Cutting lamb: scheme for dividing the carcass by purpose and category. Parts of a lamb carcass and their culinary uses How women cut sheep cat co ga

A diagram of the correct separation of sections will allow the cook to determine which part is best used to prepare a particular dish. The sternocostal region, for example, can be turned into delicious ribs, and you can enjoy a tender loin.

The taste secrets of each piece of meat are hidden in the age of the ram, its original content, and the choice of the part for which the fragment is intended - broth, pilaf or shish kebab.

Cutting a lamb carcass occurs in a sequence of specific operations:

  • cutting cuts
  • boning
  • veins

As a result, meat should appear on the market counter, divided into categories so that the consumer can easily determine the purpose of the pieces.

Meat is not purchased from a random pile; the cook must know what he is choosing:

  • loin
  • spatula

Each cut of meat is intended for a specific dish, so as not to discourage interest in eating this particular product from your household, from wrong choice. Professionals will not tolerate such a fiasco, as they know a lot about cooking and proper processing. meat products, as well as what should be used to prepare the first or second.

The butcher works on the carcass with the skill of a magician, but even if the product is purchased, raised and slaughtered at home, you need to take this procedure seriously so as not to spoil the taste of the meat due to inaccurate processing.

The separation of the skinned and gutted animal body consists of three parts:

  • front legs of lamb along with the neck - scapular
  • middle part - thoracocostal
  • hind legs and ham

Even at this stage, a gourmet will immediately determine the best part for preparing delicious ribs from the rib cage.

Why such a tender loin is obtained from this area will be answered by the way the sheep are kept on pastures and their anatomical structure. While getting food for themselves, they are constantly in motion, forcing all their muscles to work, although their back remains in a calm state.


As a result, the meat comes out tender with a minimal amount of fat, which is valued by nutritionists and strict followers of proper nutritional diets. Hind hams are considered a delicacy.
Any restaurant that respects its reputation and status must include a baked leg of lamb on its menu, which chefs and clients consider to be a masterpiece of the culinary art.

Small fragments include:

  • shoulder cut, consisting of the neck, shoulder and lower section in the front leg
  • thoracic region

It is used by connoisseurs influenced by the purpose of use in the form of:

  • boneless shoulder blade or on bone
  • Koreans
  • flank
  • saddles
  • clippings
  • steak

The hind limbs consist of sections:

  • hams
  • shanks

They cut and chop not only to make it easier to take a piece from the total mass, but also to determine its purpose. Then, when preparing, small fragments will not get lost under large ones and will not interfere.

Thermal state of the meat product

How to properly cut lamb at the production level is indicated by various regulatory documents and technological instructions, in accordance with which semi-finished products are produced, deboning, and trimming of carcasses is carried out.

The following concepts are hidden under specific terminology:

  • deboning is the simple removal of meat from bones without deep cuts; after the procedure there should be no pulp left on them
  • by trimming or trimming, tendons, fat, film, and cartilage are removed from the tenderloin

After production processes What remains is the intermuscular connecting part with a thin surface film on large-piece semi-finished products.

The product is processed:

  • frozen
  • cooled to +4 degrees.
  • steam room, when the temperature is not less than +35 degrees
  • cooled to +12 degrees. on carcasses and half-carcasses

Processing begins after a veterinary examination and with the permission of a doctor. Cutting is done after weighing and division into categories.

Industrial classification of products by category

Before being processed, lamb should be divided into categories:

  • the first degree is meat with satisfactory muscle development, protruding spinous processes of the vertebrae on the back and withers, a thin layer of subcutaneous layer
  • the second grade is a product with weak muscles and protruding bones with minor fat deposits

It is distinguished by its fatness, thermal condition, and commercial grade.


A characteristic principle for determining the quality of meat is its age differentiation:

  • dairy lambs with pink meat color and 8 weeks of age
  • young lambs 3 months old from birth, their flesh has a delicate structure, light, red, thin, fat is white
  • adults have coarse, red meat, endowed with a pronounced aroma

Lamb is preferred in European countries. Caucasians, eastern countries, and Asia included lamb in the main diet.

