Boning Out a Leg of Lamb
Butterflied, stuffed, ready for the grill or the oven.
A boned lamb leg is easier to carve, quicker to cook, and can be stuffed with whatever herby, salty, garlicky thing you like. It looks harder than it is. The bone almost tells you where to go.
Watch a demonstration
How to Bone a Leg of Lamb
hosted by The Scott Rea Project
How to do it
- 01
Find the bone
Sit the leg on the board with the presentation side down. Run your fingers along the top and locate the bone. That's your map.
~2 min - 02
Cut down to the bone
Using the tip of the knife, make a long incision straight down the length of the leg, following the line of the bone. Cut all the way to the bone — you should feel and hear it.
~3 min - 03
Ease meat away from the bone
Work the tip of the knife along either side of the bone in short, controlled scrapes. Peel the meat back with your other hand as you go. Stay closer to the bone than feels comfortable — every scrap you leave is wasted.
~8 min - 04
Free the joints
Where the bone meets the knee joint, cut around it carefully, working the knife through the sinew. Then work down to the shank end and remove the bone in one piece.
~6 min - 05
Butterfly and even out
Open the leg out flat. Any thick spots — slice horizontally to open them out so the whole thing is a roughly even thickness. This is what makes it cook evenly.
~4 min - 06
Season, stuff, roll (optional)
Salt heavily, add herbs/anchovy/garlic, roll and tie with butcher's twine at 2cm intervals. Or just leave it flat for the grill.
~2 min