/butchers have to pay to get rid of the 'waste' (like leftover bones, ect) so they practically give it away, I have not found that to be true at all. I cant even get scrap bones for less then $1.00 a lb! A lot of people did not want to bother dealing with me because they would not make enough money off of me to be worth their time. 
If I cant find meat for their diet I at least want to get the bones.
I'll have to talk more with this butcher and see what I can drum up.

They asked us if we had any lambs or adult sheep we wanted to sell and they wanted to do business with us but dont know for what price, I am sure way less then what I could get for them on my own. Its a option if I ever have anything I cant sell or something but
so far that has not been the case at all, I had a hard time keeping the 'one' lamb we did! Everyone kept trying to talk us out of him! I dont really want to sell at 'wholesale' prices since we are a small farm to begin with.

Stephanie


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

I like lamb stew ground lamb burgers and BB chops. I'm not a fan of roasts so if it were up to me I wouldn't have any.


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## BobDFL (Jul 7, 2006)

I do chops (Loin, arm, and shoulder), shanks, stew meat, and I have the legs done as boneless roasts on lambs. I also get the ribs (spare and babyback) which are wonderful smoked. The roasts I either rotiserie or smoke, either way is great.

I also use the organs for the dogs. 

I do these same custs for the bigger goats (80+ lbs) as well.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

I'm in Michigan too, and dog food isn't cheap like you'd think. I never have more than two dogs at one time, so it is doable for me. Next time you have an animal butchered specify that you want the organs. Pancreas (excellent for promoting good digestion, 1/2 ounce per day as long as it lasts), lungs, liver, heart, tripe (stomach lining, but only if the animal is pasture fed with no grain), kidneys. Nice treat for your dogs and so good for them. They may tell you that they can't sell the organs, but if you own the animal, the law allows you to take all organs.

BTW, we love ground lamb. Best burgers ever.


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## Plant_Nerd (Jul 27, 2010)

When I had sheep, I would keep a leg of lamb, and everything else was ground up.


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Plant_Nerd said:


> When I had sheep, I would keep a leg of lamb, and everything else was ground up.


Sacrilage!

Stephanie, there are what could be considered "cultural" differences between countries, and in this case brought about by the fact that NZ is a high mutton producing country. Most NZ farmers kill and butcher their own sheep - and lamb is not the favourite. Most will kill a 2th for their own table and send all the lambs to the works for export for those that like to eat bland meat.

Most home killed mutton is very basic - two leg roasts, two forequarter roasts (shoulders) and chops. We're big on our roasts! The flaps usually go to the dogs because they take a bit more work but are worth doing something with.

We often kill 2 or 3 at a time. One will be cut up as above, if it is summer, one will be put through the bandsaw and the whole thing made into chops for the BBQ, and the third will go to the butcher to be turned into boned, stuffed and rolled roasts, schnitzels, butterfly steaks, mince and Jewish ham. Think pig - you can get exactly the same cuts from a sheep as you can from a pig.


Flaps can be boned out and stuffed, and rolled, cut into ribs for grilling or BBQ'ing, boned out with excess fat cut off and minced, used for soup stock or boned out and cubed for stews/casseroles. Because of the high fat content in flaps it pays to pre-cook, let cool and refrigerate then skim the fat off if using for casseroles, stews or soup.

Most of you are wasting your offal. If I were sending a sheep to the butcher I would expect to get the kidneys, liver, heart and tongue back - and the same goes for a cattle beast. I would expect to get the paunch and lights back if I asked for them. 

Don't any of you eat steak and kidney pie or pudding? Or have lambs fry and bacon? Have the tongues corned and then cook and press for sandwich fillings? Stuff and roast the hearts? I personally don't like brains but they too can be used and my father would have killed for them, along with the sweet breads.

Like a pig, the only thing that should be wasted is the Baa.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## bruce2288 (Jul 10, 2009)

I'm with Ronnie. Kidney is great. Lamb liver is the mildest, tenderest you can eat. Heart is good but for me pretty tough. I am surprized self sufficient types throwing this to the dogs. I also seldom butcher lambs, 2 or 3 yr old whethers, more flavor, big cuts of meat. To each their own.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

We throw them to the dogs, or share with the dogs, so that the dogs get organ meat. My vet specifically recommended pancreas for my nine year old dog. Most of us feed chicken, and most chicken now comes without the liver and heart. It's been long enough that grocers have not carried the offal that most people don't know how to prepare it. Perhaps you could write some recipes in the cooking forum.


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## fetch33 (Jan 15, 2010)

Stay away from brains.... they carry prion diseases.


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## Somerhill (Dec 13, 2005)

This is how I have my lambs done - for our own use, and for sale at a farmers market:

1 boneless leg roll
1 leg cut into steaks
Shanks
rib chops
loin cut into kabob cubes
The rest either in stew meat pieces or ground - about half and half.
For the market, I have a few boneless shoulder rolls, but for my own use, I have it cut into stew meat pieces. These can be for kabobs, stirfry, salads, etc. 
I also sell tongues, kidneys, hearts, and liver.

Lisa 
http://somerhillfarm.blogspot.com


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