Beef shank

Name variations

 * beef leg
 * beef shin

About beef shank
The beef shank is the leg portion of a steer or heifer.

Due to the constant use of this muscle by the animal it tends to be tough, dry, and sinewy, so is best when cooked for a long time in moist heat. As it is very lean, it is widely used to prepare very low-fat ground beef. Due to its lack of sales, it is not often seen in shops. Although, if found in retail, it is very cheap and a low-cost ingredient for beef stock. Beef shank is a common ingredient in soups.

Beef leg is the cut of the beef which contains just muscles and bones; the meat is surrounding the bone. The beef leg can be found in butcher shops or in groceries stores with or without bone. The beef leg is usually de-boned before cooking. The meat is suitable for grilling, roasting, braising, but usually the preparation method depends whether the meat is cooked with or without the bone. The beef leg with the bone is usually used for preparing soup or stews or it can be roasted. The de-boning process is easy, but the beef leg can be found with or without the bone in the stores. A beef leg that has been de-boned is often cut in half to separate the sirloin and shank ends of the leg. The meat is usually marinated before grilling it. The beef leg with bone has to be boiled for couple of hours and in the meantime the vegetables and spices should be added in order to give the soup or the stew a delicious taste.

Beef shin is a cut of beef from the lower leg of the cow and it is also known as shank. Beef shin is a bony cut which is less expensive than other parts of the beef because it contains a large quantity of connective tissue. Beef shin is very delicious when it is cooked in stews, because it has an excess fat which melts during the cooking process. Due to the fact that the cooking period is quite long and the cooking is slow beef shin is very popular for preparing stews and casseroles. Beef shin is also delicious when it is braised or roasted. Beef shin stew is prepared whit a variety of vegetables and spices and cooking is quite slow and it takes for about two hours until it’s done. Beef shin is generally cooked in vegetable or olive oil in order to maintain its delicious flavor. Beef shin it is not recommended to be grilled or fried because it contains bone and it is difficult to slice it. There are numerous delicious recipes which contain beef shin cooked in numerous restaurants all around the world.

Beef shank Recipes

 * Beef leg Recipes
 * Beef shin Recipes