Roast lamb with saffron honey | Bibbyskitchen recipes (2024)

FAQs

Do you need to brown lamb before roasting? ›

For the perfect roast lamb, we recommend seasoning the surface of the meat, and then searing it, especially fat side down in a pan before roasting. Why bother with searing? Contrary to some stories, searing is less about locking in moisture, and all about improving the flavour!

And when you have a gorgeous cut, like a rack of lamb, you can cook it the good ol' Gordon Ramsay way—which is to say, lightly pan-sear it first, then baste it with an herby, garlicky butter, and finally finish it off in the oven until it's still pink and juicy in the middle. It comes out perfectly every time.

Slow-cooking lamb

Slow cooking in liquid transforms tougher cuts of lamb into fork-tender meat. Neck, shoulder and belly, either diced or as whole joints, are the best cuts for slow cooking and need to be cooked for at least 2 hrs at 150C to soften the meat.

Roast for 30 minutes per lb (450 g) – for a 5lb (2.25 kg) leg this will be 2½ hours. Make sure that you baste the lamb at least 3 times while it is cooking, as this will help keep it juicy and succulent. If you like to serve your lamb quite pink, give it 30 minutes less cooking time.

Roast leaner cuts of lamb in a hotter oven (450°F) to get a lovely brown crust and a well-cooked center; cook fattier cuts of lamb low and slow (325°F) to render all the fat and allow the lamb to cook in its juices. Due to residual heat, your lamb will continue to cook even after you pull it out of the oven.

Place in an oven preheated to 180 degrees Celsius. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes per 500 grams for medium or until the lamb is cooked to your liking. To test, press the meat with tongs. The lamb will feel soft when it's cooked to medium-rare and you'll feel a slight resistance when it's cooked to medium.

Fresh rosemary, fresh garlic, lemon zest, black pepper, and salt are simple but amazing flavors that pair amazingly with the lamb! Each of these ingredients adds its unique warmth and depth to enhance the flavor of the dish.

Lower temp = more succulent meat – Tough cuts like lamb shoulder need slow-cooking to tenderise them. The lower the roasting temperature, the less total moisture evaporation and thus juicier meat. 3-hour lamb is cooked at 180°C/350°F, while the 12 hour lamb is cooked at only 100°C/212°F.

The dry heat of roasting is best for tender cuts of lamb, like the leg, rack, and loin. If you'd like to roast a cut like a lamb shoulder, go for a long, slow roast. If you're cooking a bone-in leg, keep in mind that because of the thicker and thinner portions of the cut you'll get a range of doneness.

A lemon juice/olive oil/tarragon marinade quickly tenderizes lamb shoulder chops and adds a lively citrus note.

What temp does lamb fall apart? ›

Whether boneless or bone-in, the perfect leg of lamb should be either oven-roasted until blushing pink on the inside (with an internal temp around 130°F) or roasted long and slow for several hours until the meat is very tender and falls apart to internal temp around 175°F (I often use the slow cooker for that).

It depends on the cut. If you cook a lamb shank low and slow, it will become more tender as long as you don't let it dry out. A lamb chop, on the other hand, will reach optimum tenderness at medium rare. After that it will become tougher as it cooks.

THE FINGER OR TONG TEST

Very soft = rare – bright red, raw centre. Soft = medium rare – pink inside with a red centre. Springy = medium – pink throughout. Firmer = well-done range – mostly brown inside.

Cook all raw lamb steaks, chops, and roasts to a minimum internal temperature of 145° F (62.8° C) as measured with a food thermometer before removing meat from the heat source.

If raw meat is brown, it could be nearing the end of its shelf life. Food Handlers must throw out raw meat if unsure of its freshness. Colour change is just one sign that meat may not be fresh and safe for consumption — though a change in appearance does not always indicate spoilage.

Before roasting, sear the lamb fat side down in a cast iron pan to help develop a beautiful caramel color on the outside of the lamb chops. This simple recipe combines brown sugar, mustard seed and mustard powder to create a balanced caramelized crust.

Sear Before Slow-Cooking

You create a Maillard reaction when you sear the lamb, which is a chemical reaction between the amino acids and the sugars in the meat. This reaction adds an extra roasted layer of flavor to the meat and seals in the juices, keeping it moist during the cooking process.