These animals are a source of proteins and vitamins, which include:

  • niacin
  • selenium
  • iron

The color of the meat at the market determines at what age the sheep was slaughtered. A gray product should be discarded; this is the first sign of poor quality.

Selection of pieces for culinary purposes

Central Asian and Caucasian cuisines prefer to cut sheep according to their national principles. There is no cutting of bones; joint cutting is performed. According to the tradition of many nations, pilaf or shish kebab are mainly prepared from lamb.


To reveal all the taste qualities of a product, it is necessary to take a responsible approach to its choice; it depends on the method of preparation:

  • It’s better to stew the shoulder blade, neck, legs
  • parts of the loin, ham are taken for grilling
  • from the tenderloin, breast part, adding fat tail fat, prepare pilaf
  • Cuttings from drumsticks, necks, and brisket are useful for stews.
  • frying shish kebab will be most delicious from ham
  • cooking soups and boiled meat is done using the neck, brisket, shoulder blade
  • making steak comes from the hindquarters
  • Meat for chops is cut from the back and legs
  • production of chopped cutlets from the shoulder, back part
  • roast can be prepared from the meat of the neck, hind legs, kidney part
  • bake your feet
  • fried shoulder blades, brisket, shank

How many nations in the same number have different recipes, each will prove that only theirs is the most delicious and healthy. Before cooking, you need to learn how to properly cut a carcass, then there will be no complaints against the hapless butcher.

How to separate the entrails

Specialists cut and slaughter in accordance with GOST; the manuals describe in detail the technologies for bleeding and performing procedures after this.

Sheep or rams are slaughtered with certain requirements and conditions:

  • 13 months is considered the best period if the animal has gained normal speed weight, sheep grow quickly and sometimes the average breed becomes ready for consumption by 9 months
  • the slaughter process occurs in special places with hooks for hanging the carcass, drains in the floor for blood flow
  • they start with an incision in the neck, you need to get into the vessel to quickly bleed the body, then place it on a clean floor or hang it, the taste and quality of the meat depends on how quickly and efficiently the blood leaves

The butchering of a sheep can be carried out in a barn or utility yard by arranging the scene with a special frame with hooks. You need to prepare sharp knives in advance; you have to dismember the carcass and remove the skin. A basin or deep cup is useful for the insides and drained blood, provided that there are no special drains.

After the blood has finished draining, proceed to the following steps:

  • convenient placement on the table
  • head separation
  • breaking the front hooves, cutting the skin up to the groin
  • skinning
  • hanging a carcass on a hook
  • ripping open the belly
  • removal of the stomach and intestines
  • sections of liver, lungs, kidneys

The most labor-intensive work has been completed; the carcass needs to be properly dealt with.

What are the rules for cutting?

Having completed the dirtiest procedure, when the carcass is carefully gutted, the internal organs, start chopping with an ax or cutting with a sharp knife. Conveniently placing the removed carcass on the table:

  • separate each shoulder blade
  • cut off the neck at the base of the last cervical vertebra
  • cut out the skeleton of the spine
  • the sternum is divided into halves

If a loin is needed, remove it from the part placed on the table. The best part is considered to be up to 4 ribs, the rest are more suitable for broths. The end of the sternum is freed from stringy meat. Treatment of the neck is carried out focusing on the cervical vertebrae. The meat layers are removed with a longitudinal incision, and the rough connecting processes with tendons are removed. The back part is divided at the bases of the vertebrae, 2 hams are obtained.

Processing lamb shoulders

It is easier to direct a chopped lamb in the right direction for further use if each part is processed, stock bones, barbecue or minced meat are distributed separately. It does not need to be washed, to put it in the refrigerator for storage, you need to blot the escaping liquid with paper napkins.


