ISO tips/help cooking lamb shoulder

[bethzaring]

In my continuing quest to rid my freezer of some challenges, I want to use the 5 pound lamb shoulder. It is a bony, knarly, unforgiving looking piece. I have never cooked lamb before. How should I approach this shoulder? Temps, method, carving, and leftover tips will be greatly appreciated. This is a locally produced lamb, nothing fancy from a known lamb producer.

 

[Bilby]

Sounds like a case of slow cooking until the meat falls off the bone, like with lamb shanks. Throw in some vegetables and make a lamb stew. Leftover roast lamb makes an excellent lamb curry.

I can't give you cooking times etc as I don't do slow cooking. Just my suggestions.

 

[AllenOK]

I'll second the idea about slow-cooking moist-heat method. Braised is a good one, like Bilby's Lamb Stew idea. Personally, since I suffer from a BBQ addiction, I would want to smoke the shoulder. It can't be too different from the pork shoulder I've been smoking.

 

[miniman]

I would go along with the slow cooking - probably Morrrocan tagine style with preserved lemons & nothe african spices.

 

[jerseyjay14]

In my continuing quest to rid my freezer of some challenges, I want to use the 5 pound lamb shoulder. It is a bony, knarly, unforgiving looking piece. I have never cooked lamb before. How should I approach this shoulder? Temps, method, carving, and leftover tips will be greatly appreciated. This is a locally produced lamb, nothing fancy from a known lamb producer.

i actually just made lamb shoulder this week. there are actually 2 parts to the lamb shoulder. one is a section of the back ribs, the other is meat around the joint continuing along the breast. then there is going to be some left over meat from the shoulder blade, connective tissue and such(you can use that in a stew or maybe some lamb risotto?).

you can crack the join and seperate these 2 sections. i would debone the joint/breast section, stuff it, roll it, and roast it.

the rib section, you can crack the ribs into chops and either roast whole and cut later or sear and roast individually or grill.

Either way, half the battle is seperating these 2 sections and cutting/removing the joint bone.

 

[bethzaring]

wow, that looks wonderful, thanks for posting

and thanks all for the recommendations. It's still in the freezer but will be coming out soon!

 

[buckytom]

i like making the gnarlier cuts of lamb into a french stew, but you could adapt it to a bigger hunk o' meat.

season and brown the meat, then braise it in red wine, herbs de provence, quartered onions, and the zest of an orange. towards the end, add sliced carrots and potatoes.

 

[lyndalou]

Bucky, that sounds wonderful. What wine do you use for braising? Do you cover the meat with it, or go about 2/3 up the sides? Is wine the only liquid you use?
Lots of questions....

 

[buckytom]

lyndalou, i like to drink and cook with pinot noir. and yes, you don't want to come up more than half of the side of the meat.

since the wine needs to be apportioned , i'll add stock or even water if needed.

here's the recipe that i use for the stew, called daube provencal. http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f14/chez-suz-daube-provencal-5351.html

it's one i copied and modified from tony bourdain's cookbook "les halles". in the thread, chez suz made some good changes, including using white wine. i've made it both ways with success.

 

[BlazenHazen]

Ever concider 'confit-ing' the shoulder. Slowly simmer it in enough fat (lamb, duck or goose fat would all taste great!) to cover it it in a sautoire until it falls apart to the fork. Prob 1 1/2 - 2's hours but always test with a fork or when the bone pulls right out (if bone-in). Plus you can store it in the fat for a long time! Might want to give it a quick cure before confit-ing it.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Discuss Cooking mobile app

 

[menumaker]

I see no reason why you can't roast it at about 180c for 20mins per pound. I do and use the remains chopped up in a risotto. It has a higher fat content than the leg so score the skin and then either rub in salt and garlic paste, or spread with apricot conserve about 1/2 way through cooking. Another nice idea is to make up some breadcrumb type stuffing ( or use packet such as PAXO ) and use it as a crust.
I think it is great roasted, not tough because it is LAMB after all but if you want something exotic then look up some lamb tagine recipes. Or cut at the joint and do one of each suggestion. The tagine will freeze for another time

 

[Mad Cook]

I see no reason why you can't roast it at about 180c for 20mins per pound. I do and use the remains chopped up in a risotto. It has a higher fat content than the leg so score the skin and then either rub in salt and garlic paste, or spread with apricot conserve about 1/2 way through cooking. Another nice idea is to make up some breadcrumb type stuffing ( or use packet such as PAXO ) and use it as a crust.
I think it is great roasted, not tough because it is LAMB after all but if you want something exotic then look up some lamb tagine recipes. Or cut at the joint and do one of each suggestion. The tagine will freeze for another time

I'm with a fellow Brit here. Shoulder is one of my favourite cuts of lamb but we don't normally get the ribs attached to the shoulder here. This -
http://www.robertnashbutchers.co.uk/resources/lamb%20cuts.gif
- is our shoulder cut which is a pig to carve with the bone in so I often bone it out (with a family full of butchers I know how to do it without boning my fingers as well!), stuff it and roll it before roasting. Any stuffing with apricots in it is good with lamb as are rosemary and mint.

Another easy but tasty recipe you could adapt to the US cut is this one from Mary Berry - Very simple but includes the ubiquitous mint sauce which is very British!
Mary Berry Cooks: Slow-roast shoulder of lamb and rosemary and paprika rub and fresh mint sauce | Mail Online


There may be a difference between what we call lamb and what the US calls lamb. Over here the meat of a sheep is "lamb" when it's slaughtered at 5-6 months old. After that it becomes a "hogget" and later still "mutton". I understand the American lamb may be older (up to a year?) and therefore may need slightly more careful cooking.

We sometimes casserole shoulder of lamb but if we do, it needs to be have its main cooking the day before consumption and refrigerated so the fat can be removed from the top of the cold casserole before reheating as it can make the casserole too greasy. As with any casserole or stew, it improves with making the day before.

As well as tagines and other middle eastern recipes lamb is often used in curries such as lamb rogan josh.

I hope all this isn't more than you wanted to know