Easy Tips for Cooking Lamb

Many Americans find the idea of eating lamb distasteful. Yet if they just give lamb a try, most really enjoy its tenderness and mild flavor. Lamb is also ideal for almost any cooking method, including grilling, roasting, sautéing, or stewing. Lamb isn’t difficult to prepare, although it’s important to choose a good cut and understand a few basic cooking techniques. Before finding a terrific lamb recipe, familiarize yourself with the main ways lamb is prepared.

Buying lamb

Many Americans do not like the strong flavor of mutton, but most lamb on today’s market is young and raised on grain. Look for meat that’s pink and firm to the touch without being tough. The shade of the fat varies according to breed, feed, and age; however, don’t buy lamb with fat that’s yellowish or brittle.

General cooking tips

Try seasoning lamb with garlic, rosemary, basil, oregano, thyme, cumin, or mint.

Generally, lamb shouldn’t be cooked above 350 degrees F or it becomes tough.

Stewed lamb
Stewing is excellent for tougher cuts, flank or shoulder cuts, or any time you buy lamb chopped into smallish pieces. It’s also an ideal way to introduce lamb into your diet. Simply replace the beef with lamb in your favorite stew recipe.

Sautéd lamb
Thin cuts of lamb (no more than one inch thick) are suitable for sautéing. To sauté lamb, preheat a pan and add a small amount of oil. Pat the lamb with a paper towel, then place in the pan. Brown both sides and cook until lamb reaches 160 degrees F for medium or 170 degrees F for well done.

If you add a bit more oil to the pan, you can also pan fry lamb, giving it a crispy outer layer. Choose chops or steaks for this method, and use a cast iron pan for best results.

Roasted lamb
Lamb chops or frenched rack of lamb are well suited to roasting, and leg of lamb (also well suited to roasting) is an excellent first lamb recipe.

First, sear the lamb in a pan, then baste with oil and place fat side up in a preheated oven. Slow roast the meat, baking at 212 to 325 degrees F. To prevent drying, periodically baste the lamb in pan juices. Allow the lamb to rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Grilled lamb
In the United States, grilling is perhaps the most popular way to cook lamb. Good choices for grilling include lamb chops, steaks, ribs, tenderloin, shoulder, loin roast, and rack of lamb. Thinner cuts may stay closer to the heat (as much as four inches above the coals or other heat source), while thick cuts should be kept further away. You can also brush lamb with barbeque sauce and wrap in foil before grilling.

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