Information about Leg of Lamb
The Leg of Lamb has always been enjoyed for that Traditional Sunday Roast with the family. This bone in Lamb Leg is prepared “Carvery Style”, making it easier to carve those succulent slices of roast Lamb. Your Leg of Lamb is oven ready & weighs approximately 1.8 Kilos, this feeds 4-6 people good sized portions. The Lamb is from Grass Fed, young stock from New Zealand, where they have some of the best grazing pastures producing finest tasting quality meat.
Lamb is normally served with fresh vegetables (cauliflower, minty garden peas, honey parsnips) rich, thick gravy & crispy roast potatoes, & not forgetting the mint sauce! The usual choice for herbs to go with your Leg of Lamb are; Garlic (normally stuffed into the meat outer layers) Rosemary & Thyme. When choosing your wine to accompany your roast Lamb, Red wine such a Merlot or a Côtes du Rhône are great to bring out the flavour of the meat.
The Leg of Lamb is cut from the back legs & not the front legs (Shoulder of Lamb), the Leg is thicker with muscles more suited for cooking as a roast. Inside your Leg are the familiar roasting joint cuts; Thick (Top Rump / Knuckle), Topside & Silverside. Also attached to the Leg is the Lamb Shank, these are a great piece to oven braise.
We refer to this Leg as a Carvery Leg of Lamb because it has been prepared to be easier to carve once cooked. The slices are best when cut across the grain, this helps to break down the texture of the meat creating a more tender piece to enjoy. Leaving the bone in the Leg helps to cook the meat as the heat travels up the bone helping to cook the piece from the inside out; this gives a more even cook throughout the whole leg.
Lamb has a similar texture to Beef as they are both have mainly Grass Fed diets. As the Leg is full of large muscles it is fairly “Fibrous”, but not as tough like the forequarter meat. If you cook your Lamb right, the texture becomes very soft & will “Melt in your mouth”. As the Legs are cut from young Lamb, the meat is the most tender & flavoursome.
When it comes to the flavour of Lamb, is unique because of the fatty acids reacting with the meat giving it a truly delicious taste. Lamb is a Red Meat that has varying levels of flavour strength according to age; young Lamb under 12 months a mild taste, Hogget meat 12-24 months slightly stronger, more “gamey”, over 2 years it is referred to as Mutton, this has a stronger taste & needs to be cooked for longer.
The 4 ages of Lamb:
- 3-5 months; this is Spring Lamb
- 5-12 months; regular young Lamb
- 12-24 months; Hogget Lamb
- 24 months & over; Mutton ( referred to as) Sheep
Rearing & producing all meats, increased significantly over the last number of years. As Lambs are not large heavy animals like pigs or cattle, the yields are not as high for their meat. For this reason it makes Lamb expensive, & prices are reflected on supermarket shelves & butchers displays. Producing large numbers brings the cost per kilo down, & as we have the buying power to take larger amounts, we are able to pass on our savings to all of our customers.
For more information on how we give you more meat for your money, checkout this link: #moremeatfym
We all need essential vitamins, minerals & protein for good nutrition in our diets. Lamb is an excellent source for these because it is classified as a “Red Meat” the same as Beef. There is a good concentration of Iron in Lamb & this helps to make up your haemoglobin in your Red blood cells that carry oxygen around the body. As Lamb comes with a good fat covering you can still enjoy Lamb as a healthy option by removing this after cooking so you can eat leaner meals.
How To Cook Your Leg of Lamb.
Cooking meat needs some preparation, it needs to be removed from the fridge/ freezer & bought close to room temperature first, because the fibres need to relax & loosen up. Getting the meat out of the cold makes the temperature throughout the whole Lamb Leg more consistent, this allows for a more even cook without burning the outside. Secondly, Lamb needs to be seasoned in order to bring out the flavour of the meat; Rosemary is the favourite herb to use, combined with Black Pepper & Salt.
We all know that “Resting your meat” after cooking is important & here is why; when the Leg of Lamb has reached an internal temperature of 70°c, place it on a wooden board (this doesn’t absorb the heat from the meat) loosely covered over for around 20-30 minutes. The heat retained will continue to cook the meat for 10-15 minutes after removing from the oven, rising to an internal temperature of around 73°c, which is just over medium doneness.
