When I'm cutting lamb forequarters, sometimes they come with the shanks on, sometimes with the shanks already separated. When they're on, it's simple to cut them off and they're pretty much ready at that point, after I remove the excess bone from the (brisket I think). But when they come with the shanks off, they always have this extra bone hanging off them, which I always cut off and throw in the fat barrel. But the end of that bone always has this weird look to it, that I've never seen on any other piece of meat I've cut. What's the deal with that thing? Looks like someone clamped it down with a weird tool, but I'm sure it's natural .. just never seen the wrist connector I guess?
That is "the Star" fracture on the lamb; you can perform that on both the fore shank and the hind shank. You hold the shank and product very firmly with one hand with the shank bone hanging over the table edge and grip the shank bone just past the elbow or knee joint and 'snap' downward and break off the bone; it will fracture into that 'star' pattern. It is the preferred way to dress up a leg of lamb presentation, an old chef's trick. (my dad was a meatcutter back in the 30's and 40's and when he went overseas on the troop ship a couple cooks got sick and he had to prepare 400 legs of lamb for dinner one night, boning them out except for the shank bone leaving the star joint on the shank to grip them with and as presentation to carve; a chef from the Waldorf Astoria showed him that who was conscripted on ship also.) You have to be careful, however; one time I was snapping them off at an IGA I worked for and got tendonitis real bad in my wrist when one didn't snap, it sprang back on me and snapped my wrist instead!
Also known as a break joint in young lambs. Older lambs will have a "spool" joint where the break actually occurs within the joint. Break joints typically occur in lambs under one year old.