Work on the shoulder blade consists of the following stages:

  • removal of the upper hymen, hard tendons
  • cut along the knee joint to remove a large piece of meat
  • separation of the leg and pulp from the shoulder blade
  • cutting the flesh from another joint
  • getting rid of a quarter of the scapula

This work resulted in trimmed lamb meat with broth bones and shanks. One half of a lamb can feed a large family or make preparations for future preparations.

Working with the hind limbs

It doesn’t matter which leg to start deboning with – the right or the left, the work is done the same way:

  • The femur and tibia bones are not separated, and the kneecap remains in place. The leg is placed on the table so that the inner side is on top.
  • After a longitudinal incision, the pelvic bone is freed from the pulp. By rotating the tibia, the remaining tendon is removed from the joint. The femur and tibia bones are cleared of muscle tissue.

Features of deboning the middle cut

  • The part from the back with the ribs is placed on the table surface. The last lumbar vertebra is chosen as a reference point, muscles are removed from both sides, starting from the sharp ends, then cleared of cartilage.
  • They cut the meat from the sternum, begin to strip the lumbar part, having completed the work on one side, turn the other. In the same way, the meat is cut where the transverse processes are located.
  • The fabric must be held, constantly pulling with one hand, while working with the edge of a knife with the other until the ribs are completely freed from the tissue. Having finished stripping, they proceed to the neck to the last cervical vertebra.

Mongolian national traditions

The way of life and the geographical location of the territory belonging to the Mongols formed special preferences in the choice of food. Climatic conditions and livestock breeding favor the choice of a fatty, nutritious diet. The meat of animals with hot breath, which includes sheep, is a particularly valuable product for the ethnic group. The people are hospitable - a special distinction and respect for the guest was the slaughter of a ram, serving him as a treat with a boiled head and rump.


Internal fat is widely used for health purposes; it is used to lubricate babies. Guests are served only the pulp; it is considered shameful if someone gets a bone. Only men slaughter sheep; women are served the finished butchered carcass for cooking. Mongols treat food sparingly. Therefore, they do not chop the carcass with an ax, but separate the joints, and portions are distributed into equal parts so as not to leave anyone hungry.

The drumstick is disconnected from the articular part, the skin is carefully cut into the abdominal cavity, without touching the meat tissue. After removing the skin, it is spread on the surface of the ground in order to conveniently carry out further processing.

The Mongols do not have a clear definition of where to butcher a sheep. There is something to hang it on, they do the work on hooks, but in the steppe they simply place it on the skin, there they also do it quickly and skillfully. The skinned ram is divided along the spine into 2 parts, and the job is completed with a knife. Care was taken not to damage the bones; each part was separated from the other with scrupulous precision. Enhances the taste of meat products, a special attitude towards the slaughter of animals, in a painless way, without showing them tools.

Cooking lamb in different ways, if in Europe they don’t really like a specific smell, so they use various seasonings and spices that can drown out the unpleasant aftertaste. Adding fruits, dates, and apricots helps to add a different flavor.

Distinctive feature rams - this is their calm disposition. Therefore, in practice, cutting a sheep is much easier than slaughtering a large one. cattle. To prevent the procedure from being painful for the animal, it is important to follow step by step instructions. Also, the correct cutting technique will allow you to get a complete skin and high-quality meat, not bloody. How to slaughter a sheep step by step?

Before slaughter, the animal must be put on a hunger strike. You cannot let a ram eat for at least 18-20 hours. The animal's intestines are completely cleared of feces, so there is no risk of contamination of the meat, as well as the appearance of an unpleasant odor from the carcass. And this important point, since the smell from feces is difficult to remove. But you need to give the ram plenty to drink. Drinking plenty of water makes the skinning process much easier. Also, the meat of such a lamb turns out to be especially juicy.

Important points:

Advice! The optimal age of a ram for slaughter is 12 months. Representatives of classical meat breeds can be sent for slaughter at the age of 10 months.