As the meat fibres relax during the rest period, the meat becomes more tender absorbing its natural juices, giving you the moist meat to carve delicious slices from. Carving straight from the oven without resting your Lamb Leg will result in tougher drier meat, that won’t have as much flavour.
As previously mentioned; the Leg of Lamb is mainly roasted in the oven, however, a growing trend with those that love to cook alfresco, enjoy cooking their Lamb Leg on the Barbecue. This will be roasted in the same way on the Barbecue but, it will be smoked first to get the enhanced Smokey aromas into the meat. This really brings a new level of flavour to a Roasted Leg of Lamb.
To roast your Lamb Leg after bringing to temperature & seasoning, simply place in a roasting dish (keeps it in its own juices), cover, insert your temperature probe, place in a preheated oven (220c). Once the leg has been in for 10 minutes, turn down to 180°c. During the cook, remove & baste the juices over the meat, re-cover & place back, this keeps the meat moist & adds to the flavour. When your Leg is nearing your selected internal temperature remove the foil & finish for a few minutes on a higher heat to get that luxury looking Golden Brown Colour.
The juices from your Lamb Leg left in its roasting dish are perfect to add to your gravy. Don’t let these go to waste, mix in with your gravy stock, add a little corn flour to thicken, & you have the best tasting gravy to pour over your beautiful slices of Leg meat. Carve only what you need from your Leg when hot & wrap before leaving to cool down before placing back into the fridge. The flavour level & texture of the meat next day is even better as the Leg has had time to settle, this is perfect for a “Cold meat sandwich” or to serve with skinny chips.
A Leg of Lamb should take around 20-25 minutes per pound(454 grams) to cook through. Using a meat probe during the cook will help to get a more accurate internal temperature with better results.
How to cook Recipes for Leg of Lamb, including times & temperatures.
- Cooking Temperatures For Lamb Cuts
- How To Cook The Perfect Leg of Lamb
- Jamie Oliver Leg of Lamb Recipe
- How To Carve Your Leg of Lamb On The Bone
How is a Carvery Leg of Lamb Butchered?
The Lamb Legs are cut from 12 months old young Lambs, giving you a perfect sized piece to feed 4-6 people.
The Leg is cut from the end of the Rump as a whole piece with the foot removed. The next part of the process is to remove the “Aitch Bone” or hip bone. This is carefully removed without slashing into the main meat muscles. The final stage is to trim off any remaining excess fat, so the Leg cooks better because the meat keeps just enough natural moisture, without becoming too fatty.
Preparing the Lamb Leg like this will give you more meat & less bones. This makes the piece better value for money & a great deal easier to carve.
Packaging, Food Safety & Provenance of The Leg of Lamb.
The Legs of Lamb are packaged immediately after cutting into clear recyclable vacuum pouches. There is one Leg per pack & they are blast or shock frozen very quickly to -18c. The reason for instant freezing is to keep the natural moisture & flavour in the meat then, it will taste as good as the day it was cut. The shelf life of these is up to 2 years when stored at -18°c.
The packaging protects your Lamb Leg from freezer burn & other foodstuffs when thawing out in the fridge, this prevents any air or bacteria getting into the meat causing it to spoil. The best way to thaw your Leg of Lamb is to place it in your fridge & let this “Give out” (thaw out) over a few days. This is the best way because the ice crystals melt slowly not rupturing the cells & changing the texture of the meat, thus making the Lamb drier due to non-absorption of the juices.
All packaging used in production is recyclable, it is currently the safest way to package meat & food to prevent it from spoiling. Thinner & stronger pouches are now being used, reducing the amount of plastic to help us reduce our Carbon Footprint. We actively ask all our online or wholesale customers to recycle responsibly, this is the only way the packaging stays in the recycling chain. #carbonfootprint
Producing our Lamb or any of our meat cuts is done in the safest way possible. All the cutting & production rooms are BRCGS approved, this means that all processing is done under strict guidelines for health, hygiene & safety. All food areas are keep a few degrees above freezing to prevent natural bacteria growth, also to slow the process of meat losing it juices. All butchers & production staff are health tested & wear fully protective clean clothing whilst in contact with any meats.
Full deep cleaning is carried out daily, whilst work stations are kept clean at all times. The standards & processes in place during the production of all our meats are to the highest standards possible, making all our meat cuts safe for you to enjoy cooking at home.
