Shoulder roast viewed from the inside, leg bone to the
left, backbone curving up to the neck to the right.
Shoulder roast viewed from the outside, shoulder blade
"7 bone" visible on the near side.
[Spala (Italian)]
This is the sheep equivalent of the beef chuck roast, but goes lower and includes the shoulder joint and part of the leg bone (left in photo). The photo specimen was 7 inches long, 5 inches wide, 4 inches thick and weighed 2.8 pounds. This cut has a complex bone structure and some rather large fat deposits. The shoulder is also sold in a larger form including 4 ribs and the whole shoulder blade, weighing a little over 4 pounds.
Buying: This cut can be found in just about any market that carries lamb, but it's likely to cost significantly less from a market that serves communities that use a lot of lamb. Turkey, Armenia, Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan, etc.
Cooking: Because of its complex structure and significant internal fat deposits, the best strategy for this cut is slow oven roasting until the meat pulls easily from the bone. I have, however, also parted this cut for meat cubes and soup stock.
Yield: The 2 pound 12 oz shoulder in the photos yielded:
| Meat | 1# 4-1/2 oz | 45% | |
| Bones | 15-1/4 oz | 34% | For the soup pot |
| Fat | 9-1/2 oz | 21% |
A larger cut from Australia included 4 partial ribs and the whole shoulder blade, yielded:
| Meat | 2# 2-1/4 oz | 52% | |
| Bones | 1 # | 24% | For the soup pot |
| Offcuts | 15-1/2 oz | 24% | for the soup pot |
More on Lamb / Mutton Cuts.