At the preparation stage, you need to decide on the tools. You will need several large and well-sharpened knives, as well as a hammer. Large and wide knives are needed to cut arteries and also for cutting up carcasses. Thinner knives will help you carefully separate the meat from the carcass and clean it from the inside.

Additional accessories:

  • Large containers (basins, buckets) into which the blood will drain.
  • Container for storing internal organs.
  • Large plastic or textile tablecloth for skinning.
  • A thick, large piece of fabric for wiping mascara from the inside.
  • 30 cm cutting tube.
  • A large amount of salt, which will be used to process the sheep skin.

Step 2. Decide on your slaughter technique

There are two ways to slaughter a ram: hanging the animal or holding the ram on its side.

Attention! You need to work quickly and confidently in both techniques. The animal must be killed instantly, and not forced to suffer and wait for its death. The meat of a dead sheep is much inferior in quality.

  1. Hanging an animal - convenient way, this technique can be handled by one person, without assistants. It is enough to tie the ram’s legs (in pairs) and hang them from the crossbar. With a quick movement, you need to tilt the ram's head back a little and cut deeply, clearly along the artery - run the knife along the neck. In a hanging state, it is easy to bleed the ram without staining the meat and sheepskin.
  2. If the ram is slaughtered without hanging, then an assistant is needed. The first person approaches from the side, and the second person holds or ties the legs together. As in the first case, the head is turned over and a long, deep cut is made across the throat.

The ram will be completely drained of blood in 5-7 minutes. The head is then cut off and the cutting phase begins.

Step 3. How to butcher a carcass

Using a special knife for cutting the sheep, you need to pull off the skin and remove the internal organs. How to do this carefully? It is most convenient to work by placing the carcass on its back. A small incision of a couple of centimeters is made on the back leg in the knee area. A tube is inserted into it, which should separate the skin and meat. Now you need to inflate air into the tube. An air bubble forms. Press it so that the air flows over the entire surface of the carcass.

The tightening begins alternately with the legs. A cut is made in the genital area. The skin is removed simultaneously from the entire carcass, except the back. The ram needs to be hung or turned over, finishing processing in the back area.

Advice! Processing the hide itself can wait. It is very important to have time to quickly cut up her fresh and warm lamb carcass.

When the skin is removed, you need to make an incision near the navel. Insert the knife to a medium depth and move upward. The intestines will appear. First you need to separate the rectum and bandage it. After this, clamp the esophagus and pull it out. Using a knife, carefully cut off the gallbladder and clean the seals from the intestines.

You also need to find and separate the kidneys. And the last step is to cut out the heart and pull out the lungs.
When all the internal organs have been removed, you can cut the lamb into pieces. Whole sirloin meat is removed in the following sequence: on the sacrum, along the ribs, on the legs and neck. Next, cut off the loin, breast and kidney parts. The last stage is cutting the legs into fillets and shanks.

Advice! Larger meats are best preserved. Therefore, you should not cut the lamb into small pieces.

Step 4. Skin processing

You need to wait until it becomes completely cold. Start preserving. If this procedure is not done within 5 hours, the process of rotting will begin. The most effective and successful way to process the skin is to salt it. You need salt in its pure form at the rate of 300 g per 1 kg of live weight of the sheep.

The skin should be spread out evenly and sprinkled generously with salt. Turn over and add salt again. Then roll it up with the wool facing inward. Skin preservation conditions:

  • Salting lasts 96 hours.
  • The temperature for storing skins should be between 8 and 15 degrees. Freezing must not be allowed!

The process of slaughtering and cutting up the sheep is over. To perform them correctly requires practice and knowledge of the nuances. Therefore, the first time it is worth performing all the steps under the guidance of an experienced person.

Sheep slaughter: video

A ram is a mammal; it belongs to the order of artiodactyls, the family of bovids.