Our choice of Lamb to create our select meat cuts is from New Zealand because of the consistency of the meat quality & the cutting. New Zealand has some of the cleanest air with rich green pastures that have remained unspoiled for centuries. The welfare of the animals is important to the farmers, along with sustainability from select herds to produce first class meat every year.
Food & meat prices have increased over the last 10 years due to higher costs from raw materials to extra health & hygiene laws. Lamb is currently at an all-time high & is now seen as a “Luxury cut of meat”. Still a very popular choice of meat on the weekly shopping list, people are now having to pay 40% increases in the supermarkets & butchers.
As we have larger buying power & the Lamb Meat Cuts are produced in large volumes, passing these savings on to our customers so everyone can afford buy a Leg of Lamb online.
Sharing your Legs of Lamb on Social Media
Enjoying this at home with family & friends is great but, sharing your cooks online with your followers is even better when others can gain inspiration & knowledge from what you do. People are looking more & more on Social Media on how to cook meat & food, sharing your Leg of Lamb recipes online will benefit many others by making it easier for them to create better food & finding somewhere to buy discounted Lamb Legs.
Why not join Sherwood Foods on Social Media & tag us in your posts when cooking your Leg of Lamb. We are on Facebook , Instagram & Twitter we can share your pictures, reels, videos, recipes, ideas, stories, recipes & cooking methods with our growing group of followers.
In addition to our Facebook Page, we have an interactive Facebook Group for sharing your cooks & ideas. The group is called Sherwood Home Cooking & Barbecue, see delicious recipes, hints & tips from some of our online customers.
Tagging us in your posts makes it easy for us follow what others post online with our meats, this means we can like & comment on your results. Hashtags are a different way to categorise your Social Media posts into groups like; recipes, cooking methods, types of meat cooked, recipes etc. People do follow Hashtags & they are a great way to get your posts seen by a different audience.
Enjoy sharing your Lamb Leg with friends & family, let them taste great quality Lamb recipes.
Sherwood Foods Hashtags:
#swf_brand #ourbrandisapromise #abrandisapromise #moremeatfym #legoflamb #lambleg
How to cook recipes for Leg of Lamb:
Roast Leg of Lamb Kitchen Sanctuary
- INFORMATION ABOUT LEG OF LAMB
-
Information about Leg of Lamb
The Leg of Lamb has always been enjoyed for that Traditional Sunday Roast with the family. This bone in Lamb Leg is prepared “Carvery Style”, making it easier to carve those succulent slices of roast Lamb. Your Leg of Lamb is oven ready & weighs approximately 1.8 Kilos, this feeds 4-6 people good sized portions. The Lamb is from Grass Fed, young stock from New Zealand, where they have some of the best grazing pastures producing finest tasting quality meat.
Lamb is normally served with fresh vegetables (cauliflower, minty garden peas, honey parsnips) rich, thick gravy & crispy roast potatoes, & not forgetting the mint sauce! The usual choice for herbs to go with your Leg of Lamb are; Garlic (normally stuffed into the meat outer layers) Rosemary & Thyme. When choosing your wine to accompany your roast Lamb, Red wine such a Merlot or a Côtes du Rhône are great to bring out the flavour of the meat.
The Leg of Lamb is cut from the back legs & not the front legs (Shoulder of Lamb), the Leg is thicker with muscles more suited for cooking as a roast. Inside your Leg are the familiar roasting joint cuts; Thick (Top Rump / Knuckle), Topside & Silverside. Also attached to the Leg is the Lamb Shank, these are a great piece to oven braise.
We refer to this Leg as a Carvery Leg of Lamb because it has been prepared to be easier to carve once cooked. The slices are best when cut across the grain, this helps to break down the texture of the meat creating a more tender piece to enjoy. Leaving the bone in the Leg helps to cook the meat as the heat travels up the bone helping to cook the piece from the inside out; this gives a more even cook throughout the whole leg.
Lamb has a similar texture to Beef as they are both have mainly Grass Fed diets. As the Leg is full of large muscles it is fairly “Fibrous”, but not as tough like the forequarter meat. If you cook your Lamb right, the texture becomes very soft & will “Melt in your mouth”. As the Legs are cut from young Lamb, the meat is the most tender & flavoursome.
When it comes to the flavour of Lamb, is unique because of the fatty acids reacting with the meat giving it a truly delicious taste. Lamb is a Red Meat that has varying levels of flavour strength according to age; young Lamb under 12 months a mild taste, Hogget meat 12-24 months slightly stronger, more “gamey”, over 2 years it is referred to as Mutton, this has a stronger taste & needs to be cooked for longer.
