The beef shank is the leg portion of a

steer Steer, Steers or Steering may refer to: Animals * Steer or bullock, castrated male cattle * Ox, a steer used as a draft animal People * Steer (surname) * Steers (surname) Places * Steer Creek (West Virginia), a tributary of the Little ...

or heifer. In the UK, the corresponding

cuts of beef During butchering, beef is first divided into primal cuts, pieces of meat initially separated from the carcass. These are basic sections from which steaks and other subdivisions are cut. Since the animal's legs and neck muscles do the most work ...

are the shin (the foreshank), and the leg (the hindshank). Due to the constant use of this

muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscl ...

by the animal, it tends to be tough, dry, and sinewy, so is best when cooked for a long time in moist heat. It is an ideal cut to use for

beef bourguignon Beef bourguignon () or bœuf bourguignon (; ), also called beef Burgundy, and ''bœuf à la Bourguignonne'',''Random House Dictionary'online at dictionary.com/ref> is a French beef stew braised in red wine, often red Burgundy, and beef stock, ty ...

. As it is very lean, it is widely used to prepare very low-fat

ground beef Ground beef, minced beef or beef mince is beef that has been finely chopped with a knife, meat grinder (American English), mincer or mincing machine (British English). It is used in many recipes including hamburgers, bolognese sauce, meatloaf, ...

. Due to its lack of sales, it is not often seen in shops. However, if found in retail, it is very cheap and a low-cost ingredient for beef

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

. Beef shank is a common ingredient in

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ing ...

s.Accessed on 25 May 2008.
/ref> In Australia, it is commonly sold from butchers as ''gravy beef'' for bone-less shanks or as ''

osso buco ''Ossobuco'' or ''osso buco'' (; lmo, òss bus, label=Milanese or ''òs büüs'' ) is a specialty of Lombard cuisine of cross-cut veal shanks braised with vegetables, white wine, and broth. It is often garnished with ''gremolata'' and tradit ...

'' with bone-in. In Asia, braised beef shank is very popular.

References

Cuts of beef {{meat-stub

See also

References