  • The size is about two meters.
  • Their weight ranges from 25 to 220 kg.
  • A characteristic distinguishing feature of a ram is its massive spirally curled horns directed to the sides.
  • Ram horns reach almost 200 cm, although there are species with small horns.
  • The animal's legs are high and strong; they are adapted not only to fields, but also to steep mountain slopes.
  • The tail is about 15 cm long.
  • Thanks to the unusual placement of their eyes, they see their surroundings at 360 degrees.

Scientists even suggest that they recognize color pictures. Sheep also have a well-developed sense of smell and hearing, which helps them quickly find food or hide from predators. Rams lead a herd lifestyle. With the help of their voice, they can distinguish each other. Most animals live about 12 years.

Wild boars live in countries of the Northern Hemisphere, and they also inhabit many other areas. There are also those that live in the desert. They are also found in the cities of Tibet, the Caucasus, and the Himalayas. The population of domestic sheep is found in almost all continents of the planet, with the exception of cold Antarctica.

These animals are already being bred in all countries of the world. Rams living in nature are tied to the place they are assigned to and never leave it. IN summer time they climb high to the peaks, and when winter comes, they descend into the valley. Main feature herd behavior is considered constant control over the surrounding situation.

An alarm signal has been received from any member of the herd, which means the entire community has to act. Domestic animals, on the contrary, have a mixed herd. The herd instinct is quite developed. A Ram who is left alone may experience stress.

The food of animals depends on their habitat. They are unpretentious to food. In spring and summer they feed on various flowers and herbs; when winter comes, the diet changes, There is no more greenery, you have to eat dry cereals. By the way, sheep can even eat berries and tree shoots. Domestic animals are fed hay, which contains up to 25% straw.

Rams reproduce, reaching puberty at 2–3 years. Pets mature much earlier. Mating season for those living in the south it begins in July, and for those living further north in October or November, but it ends in December.

Males carry out terrible fights to get a female.

After fertilization, the male leaves to look for another individual. Pregnancy in sheep lasts about 5 months. After the lambs are born, they return to the herd as the young become accustomed to their mother. Breeding and keeping domestic sheep at home is not difficult. They are calm and easy to control.

There are several types of sheep.

  1. Domestic sheep, appearance it depends on the breed. The length of the individual is 1 meter, and the weight reaches up to 100 kg, sometimes more.
  2. Soviet merino is grown for wool.
  3. The wool of the Karakul breed is used to create carpets, and astrakhan is made from the skin of lambs.
  4. The farmed Border Leicester species is used for meat and wool. Characteristic feature individuals have erect ears, like those of a hare.
  5. Mouflon is a wild sheep from which many domestic animals originate.
  6. The next species is urial. Its size is 1 meter, weight reaches 87 kilograms. A distinctive feature of this breed is the black color of the chest.
  7. And the last breed is argali. The largest individual, its weight is almost 200 kg.

What you need to butcher a sheep

What delicious dishes can be made from sheep meat, but first we must learn how to cut it correctly. The tools for this procedure, as for butchering a beaver, are sharp knives. Before cutting up a sheep carcass, it must be slaughtered. How to slaughter a ram? There are two ways to slaughter an animal. In a recumbent position, when the animal is tied up and placed on a flat surface. In a suspended state, then the lamb is hung upside down. The second method is considered much better, then the skin and meat of the animal do not get dirty with blood.

Technique for cutting the legs and head of a ram (video)

  1. Leg cutting. First, remove excess fat from the surface, as well as interior fat.
  2. We cut the vein on the shin, move it to the side and separate it with a knife.
  3. Then we remove the muscle located at the back of the thigh.
  4. Between the hip bone and the muscle there is a vein that we remove.
  5. Trim the anterior and posterior thigh muscles.
  6. We isolate the hip from the joint.
  7. Cut the meat from the hip bone.
  8. We separate the thigh and shank.

Head cutting. First, we make cuts in the head, then we tear off the mouth. Cutting must begin from the bottom. Cut out the tongue and clean it. We trim the meat from the neck. We make cuts in the back of the head and remove the meat. The video clearly shows the process.

