Loin (USA, UK)

The loin, which is often divided into chops, lies along the back of the lamb. It consists of the eye muscle and, at the hindquarters, the tenderloin lying under the characteristic T-shaped bone. The kidneys are sometimes included in English chump chops. In France, the loin includes up to 13 vertebrae and is divided into côte, and filet (including the filet-mignon under the bone). Loin can be left on the bone, or boned as a roast. The saddle of lamb is the double loin joined along the backbone; a short saddle, without chops, forms the best roast. In the United States and Britain, the saddle is sometimes sliced as butterfly chops. A baron, the traditional grand roast, consists of the entire hindquarters, meaning the double loin and both legs. For how to bone a lamb loin, see Boning veal loin.