Throw it all in with a bay leaf, carrots, whatever vegetables you want to use."The days of lamb being the most affordable option for a Sunday roast are long gone, as Mr Randolph explains."Lamb's challenging because the price is through the absolute roof," he says."We sell lamb because I'd be a funny butcher not to sell lamb, but there's definitely no money in it [for us]."When I started my business four years ago to now, we're paying double for our input cost to the price of the lamb."Even lamb shanks, which were once considered a cheap alternative to cutlets or a leg, have become a premium choice as people have become more used to cooking them.Ms Meagher suggests "a slow-cook cut like neck [as] an alternative to lamb shanks because it's cheaper"."Using a slow cooker is definitely more forgiving You can stuff it up a bit and still get away with it," she says.Mutton is often spoken about pejoratively but Ms Meagher says its richer, gamey flavour makes it a great choice for curries."It can be a lot cheaper, too, but it can be hard to get mutton here because they're sending it all overseas," she says.And if you are set on cooking an old-fashioned lamb roast, Ms Meagher says opting for shoulder over leg can be a false economy."You cook a shoulder and it's almost 70 per cent of what you bought when you finished … that's what I find," she says."But a leg of lamb holds its shape better