How to butcher a sheep. Video

How to butcher a lamb in a few minutes

First, we separate the shin from the joint. After this, we trim the skin and make incisions in the abdomen and sternum. Then we remove the skin. We thoroughly gut the carcass, separating the internal organs from the belly. The carcass is divided in half at the vertebrae. We separate the legs, ribs, and then the neck. Only a professional can do this job very quickly, but anyone can make mussels in their shells as an extra appetizer!

The slaughtering process is simple if you know the operating technology. For successful slaughter it is necessary to prepare workplace and animal. A set of tools for slaughtering and cutting up a carcass is important. There are several methods of slaughter. Usually, in Muslim style, they are slaughtered on the ground. The hanging method is more common in large-scale production. Buryat slaughter involves making an incision in the sternum and removing the heart. Cutting technology involves dividing the animal carcass into separate parts.

Preparation of the workplace

The place for slaughter is prepared in advance. To hang a ram, you must either prepare a strong pole or tree with strong branches, or prepare a crossbar. If the hanging method is not used, it is sufficient to clear the ground where the sheep will be slaughtered, but all materials must be strong enough to easily support the weight of the slaughtered animal. It is recommended to cover the ground with straw or some other material so as not to stain the skin or wool if the ram is not trimmed.

You need tools for slaughter: two sharpened knives, a hammer, an ax, a knife for cleaning and finishing the skin, you may need a hacksaw, basins, a bucket of warm water and cold water, a ladle for water, a rag for wiping your hands and knives, for wiping the inside sides of the carcass, a tube for skinning the animal, a rope to tie the legs and to hang the carcass. Using a metal or wood blade, you can easily cut the ribs into pieces.

Salt is needed to cover the inside of the fresh skin after slaughter. The removed skin is then wrapped in a tube or folded, bent into a rectangle. This ensures the safety of raw materials. Sometimes they nail it onto the wall of the room so that it can dry out on its own. Choose a ventilated room.

How to prepare a sheep for slaughter?

First of all, the animal should be trimmed if the skin is not needed for sheepskin production. It is preferable to do this a week or two before the slaughter procedure. Do not trim if the hide is not suitable for quality sheepskin. Shearing is also done to prevent the meat from smelling unpleasantly as a result of dirty hair getting on the product. In addition, otherwise you will have to tear off any hair that has gotten on it from the meat.

A day before slaughter, the sheep is separated from the flock, closed separately, and food and water are stopped.

If this condition is met, the intestines are freed from food residues. There are cases of intestinal breakthrough, then the meat gets dirty and loses its presentation, and the taste of the raw materials also deteriorates.

When the preparation of the workplace and the animal is completed, the main process begins.

Slaughter methods

Slaughter on the side

It is possible to slaughter a sheep at home if you become familiar with the methods of slaughter. The following types exist:

  • on the side;
  • hanging;
  • in Buryat.

The first method is carried out according to Muslim canons. When slaughtering without hanging, it is impossible to do without assistants, since he must help hold the back and front legs of the animal so that it is convenient to tie up all four limbs. According to the canons of the Sunnah, all four legs are tied crosswise with a strong rope. When slaughtering on the side, they approach the ram from behind or from the side. They lay them on the ground with their feet away from the slaughterer, then holding the sheep’s chin, they throw back the victim’s head and quickly move a sharp knife across the throat. The incision is made from ear to ear. There are arteries in the indicated place, the blood should flow out quickly so that within 5-7 minutes the carcass will be drained of blood. Then the head is separated from the body.

The good thing about the second method is that you can do without an assistant and that the skin will not get dirty in rainy weather. Before placing the ram on the crossbar, the limbs are tied tightly, only not crosswise, but the hind legs and front legs separately. They hang you upside down and cut your throat with a sharp movement. Cutting a ram while hanging is less convenient than in the first case. But hanging slaughter allows blood to quickly drain from the carcass.

