How to French a Rack of Lamb

To french a rack of lamb refers to a butchery technique. This culinary term means trimming and cutting away fat and meat from the bone end of a rib chop.

french a rack of lamb

A rack of lamb consists usually of 7, sometimes 8 lamb chops, in one piece.

The bone is scraped completely clean of meat, fat and membranes. It gives the rack a clean look and with the bones being exposed it is more appetising. 

You can find fully trimmed and frenched lamb racks at your butcher or in store but with the help of a sharp knife and a little practice it is possible to do it yourself at home and save your budget.

Besides doing the work yourself, you can also use the trimmings and bones to prepare a jus or sauce. 

Read also our lamb recipes.

How to french a rack of lamb

You can follow the video, but we will also give you step by step instructions with pictures. When buying a rack of lamb it is possible that some of the steps may already be done. Therefore, always check your piece of meat and start following our steps where needed.

Are other sources of proteins also frenched?

In French, The process is named differently (manchonner), but the technique is the same. 

Pork chops are often cooked with the bone to keep the meat juicy and flavoursome. Similar as with the lamb rack, it is frenched for aesthetic reasons and to make the presentation more beautiful.

Chicken breasts and legs can also be frenched. There is a less of an aesthetic reason when trimming a breast, but when frenching a leg bone, you can serve them in many ways.

Ribeye steaks and tomahawk steaks are sometimes frenched to expose the bone which is usually in the middle of the piece of meat.

Method

Remove the cap and shoulder bone on the top of the rack.

Trim and remove the bone from the spine. 

Make an incision on each bone, then cut and remove the meat (2.5-3 cm) around the bones.

Scrape away any residual fat on the exposed bone with a boning knife or use kitchen twine. 

Bind the rack by placing kitchen string between each of the chops.

Highlights for frenching a rack of lamb

Many of you have probably seen pictures of a rack of lamb with the pretty paper crowns on top of each chop. And you wondered how you would make such a lovely display to serve.

If you want something really special like you see in those photos, knowing how to french cut lamb chops is important. With most of the fat removed, and the bones cleaned down for viewing, your rack of lamb can look just as nice.

Think how proud you will be to serve a dish that is beautifully presented.

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