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Author Topic: Lamb cutting list?  (Read 12387 times)

Bumblebear

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • Norfolk
    • http://southwellski.blogspot.co.uk/
Lamb cutting list?
« on: October 16, 2012, 10:38:59 pm »
Our two lambs went off this morning and when I phoned the abbatoir/butcher he said he would keep one leg whole;joint the others; mince the breast and then chops etc and that was a fairly typical cutting list.  This is our first time, does that sound about right or should I have been more specific?  From what I understand there isn't a huge amount of meat that comes back from a lamb anyway.  These were Llyens.

benkt

  • Joined Apr 2010
  • Cambridgeshire
    • Hempsals Community Farm
Re: Lamb cutting list?
« Reply #1 on: October 16, 2012, 10:55:07 pm »

We had our first lambs this year and used this as the cut list and it seemed to work for us and our members. They were Texel x Llyens and the final weight of meat was 35-45lb

2 leg joints,
 2 fillet joints,
 approx 10 chops
 4-6 slices of neck,
 2 shanks,
 2 breasts boned and rolled
 liver and heart


Hopefully someone more experienced will be along shortly to set us both straight ;)
« Last Edit: October 16, 2012, 11:47:23 pm by benkt »

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Re: Lamb cutting list?
« Reply #2 on: October 16, 2012, 11:34:34 pm »
We had leg in half, shoulder in half, chops (10-12) per half lamb, belly/breast, neck. Lambs ranged from 10.5kg to 13.4kg per half deadweight.

kja

  • Joined Oct 2012
Re: Lamb cutting list?
« Reply #3 on: October 17, 2012, 07:26:33 am »
we ask for:

leg joints (either whole or halfed depending on family size)
shoulder as above
chops
breast either minced or rolled
neck for stews
ofal including lungs (we dry these in the rayburn for the dogs)
bones (for stock or dogs)

this list most butchers will call traditional cuts.

if you look on howards website i think they have cutting list for each species they kill
we can still learn if we are willing to listen.

lachlanandmarcus

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: Lamb cutting list?
« Reply #4 on: October 17, 2012, 08:02:46 am »
It does sound fairlyn typical. One thing I have found is that I usually need more mince than I get, and I find breast a bit uninspiring, so I usually have all of it minced.

kja

  • Joined Oct 2012
Re: Lamb cutting list?
« Reply #5 on: October 17, 2012, 08:09:41 am »
lamb breast stuffed with a choritzo stuffing cooked slow is to die for ......thats from a non lamb eater i would not give tuppence for lamb normally but this  :yum:
we can still learn if we are willing to listen.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Lamb cutting list?
« Reply #6 on: October 17, 2012, 08:35:54 am »
If you look at my recent post about the Castlemilk's meat - you should get about the same amount off your two commercial-type lambs as I got from the 4 Castlemilk wethers.

I can't get the liver, firstly you have to collect the offal immediately, whereas the remainder of the carcase wants to hang for a while before being cut up and secondly because we are a flukey area so almost all of our livers get condemned.


The breast is the sweetest meat on the whole animal.  If you hate slow-cooked meat, yes have it minced  :yum:  However, if you do like slow-cooked meat, roll it, then cook it as a pot roast, or slice it and cook it similarly (in the oven, slowly. placed on top of veg and some stock/wine.)  Pop a bit of dried apricot in amongst the veg.   :yum:

BH was, until I came along, not a fan of this kind of meat.  But he loves pork belly and lamb breast cooked this way.  :hungry:

Because I love the breast so much, and also love afelia, I have the breast rolled, then on a commercial-sized lamb, half of one shoulder as chopped meat, the other half rolled.  I love shanks slow-roast, too, so have the shanks seperate and the remainder as a leg roast.  If you don't use big roasts, you can make the leg into two joints or one joint and some leg steaks.

BH isn't keen on fiddling with chop bones, so one thing I will try sometime is a crown roast - anyone done this?  Or rack of lamb?
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: Lamb cutting list?
« Reply #7 on: October 17, 2012, 02:36:41 pm »
We have found that our mutton is best for slow cooking, so now we have: legs left on the bone for roasting, shanks separately, shoulders - half of them boned/rolled, half cubed for stews and curries, and the rest of the meat minced - my children could live on shepherd's pie EVERY day of the week ;D .

jaykay

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Cumbria/N Yorks border
Re: Lamb cutting list?
« Reply #8 on: October 17, 2012, 03:09:18 pm »
What would people have as a cutting list for a Shetland lamb, ie small.

Or should I not send them as lambs and keep them til hoggs?

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: Lamb cutting list?
« Reply #9 on: October 17, 2012, 04:19:12 pm »
Keep them till next autumn if you have the space. They don't need too much food over winter, and will grow a lot when the grass starts growing again in the spring.
What I have given above is our cutting list for Shetlands, youngest we will send them is 18 months, but have done 3 year old tup too - outside the "smelly" season though.

Fronhaul

  • Joined Jun 2011
    • Fronhaul Farm
Re: Lamb cutting list?
« Reply #10 on: October 17, 2012, 04:43:56 pm »
As for the breast while I agree with Sally that it is delicious the alternative is to slow roast it until crispy on the outside and most of the fat has gone.

zarzar

  • Joined Jul 2012
  • kent
  • Z.Glenfield :)
Re: Lamb cutting list?
« Reply #11 on: October 17, 2012, 05:58:35 pm »
 :wave: Hi how much and what cuts do people suggest for portlands and portlandx's also age as will be a first timer next year. ;D
1 cat,2 thoroughbred horses,1 dog, handfull of bird various types and hoping to get sheep again

Bumblebear

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • Norfolk
    • http://southwellski.blogspot.co.uk/
Re: Lamb cutting list?
« Reply #12 on: October 19, 2012, 04:47:30 pm »
Well just collected mine and whilst I was a bit miffed they didnt save the bones (poor communication but hey ho), we got back two boxes one marked 15.5kg and one 17kg.  Is this about right/too light?  Should we have waited a winter?

Guess what we're having for dinner tonight :D  :excited:  :excited:  :excited:  :excited:  :excited:

bloomer

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • leslie, fife
  • i have chickens, sheep and opinions!!!
Re: Lamb cutting list?
« Reply #13 on: October 19, 2012, 06:42:11 pm »
Well just collected mine and whilst I was a bit miffed they didnt save the bones (poor communication but hey ho), we got back two boxes one marked 15.5kg and one 17kg.  Is this about right/too light?  Should we have waited a winter?

Guess what we're having for dinner tonight :D :excited: :excited: :excited: :excited: :excited:


well i'm hoping its yummy delicious lamb, but what type, let us know please i'm dribbling thinking about it!!!

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Lamb cutting list?
« Reply #14 on: October 20, 2012, 01:17:11 am »
Well just collected mine and ... we got back two boxes one marked 15.5kg and one 17kg.  Is this about right/too light?  Should we have waited a winter?

My Castlemilks wethers weighed around 34kgs (ave) on the hoof, just under 14kgs deadweight (before cutting.)  I would expect to lose maybe 10% of the deadweight in cutting (bones, etc.)  Lleyns should give a much better killout %age than primitives, I would think - we expect nearer to 50% of our commercial lambs.

Our commercial lambs that we send off for the supermarkets are typically 38-44kgs liveweight, 19-20.5kgs deadweight, which would return about 17-18.5kgs from the butcher, I guess.

So yours were probably about the size the supermarkets like.  If you are happy with the equation, carry on!  But as they are your own lambs there is no reason you wouldn't grow them on larger if you like and if you want larger chops, joints, etc.

Enjoy them - I am sure you will!
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

 

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