The sheep is then skinned. They pull the skin down with one hand and help peel it away from the meat with the other. If the skin cannot be removed by hand, then use a knife. Before cutting up the carcass, you should wash your hands and dry them with a cloth so as not to stain the meat with hair residues.

To slaughter a sheep the Buryat way, you need skill. Beginner slaughterers will not cope with this difficult task. You need to make a live incision near the sheep's heart, put your hand inside and press on the heart or its valves with such force that the sheep dies.

Skinning process

Cutting technology

The cutting process is simpler than when slaughtering cattle, as it depends on the weight and size of the pet. The cutting scheme is very simple.

Carcass cutting diagram

You should know the correct cutting technology:

  1. 1. Cutting the main parts. Separate the back from the front. To do this, use a knife to make an incision from the genitals to the sternum. The intestines and internal organs are removed. The intestines should be placed in a separate container, and the internal organs in a separate one. then they are washed in cold water. You must sharply bend the animal's spine to break the backbone, but without a knife this will not work, so an incision is made between the vertebral discs with a knife. If you can't do it with a knife, you can use an ax. But the ax spoils the presentation of the product, as it crushes the bone, and crushed bones spoil the dish.
  2. 2. Separation of the half carcass. Start from the rear thighs. The meat of the hind legs is covered with dense white fat. It is separated from the meat if necessary and collected along with the rest of the fat, separated from different areas.
  3. 3. The drumstick is separated. Carefully separate the leg at the joint; this will take less force than the whole leg. Place pieces of meat in specially prepared dishes.
  4. 4. The thigh is separated. One hip is retracted to determine the entrance of the femoral head into the acetabulum. Having loosened the joint, insert a knife into it and cut the connection of the bones. The second side is separated in the same way.
  5. 5. Spine with pelvic bones. The spine is cut into two or three parts.
  6. 6. Front cutting is the separation of the shoulder from the side of the carcass. The forelimbs are taken separately from the ribs and spine. Separately chop the neck and both shanks.
  7. 7. Ribs. It is important to cut the ribs into portions. A hacksaw is used here. We cut out portions 10-13 cm long to make it convenient when preparing different dishes. The ribs are cut into plates.
  8. 8. Fats. All fat layers are cut off if you do not prefer fatty meat or if it negatively affects a person’s health. It depends on the person's preference whether to leave the fat or separate it. An excellent broth is made from fatty meat, so it is not recommended to remove it. The separated fat is melted to prepare the combined oil.

Purpose of meat

For pilaf, stew and lagman, cut into equal cubes, the bones go into the broth. On the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr is not usually divided into small pieces. Since all the meat must be eaten, the lamb is cooked to the last piece. On Eid al-Fitr, the ram is slaughtered according to the canons of Islam - halal.

Halal slaughter requires a healthy animal raised with love. The process of producing halal meat involves complete bleeding and full compliance with hygiene during production. In the process of raising animals, no growth stimulants or additives are used, that is, they are given pure natural food. Thanks to this, the highest quality meat is obtained.

“How to slaughter a ram?” - this question is asked by every new owner who keeps such an animal. Lamb meat is very tasty; many dishes are prepared from it, especially shish kebab. Now we will tell you how to properly slaughter and butcher a sheep.

How to properly slaughter a sheep?

It is customary for men to slaughter sheep; this is Muslim. They have a certain tradition: reading a prayer while an animal is being slaughtered. To prevent the ram from suffering, it must be slaughtered and divided by an experienced person, especially since a properly slaughtered and dressed animal always produces delicious dishes. So the process itself requires certain skills in this matter.

How to slaughter a ram?

To properly slaughter a sheep, you can use a knife designed for skinning (it has a curved blade), but a sharp kitchen knife will also work. Approach the side or head of the ram, but being careful not to alarm the animal.