The 4 ages of Lamb:
- 3-5 months; this is Spring Lamb
- 5-12 months; regular young Lamb
- 12-24 months; Hogget Lamb
- 24 months & over; Mutton ( referred to as) Sheep
Rearing & producing all meats, increased significantly over the last number of years. As Lambs are not large heavy animals like pigs or cattle, the yields are not as high for their meat. For this reason it makes Lamb expensive, & prices are reflected on supermarket shelves & butchers displays. Producing large numbers brings the cost per kilo down, & as we have the buying power to take larger amounts, we are able to pass on our savings to all of our customers.
For more information on how we give you more meat for your money, checkout this link: #moremeatfym
We all need essential vitamins, minerals & protein for good nutrition in our diets. Lamb is an excellent source for these because it is classified as a “Red Meat” the same as Beef. There is a good concentration of Iron in Lamb & this helps to make up your haemoglobin in your Red blood cells that carry oxygen around the body. As Lamb comes with a good fat covering you can still enjoy Lamb as a healthy option by removing this after cooking so you can eat leaner meals.
How To Cook Your Leg of Lamb.
Cooking meat needs some preparation, it needs to be removed from the fridge/ freezer & bought close to room temperature first, because the fibres need to relax & loosen up. Getting the meat out of the cold makes the temperature throughout the whole Lamb Leg more consistent, this allows for a more even cook without burning the outside. Secondly, Lamb needs to be seasoned in order to bring out the flavour of the meat; Rosemary is the favourite herb to use, combined with Black Pepper & Salt.
We all know that “Resting your meat” after cooking is important & here is why; when the Leg of Lamb has reached an internal temperature of 70°c, place it on a wooden board (this doesn’t absorb the heat from the meat) loosely covered over for around 20-30 minutes. The heat retained will continue to cook the meat for 10-15 minutes after removing from the oven, rising to an internal temperature of around 73°c, which is just over medium doneness.
As the meat fibres relax during the rest period, the meat becomes more tender absorbing its natural juices, giving you the moist meat to carve delicious slices from. Carving straight from the oven without resting your Lamb Leg will result in tougher drier meat, that won’t have as much flavour.
As previously mentioned; the Leg of Lamb is mainly roasted in the oven, however, a growing trend with those that love to cook alfresco, enjoy cooking their Lamb Leg on the Barbecue. This will be roasted in the same way on the Barbecue but, it will be smoked first to get the enhanced Smokey aromas into the meat. This really brings a new level of flavour to a Roasted Leg of Lamb.
To roast your Lamb Leg after bringing to temperature & seasoning, simply place in a roasting dish (keeps it in its own juices), cover, insert your temperature probe, place in a preheated oven (220c). Once the leg has been in for 10 minutes, turn down to 180°c. During the cook, remove & baste the juices over the meat, re-cover & place back, this keeps the meat moist & adds to the flavour. When your Leg is nearing your selected internal temperature remove the foil & finish for a few minutes on a higher heat to get that luxury looking Golden Brown Colour.
The juices from your Lamb Leg left in its roasting dish are perfect to add to your gravy. Don’t let these go to waste, mix in with your gravy stock, add a little corn flour to thicken, & you have the best tasting gravy to pour over your beautiful slices of Leg meat. Carve only what you need from your Leg when hot & wrap before leaving to cool down before placing back into the fridge. The flavour level & texture of the meat next day is even better as the Leg has had time to settle, this is perfect for a “Cold meat sandwich” or to serve with skinny chips.
A Leg of Lamb should take around 20-25 minutes per pound(454 grams) to cook through. Using a meat probe during the cook will help to get a more accurate internal temperature with better results.
How to cook Recipes for Leg of Lamb, including times & temperatures.
- Cooking Temperatures For Lamb Cuts
- How To Cook The Perfect Leg of Lamb
- Jamie Oliver Leg of Lamb Recipe
- How To Carve Your Leg of Lamb On The Bone
How is a Carvery Leg of Lamb Butchered?
The Lamb Legs are cut from 12 months old young Lambs, giving you a perfect sized piece to feed 4-6 people.
