A lamb shank usually refers to the foreshank, but this can be confusing because the lower end of the rear leg is also known as a lamb shank. To make it even more confusing, the entire lower half of the rear leg is referred to as the “shank half”, but this cut is much larger than a lamb shank and includes part of the center leg. Foreshanks and the rear leg shanks may also be referred to as trotters. They may be braised whole or cut across the bone into slices for stew. Shanks must be braised or stewed to tenderize the meat.
The round tip is next to the sirloin tri-tip so it is a bit more tender than other round roasts. It may be oven roasted if it is of top quality and it is often cut into pieces for use as kabob meat.
The shank half of the leg is leaner than the sirloin half, but it is tougher and chewier and has a higher percentage of bone. It becomes tender and succulent when properly prepared using moist heat cooking methods. It typically weighs 3 to 4 pounds. The shank half-leg is often confused with “lamb shank”, which most often refers to the foreshank, but may also refer to the lower end of the shank half of the rear leg.
Ribs 1 through 5 are located in the chuck primal. They have plenty of meat and have less fat than short ribs from the plate. English style short ribs are cut parallel to the bone and flanken style short ribs are cut across the bone.
The name, “standing rump roast” refers to a rump roast in which the bone has not been removed. It is also known as a bone-in rump roast. It is very flavorful and tender when pot-roasted.