A leg tie is not required if you can independently, or with someone's help, hold the upper front leg and the lower back leg, after which they need to be brought together. Tilt the animal's head while holding its chin (with your left hand). With the right hand at this time they cut the throat, but not all the way to the vertebrae, since you need to wait until the blood drains, and only then can you separate the head. What can you do next?

  • It is necessary to lay the animal on its back and make an incision on the hind leg in the knee area (about two centimeters).
  • Find a thirty-centimeter tube and insert it into the cut made (the cavity between the skin and the meat).
  • Pinch the cut itself and begin to blow air into the tube; as soon as a bubble begins to inflate, you should pat it a little, as a result of which the air will spread over the surface of the body, excluding the brisket.
  • Then they cut from the place of the tube to the groin area, after which the procedure is done on the second side. Gradually removing the skin, you need to bring the knife to the knee (this should be done through the front legs). But the ankle remains with the skin.

When the ram is hung, the remaining skin must be removed

As a result, the animal's skin remains only on its back. The next step is to cut the animal’s knees, pass the rope, securing it to the ankles. Once you have hung the ram, all you have to do is pull off the remaining skin.

The following steps are simple. Use a knife to make an incision in the navel area, then two fingers are inserted, which push this puncture apart and move the insides away, while the right hand at this time leads the incision to the very top. After making this large cut, place a dish (cup or bowl) for the entrails.

The rectum is separated and ligated, and the esophagus is pulled out next. Next, the trachea is cut, the lungs are pulled out along with the heart. The liver is separated from the gallbladder, and the omentum covering the stomach and intestines is removed. All that remains are the kidneys, located under the fat in the carcass.

We cut the sheep correctly

How to properly cut a lamb carcass

Light, soft pinkish meat is a clear sign that the slaughtered ram was young, while an old ram has dark red meat. It is not recommended to buy meat that looks gray, as this indicates poor quality of the product. Slaughtering a sheep is half the battle, but butchering it is already more difficult.

  • After cutting the animal, gut the carcass and separate the organs from the belly.
  • The carcass that has been cleaned is divided in half (by vertebra). There is no need to further separate the ribs and legs; the neck is also prepared whole.
  • The back of the loin should be separated from the main meat; this part of the body can make excellent chops or a grilled dish. Loin is tender meat, so you can safely experiment with it and cook it in different ways.
  • The brisket with the kidneys should also be separated; the first one can sometimes be fatty, but this does not spoil the taste at all (do not forget that when preparing the brisket, it must be separated from the bones).

Cut up lamb carcass

Lamb kebab

If you want to cook lamb kebab, then it is better to take a carcass from a young animal. Lamb is an easily digestible type of meat (if you have trimmed the fat from it), it is rich in vitamins, which are not affected by heat treatment when frying over coals. Lamb meat is loved in all countries of Asia and the Mediterranean; it goes well with almost all spices, so you can get kebab with completely different tastes.

In Mediterranean cuisine, rosemary, thyme and garlic are added to kebabs; According to Asian traditions, lamb is fried with lard, while Arab countries prefer kebab with herbs, lemon and barberry. The process of preparing shish kebab takes quite a lot of time, but then you can enjoy the result and try one of the most delicious dishes.

The moderate fat content and ideal structure of the meat when fried make it juicy (with the correct selection of marinade that can retain the juice), but the slightly unusual taste of lamb meat does not drown out even a large amount of spices.

Lamb shish kebab is served with red wine and lavash

An excellent property of lamb kebab is its satiety, this is due to the high fat content of the meat itself. If you compare lamb kebab with fish or chicken kebab, then the former can be served without a special side dish; serving a light salad will be enough. If you follow traditions, then lamb shish kebab must be accompanied by red wine and pita bread.

Lamb meat kebab can be completely different, it all depends on what taste you want to get and how much your imagination runs wild with spices during the cooking process. The algorithm for cutting and butchering a sheep is quite simple even for a beginner in this business (although the first time may take a lot of time), and after some time you will develop skills that will help you cope with this process twice as fast.