Grinding shank meat

I do both, I probably grind about 3/4 of the shanks and cross cut the rest for osso buca , if I kept all the shanks I would be eating osso buca every week…
 
This is what we do with elk calf and forearm shanks…

We burgered them for decades. It is a pain in the ass, especially after you bone it out, hangs, dries, then you trim the casing,

What we’ve done the last several years is we make 1 package per leg. Just bone it off and wrap it. When we cook it, we slice it into several inch wide pieces, sear it on really high heat in the skillet, then crockpot it. All the sinew turns to goo and juices, it’s like incredibly tender pot roast. We’ve also made French Dip sandwiches out of them too after shredding the roast meat.
 
I've tried it a few times. Household doesn't like it. Unusual texture they don't care for. I'm not keen on it either, although I could eat it. So back to grind for me. I trim enough tendon out so no grinder problems.
 
Deboned shank generally hits the slow cooker for stew. If getting ground I do a medium grind first then a fine. That seems to get rid of the chewy bits without excessively clogging the grinder.
 
I used to grind it but for the last 5 years its all been left full muscle. Tried osso buco once, was ok. Now we put in in the slow cooker with whatever spices we need for the meal we are having that night. Makes the best 'shredded beef' tacos you can imagine, but we also like pho, 'pulled pork' sandwiches, mississippi pot roast. It is limitless. Texture is silky and meat is stringy, in a good way.
 
Normally tacos are my go-to, but I usually save shanks for osso buco or a similar dish. This is your average white tail doe shank. Really I grind very little, 90% of what most people grind I either braise or make stew. Usually only get 3-4 lb of grind off a whitetail doe or smaller buck.

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This is what we do with elk calf and forearm shanks…

We burgered them for decades. It is a pain in the ass, especially after you bone it out, hangs, dries, then you trim the casing,

What we’ve done the last several years is we make 1 package per leg. Just bone it off and wrap it. When we cook it, we slice it into several inch wide pieces, sear it on really high heat in the skillet, then crockpot it. All the sinew turns to goo and juices, it’s like incredibly tender pot roast. We’ve also made French Dip sandwiches out of them too after shredding the roast meat.
Exactly. I find that better cuts of meat tend to have a dry and bland taste from a crockpot.
Rough looking cuts taste better.
Nothing better than a whole whitetail neck from an xlarge crockpot. Shanks are a close second.
 
Grinding shank meat typically clogs the grinder with sinews.
I prefer a recipricating saw and Osso Buco,
Here are 2 smoose shank sections browning in my grandma's 100 year old cast iron

You might need to sharpen your grinder blade if its clogging.. However I 100% approve of Osso Buco. Its a favorite in our house and we stopped grinding shank when we discovered it
 
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