These are not marketing words. Each describes a specific piece of butchery, and each changes how the cut cooks, how long it takes and what it suits. Here is what they actually mean.
Butterflied
Butterflying means removing the bone from a cut and then opening the meat out flat, cutting into the thicker parts so the whole piece lies at a roughly even thickness.
Most commonly applied to a leg. A butterflied leg goes from a large, uneven, bone-in roast requiring two hours to a flat sheet of meat that cooks in 25 to 35 minutes.
What it changes. Cooking time drops dramatically. The meat cooks evenly because the thickness is uniform. Far more surface area is exposed to heat, which means much more browning and more surface for marinade or rub. It becomes a barbecue cut rather than an oven cut.
Best for. Barbecue and grilling, marinating, feeding a group quickly, anything where you want char and crust.
Watch for. It is never perfectly even, so there will be thicker and thinner sections. Use this deliberately by cooking to medium rare in the thick part, which leaves the thin sections more done for anyone who wants that.
Boned and rolled
The bone is removed and the meat is rolled into a cylinder and tied.
Applied to shoulders and loins most often. A boned and rolled shoulder becomes a neat, even roast. A boned and rolled loin becomes a compact cylinder that carves into perfect rounds.
What it changes. Uniform shape means uniform cooking. Carving becomes straightforward, since there is no bone to work around. The rolled cavity can be stuffed with herbs, garlic, breadcrumbs or anything else. Portioning is predictable.
Best for. Roasting, particularly when you want tidy slices and a straightforward carve. Good for entertaining because there is no drama at the table.
Watch for. Remove the string before carving. Rolled roasts can be slightly denser in the centre, so allow a little more time than the weight alone suggests.
Frenched
Frenching means scraping the meat, fat and membrane away from the end of a bone to leave it clean and exposed.
Standard on racks and cutlets. It is presentation rather than function, though the exposed bone does make cutlets easier to pick up.
What it changes. Appearance mainly. There is a small amount of meat removed, which is why frenched cuts can cost slightly more per kilogram.
Best for. Anything where the cut is going on the plate looking impressive.
Cap on
The cap is the layer of fat and thin muscle covering the outside of a cut. Cap on means it has been left in place rather than trimmed away.
What it changes. Considerably more than people expect. The cap bastes the meat as it renders, protects the surface from drying, and carries a great deal of flavour. On a lamb rack, the cap crisps into something genuinely good.
Best for. Roasting and grilling, where the fat has time to render.
Watch for. Score the fat in a crosshatch before cooking so it renders properly rather than sitting in a soft layer. Start fat side down or fat side up depending on the method, but give it time to render before finishing.
Cap off cuts are leaner and more uniform but give up flavour and forgiveness. Given the choice, most cooks should take cap on.
Gourmet leg
A specific preparation where the whole leg has the rump, shanks and fillet removed, leaving the central section.
What it changes. What is left is one of the leanest sections of the animal, uniform enough to cook evenly, and lean enough to be served genuinely pink without any part of it being underdone.
Best for. Roasting to medium rare, where you want an even pink throughout and clean carving.
Watch for. Being lean, it is unforgiving of overcooking. Use a thermometer and pull at around 55 degrees.
Oyster shoulder
The oyster is a specific muscle group from the shoulder, taken out as a rounded boneless piece.
What it changes. It is a well marbled section of a hard working part of the animal, which means real flavour and enough intramuscular fat to stay succulent through long cooking.
Best for. Slow roasting and braising. It rewards the low and slow approach rather than quick cooking.
Chops and their varieties
The word chop covers several quite different things.
Loin chops. From the loin, with a T-shaped bone and a small piece of fillet. The premium chop. Tender, mild, quick cooking. Treat like a small steak and cook to medium rare.
Cutlets. Individual ribs from the rack, sometimes frenched. Tender and delicate. Very quick cooking.
Shoulder chops. From the shoulder, with more connective tissue and more fat. Full flavoured, cheaper, and better braised or slow cooked than grilled quickly.
Neck chops. From the neck, heavily worked, considerable connective tissue. Outstanding in slow cooked dishes and among the best value on the animal.
The critical distinction is that loin chops and cutlets want fast, hot and pink, while shoulder and neck chops want long, low and well past the point where you would stop with a loin chop.
Shanks, fore and hind
Both are the lower leg, and they are not interchangeable.
Fore shanks come from the front legs. Smaller, more connective tissue, generally cheaper.
Hind shanks come from the back legs. Meatier, larger, better proportioned for serving one per person.
Both need long moist cooking. Two and a half to three hours in liquid at a low temperature converts the connective tissue to gelatin, which is the entire point of the cut.
Reading a listing
When you are choosing between lamb cuts online, the preparation term tells you the method as reliably as the cut name does.
? Butterflied or flat. Fast, high heat, barbecue or grill
? Boned and rolled. Roasting, moderate oven, carve in rounds
? Rack, cutlets, loin chops, fillets. Fast and pink
? Shoulder, oyster, neck, shanks, diced. Slow, low, long
? Cap on. Score the fat, allow rendering time
? Gourmet or trimmed. Lean, use a thermometer, do not overcook
Get the preparation matched to the method and lamb is a very easy meat to cook well. Get it mismatched and even excellent lamb disappoints.
Matangi Prime Meat cuts its chicory finished lamb at its Hastings butchery, with butterflied leg, gourmet leg, boned and rolled shoulder and loin, oyster shoulder, racks, cutlets and both fore and hind shanks in the range.
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