# Meat Cuts



## rockdoveranch (May 27, 2011)

After almost 7 years of raising Barbado and selling our rams to exotic game ranches, we are ABOUT ready to take that big leap and eat some of our babies.  

Since we are too city-fied to process our sheep ourselves I have been calling around for prices to have our lambs processed.

I have not eaten lamb in a LONG time, but I do remember really liking leg of lamb and lamb chops.

I have been looking in my old Settlement Cookbook and I am at a loss as to what cuts we should be asking the meat processor to make.

The cookbook breaks the cuts down to shoulder, leg, loin, foreshank and breast, and lists rib roast and stew meat in separate places.

What cuts of meat do you all suggest to get the most out of your lambs?

Thanks.


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## patandchickens (May 27, 2011)

Honestly, unless you have pretty specific cooking preferences in which case you probably wouldn't be asking the question anyhow, the simplest thing is probably to ask the processor guy "what way do most people ask for?" and then go with that 

If you are a weenie about trying new cuts of meat or different cooking methods, you could get more rather than less done as ground lamb, which is always useful.

If you are adventurous, see if they will save and package the tongue, heart, liver, etc for you too.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat


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## rockdoveranch (May 27, 2011)

patandchickens said:
			
		

> Honestly, unless you have pretty specific cooking preferences in which case you probably wouldn't be asking the question anyhow, the simplest thing is probably to ask the processor guy "what way do most people ask for?" and then go with that
> 
> If you are a weenie about trying new cuts of meat or different cooking methods, you could get more rather than less done as ground lamb, which is always useful.
> 
> ...


Pat, your response had me laughing.    Weenie!  Adventurous!  I am a little of both . . . sometimes.  

If clean ups were simple, I would cook bacon all day long!  Everyday!

I prefer cooking meats all day or for many hours, an hour at the least.  I love the crock pot, simmering and baking.  I like ground beef recipes that simmer for a long time.  Right now I am smoking a brisket that has been in the freezer so long that it was 89 cents a pound.  We put it in the smoker at 6am and will be taking it off at about 5:45pm.  We will be eating it for days in all kinds of ways.

I will check with the processor when time gets close to actually doing it and get details of cuts of meats.  They are taking appointment for June 13 now.


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## SDGsoap&dairy (May 27, 2011)

Mmmmmmm.... I'm drooling.


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## boothcreek (May 27, 2011)

I cut my lambs myself since I have worked at the local butcher shop and picked up on the different cuts and was the one going over the cuts when customers dropped off their animals.

This is the cuts there are on a lamb :

Front end:

-Neck into either a boneless roast(deboned and rolled, delicious slow cooking roast) or Stew/Hamburger(whichever you use more of)
-Shoulder either Boneless Roast(again slow cooking) or Bone-in Steaks(bigger lambs you can get both)
- Shank(the part from the elbow to the first leg joint on the front legs) either whole(only really good like that if you have a special recipe, greek cooking uses it alot apparently) or cut into Stew/Hamburger

Mid section:
-Ribs either keep bone-in(if you are a rib fan they are great, not much on them tho esspecially with smaller breeds) or bone-out for hamburger
- The loin I like to do the one side into Rack of Lamb(equivalent to a prime rib roast in beef) and the otherside into Chops.  I personally like my chops boneless and butterflied since I like the tenderloins seperate and everyone whines about there being more bone then anything. 
- Tenderloins are very small in lambs and most butchers don't even bother removing them and leave them on the chops(t-bone steak basically). We take them off and leave them whole.

Hind end:
-Very basic, get the leg either bone-in or bone-out and depending on the size of the lamb and the number of people you are feeding whole or cut in half.
- You can also do Bone-in Leg steaks, they are delicious. We took the one leg and cut about half into bone-in steaks before we boned out(or leave in, your choice) the rest for a nice roast.
- Shanks(knee to hock joint) again either whole or into stew/Hamburger

Any trimmings go into hamburger, and let your butcher know how you like it. With lambs our butchershop didn't trim enough of the fat off the hamburger trim IMO but we like our burger really lean.

I hope this helps and didn't make the confusion worse.....


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## aggieterpkatie (May 27, 2011)

I really like this  poster. It breaks down all the different cuts you have the option of getting.


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## rockdoveranch (May 27, 2011)

n.smith, the brisket was like butter.  Yum!  The smoke ring was almost 1/2 inch deep and l smell like smoke from playing with the fire box all day.  We smoke pork spareribs packed in brown sugar.  YUM!  

booth, thanks for all the information.  I am printing out your post.  It helps a lot!

aggie, thanks for the link.  I am printing it out also.  Thanks.


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## Bimpnottin (May 28, 2011)

Plus, if you are going to a good butcher shop, they will walk you through everything you can get and how you would cook it.  We just had a hog processed, and I couldn't remember everything you could get, so she walked me through all the cuts, how thick to get each, how many of each in a package, and what can be done with each cut.  

If it's a good butcher, they will give you more than enough information, because they want you to be happy and come back again.  And make sure that after you get all your cuts, you get your trim as either stew meat pieces or ground into ground lamb and packaged in like 1# packages.  If you are iffy on the taste, mix it with ground beef for a meatloaf, put it in chili, etc.


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## country freedom (May 28, 2011)

Great info!


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## rockdoveranch (May 28, 2011)

Wow!  Thanks Bimpnottin.  

I don't know enough about this to ask the right questions to get all the information I need and the information you have shared.   

I am so glad I started this thread!  I am learning a lot!

Thanks again!


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## Bimpnottin (May 28, 2011)

Oh, and if you don't know if you like the offal - the heart, liver, tongue - you can ask to have them ground into your trim meat, where you will never taste a difference, and you'll get a few more pounds of YOUR meat!  Good places will also trim out the neck bones and either ask if you want the bones for stew or if you just want the trim.

A pretty generic rule of thumb for yield on a hog is 65-70% of it's live weight, because it doesn't have a rumen.  A ruminate like a cow, goat, or sheep, a good yield is about 50-60% of the live weight.  You won't get all of that, but it'll give you an idea of how much meat/bones you'll get back.  For example: the hog we just got butchered was done pretty light, he only weighed 220 pounds and we got about 150# back, that was a 68% yield, which is pretty good.  Hope this helps.

And I don't know what processing costs around you, but by me, to have it butchered, cut, wrapped, and flash frozen it was $.45/lb - so about $65.  And remember, if you are going to have any sausage made or anything smoked, adds the cost of the filler meat - usually pork, the seasonings, and the smoking price, again, around me anywhere from an extra $.50/lb for just pork sausage to an extra $2.00/lb for hot sticks that are smoked.  For some people this is totally worth it, but his time, we just got all our ground pork and we add in our own seasonings and make sausage patties instead of having sausage links.


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## Beekissed (May 28, 2011)

Oh....and if you ever decide to process your own, do not, I repeat, DO NOT let your two teenage sons~who are used to processing numerous deer a hunting season and usually disregard certain parts~ do it for you because you just cannot bear to do that one yourself and then go to work without specific instructions and come home to find your dog chewing on about $150 worth of rack of lamb. 

Whew!  That was a mouthful!  (pun intended)


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