What is a Beef Shank? The Beef Shank comes from the upper leg part of the cow between the knee and hip or shoulder. It is a well used, tougher part of the cow that encases a large marrowbone. It requires long slow cooking in liquid to break down the muscle fibres and become tender.
The following video shows how the shank is removed and cut for sale, as well as offering a couple of cooking suggestions.
Beef Shank Names
Although beef shank is probably one of the most common names for this cut of beef, it can be called other names in different parts of the world.
Some of those other names are:
- Leg of Beef
- Shin of Beef
- Shin Rounds
- Beef Osso Bucco
- Diced Shin
Why You Should Choose Beef Shank
The shank is probably the toughest cut of meat available from the cow, and if not cooked correctly, will result in a tough eating experience.
So why would you want to eat this cut of beef I hear you say.
Well, when cooked correctly, it is simply one of most flavorful cuts of meat available too, not to mention one of the cheapest.
That’s right.
If you are prepared to take the time needed to slow cook this cut of meat, then the end result will leave you wanting for more, and you are unlikely to want to use any other cut of beef for your pot roasts or stews going forward.
When cooked long and slow in some stock, all the tough meat fibres and collagen begin to break down and infuse a great deal of flavor into your dish. The longer the cooking, the more those fibres break down until you are left with succulent tender chunks of beef in a rich and flavorful gravy.
Throw in some root vegetables for the last hour of cooking and you have yourself the making for a very tasty, filling and wholesome dinner, at a fraction of the price of the more popular cuts of beef.
Eating really doesn’t get much better than that for the money!
Here is a braised beef shank recipe video to get your juices flowing
Ok, so now that you’ve seen where the beef shank comes from on the cow, why you should try it, and how you should cook it, we will look at how it might appear in the meat counter for sale.
How The Shank is Cut and Displayed
There are several ways that you butcher or meat market may cut and display this cut of beef. We will now look at how the meat may look so that you can familiarise yourself with how it may look in the meat aisle of the grocery store.
Bone In Beef Shank Roast
This cut is probably more common to get from an independent butcher or meat market as they can cut the shank to the specific size you require.
The beef shank wil usually be trimmed of much of the excess external fat, but will have the large marrowbone running throughout the length of the roast.
Having the shank cut in this way allows the meat to remain moist throughout due to being a larger piece, however will also require much longer cooking than smaller individual cuts.
Bone In Cross Cut Portions
When the beef shank is cut into smaller sections through the bone, this is known as cross cutting.
Cross cut portions can be cut any thickness by your butcher using a bandsaw, however the normal thickness is usually 1″ – 2″ thick.
These cross cut steaks still require long slow cooking to break down all the tough fibres, but you get the great flavor from the marrowbone and the collagen that cooks down from the meat provides a rich thick natural gravy.
Beef Osso Bucco
You may see these cross cut beef shanks labelled as Beef Osso Bucco. This is not to be confused with the ‘Veal Osso Bucco’
The veal osso bucco is much lighter in color, almost a light pink as opposed to dark red, and is also more tender due to being slaughtered much younger than the beef. As you can imagine, the veal osso bucco is almost much more expensive than the beef and is cooked differently.
Due to the higher cost of the veal osso bucco, meat packers started to label the beef cross cut shanks as beef osso bucco to offer a budget version of the veal cut. Just be sure to check the price in your grocery store as they will probably be charging more for beef labelled as ‘osso bucco’ than they are for the cross cut shanks!
Boneless Beef Shank Roast
If you do not want to deal with having the extra fat that comes from cooking with the marrowbone, you can ask your butcher to remove the bone for you.
Again, cooking larger pieces on boneless beef shank will ensure the meat remains moist, but will require longer cooking than smaller cuts.
Boneless Beef Shank Rounds or Rings
When the shank has had the bone removed, it can be cut to any thickness that you like. Most times though it will be cut the same thickness as the bone in slices at 1 – 2″ thick.
Although cooking the boneless beef shank may be easier for getting in the stock pot and not having to fish out bones after cooking, you do lose the great flavor that is provided by the marrow in the bone.
Having said that, the natural flavor from the beef shank is still fantastic, and so you could try cooking both bone-in and boneless to see if you have a preferance for the bone or not.
Diced Beef Shank
Although you may see diced beef shank in your meat market, it is more likely to be sold in the rounds.
To get the diced chunks, it’s just a case of asking the butcher to cut the rounds up for you, or getting a sharp knife and doing it yourself.
Diced beef shank can be used in place of any recipe that asks for diced beef, such as stews, bourginons etc and will give you a more intense flavor than some of the other cuts. Just be sure to add to the cooking time to allow those tough meat fibres to break down.
Did You Know?
Many meat packing plants and even meat markets often cut up beef shank into their stewing beef mix.
If you buy a package of diced beef that isn’t specifically labelled as a single cut (such as Beef Chuck), then the package will usually have a mixture of different tougher cuts of beef including the shank.
Hopefully you realise this isn’t a bad thing as you will get a great flavor, but just be sure to cook the meat for long enough to avoid having tough chunks in your stews.
Hopefully this article has shown you the benefits of buying the shank cut of beef and encouraged you to give it a try.
For more ideas of other cheaper sloww cooking beef cuts, check out our article 7 Best Slow Cooking Beef Cuts
