It makes dollar and sense when deboning and filleting meat at home...

It makes dollar and sense when deboning and filleting meat at home. It can save you lot of money. The "butterfly leg of lamb"(deboned) was priced at $16.98 per kg., last week at the supermarket as compared to the whole leg of lamb at $8.00 per kilo. It is usually doubled the price when you pay for deboned meat and chicken. Deboning a leg of lamb isn't pretty but it isn't rocket science either. Remember you have to be careful with sharp knives, though they are safer than blunt ones. Most butchering accidents happen when trying to force a blunt knife to do the job that requires a sharp knife.Look after your knives. Store them separately and don't just let them rattle around with other cutlery in the kitchen drawer!
Last week we had a request for "sup kambing" (Mutton Soup) for dinner and we obliged by buying a leg of lamb from the supermarket for the recipe. We bought the whole leg of lamb so that we can use the bones for making the stock for the spicy soup. I wished that I didn't doubled as a photographer while I was butchering the leg of lamb so that I could have the time to concentrate and take more photos to show the various steps of the deboning process. Anyway, here is a brief description of the job I have done on a Saturday afternoon.

Lay the leg of lamb on the cutting board so that the meatier part faces down and trim the fat from the leg. Use the tip of a sharp knife to carefully cut the flesh away and down behind the aitch bone keep the blade as close to the bone as you can. After you cut down about an inch or so, stop and wiggle the bone a little to see where it is attached to the leg bone at the hip socket.Find the space between the joints and cut through. Follow the aitch bone and cut through it to free it . Locate the knee joint where the shank is joint to the leg bone. At the round knob end of leg bone start cutting along the bone to the knee joint then down to the length of shank bone. Now start trimming around the bones and easing it out as you work. With a small knife scape the tendons one by one from the meat and lift it out. To butterfly it pull it apart an flatten it , you might need to a couple of cuts at the thicker part of the leg.Just simply cut the muscle length wise to have it lay completely flat. With some practice, deboning a leg of lamb is not so difficult after all.