The Leg is cut from the end of the Rump as a whole piece with the foot removed. The next part of the process is to remove the “Aitch Bone” or hip bone. This is carefully removed without slashing into the main meat muscles. The final stage is to trim off any remaining excess fat, so the Leg cooks better because the meat keeps just enough natural moisture, without becoming too fatty.
Preparing the Lamb Leg like this will give you more meat & less bones. This makes the piece better value for money & a great deal easier to carve.
Packaging, Food Safety & Provenance of The Leg of Lamb.
The Legs of Lamb are packaged immediately after cutting into clear recyclable vacuum pouches. There is one Leg per pack & they are blast or shock frozen very quickly to -18c. The reason for instant freezing is to keep the natural moisture & flavour in the meat then, it will taste as good as the day it was cut. The shelf life of these is up to 2 years when stored at -18°c.
The packaging protects your Lamb Leg from freezer burn & other foodstuffs when thawing out in the fridge, this prevents any air or bacteria getting into the meat causing it to spoil. The best way to thaw your Leg of Lamb is to place it in your fridge & let this “Give out” (thaw out) over a few days. This is the best way because the ice crystals melt slowly not rupturing the cells & changing the texture of the meat, thus making the Lamb drier due to non-absorption of the juices.
All packaging used in production is recyclable, it is currently the safest way to package meat & food to prevent it from spoiling. Thinner & stronger pouches are now being used, reducing the amount of plastic to help us reduce our Carbon Footprint. We actively ask all our online or wholesale customers to recycle responsibly, this is the only way the packaging stays in the recycling chain. #carbonfootprint
Producing our Lamb or any of our meat cuts is done in the safest way possible. All the cutting & production rooms are BRCGS approved, this means that all processing is done under strict guidelines for health, hygiene & safety. All food areas are keep a few degrees above freezing to prevent natural bacteria growth, also to slow the process of meat losing it juices. All butchers & production staff are health tested & wear fully protective clean clothing whilst in contact with any meats.
Full deep cleaning is carried out daily, whilst work stations are kept clean at all times. The standards & processes in place during the production of all our meats are to the highest standards possible, making all our meat cuts safe for you to enjoy cooking at home.
Our choice of Lamb to create our select meat cuts is from New Zealand because of the consistency of the meat quality & the cutting. New Zealand has some of the cleanest air with rich green pastures that have remained unspoiled for centuries. The welfare of the animals is important to the farmers, along with sustainability from select herds to produce first class meat every year.
Food & meat prices have increased over the last 10 years due to higher costs from raw materials to extra health & hygiene laws. Lamb is currently at an all-time high & is now seen as a “Luxury cut of meat”. Still a very popular choice of meat on the weekly shopping list, people are now having to pay 40% increases in the supermarkets & butchers.
As we have larger buying power & the Lamb Meat Cuts are produced in large volumes, passing these savings on to our customers so everyone can afford buy a Leg of Lamb online.
Sharing your Legs of Lamb on Social Media
Enjoying this at home with family & friends is great but, sharing your cooks online with your followers is even better when others can gain inspiration & knowledge from what you do. People are looking more & more on Social Media on how to cook meat & food, sharing your Leg of Lamb recipes online will benefit many others by making it easier for them to create better food & finding somewhere to buy discounted Lamb Legs.
Why not join Sherwood Foods on Social Media & tag us in your posts when cooking your Leg of Lamb. We are on Facebook , Instagram & Twitter we can share your pictures, reels, videos, recipes, ideas, stories, recipes & cooking methods with our growing group of followers.
In addition to our Facebook Page, we have an interactive Facebook Group for sharing your cooks & ideas. The group is called Sherwood Home Cooking & Barbecue, see delicious recipes, hints & tips from some of our online customers.
Tagging us in your posts makes it easy for us follow what others post online with our meats, this means we can like & comment on your results. Hashtags are a different way to categorise your Social Media posts into groups like; recipes, cooking methods, types of meat cooked, recipes etc. People do follow Hashtags & they are a great way to get your posts seen by a different audience.
Enjoy sharing your Lamb Leg with friends & family, let them taste great quality Lamb recipes.
Sherwood Foods Hashtags:
#swf_brand #ourbrandisapromise #abrandisapromise #moremeatfym #legoflamb #lambleg
- HOW TO COOK RECIPES FOR LEG OF LAMB
-
How to cook recipes for Leg of Lamb:
Roast Leg of Lamb Kitchen Sanctuary