ISO method to remove lamb's "odor/gameyness"

[Greg Who Cooks]

Just to add an afterthought: Lamb often has a greasy after taste since many lamb cuts often have additional fat, and the fat has somewhat of a lamby gamey taste. That's one reason my grandfather marinated his lamb in lemon juice. The acid in the citrus cuts the fatty taste.

 

[taxlady]

Just to add an afterthought: Lamb often has a greasy after taste since many lamb cuts often have additional fat, and the fat has somewhat of a lamby gamey taste. That's one reason my grandfather marinated his lamb in lemon juice. The acid in the citrus cuts the fatty taste.

I have often been served lamb in Greek restaurants, with a wedge or two of lemon.

 

[Andy M.]

I have often been served lamb in Greek restaurants, with a wedge or two of lemon.

That's because Greek cooking uses lemon with, on or in just about everything.

 

[freerangemeat]

I've had some bad experiences with lamb in the past with gameyness as well (in fact I had some ground lamb in my freezer that I added to some chili tonight and the flavor was strong even so). However, Wholefoods does carry Icelandic lamb seasonally and it is very mild.

 

[taxlady]

The strongest tasting lamb I have eaten was in Iceland. It was lamb sausage. It was smokey and yummy.

 

[justplainbill]

Just to add an afterthought: Lamb often has a greasy after taste since many lamb cuts often have additional fat, and the fat has somewhat of a lamby gamey taste. That's one reason my grandfather marinated his lamb in lemon juice. The acid in the citrus cuts the fatty taste.

+1
We also think lemon juice cuts or makes lamb fat more palatable and find that deglazing a pan in which lamb has been fried can produce a sauce that is not overly sour and lends itself to being mopped up with some crusty bread.

 

[CWS4322]

I like the taste of lamb--I like the taste of venison. I like the taste of wild rice.

 

[Steve Kroll]

I like the taste of lamb--I like the taste of venison. I like the taste of wild rice.

Yep. Me, too. I don't find anything objectionable whatsoever about the flavor of lamb, goat, or venison. Maybe that's because it's meat that HAS flavor, whereas mass-produced beef, chicken, and pork tends to be bland and flavorless.

 

[Andy M.]

Raw lamb tends to smell a lot worse than the cooked meat smells or tastes. That alone can put off a lot of diners.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Raw lamb tends to smell a lot worse than the cooked meat smells or tastes. That alone can put off a lot of diners.

Then for God's sake don't serve them raw lamb!

Seriously I have not noticed raw lamb having any stronger lamb aroma than cooked lamb. I wonder if perhaps in some regions that consume less lamb the raw meat may tend to stay on the shelf longer in the store and develop some odors due to time on shelf.

 

[Andy M.]

Then for God's sake don't serve them raw lamb!

Seriously I have not noticed raw lamb having any stronger lamb aroma than cooked lamb. I wonder if perhaps in some regions that consume less lamb the raw meat may tend to stay on the shelf longer in the store and develop some odors due to time on shelf.

Hard to imagine that all the lamb I buy is always older and that's why it smells the way it does.

 

[justplainbill]

The blood from cryovaced pork does not exactly smell like roses; more like the old Secaucus, NJ

 

[taxlady]

We could also be dealing with different people's sensitivity to different smells. I can smell that meat will be off tomorrow. Most other people who smell that same meat tell me that they can't smell anything but meat.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Andy, from my end of the Internet I often find it impossible to tell when people live in main population centers with plentiful food shopping or one horse towns with a part time market. I have no idea what your average lamb shelf period is.

All I can say is that I have not noticed any stronger odor in raw lamb.

 

[CharlieD]

I do not find smell of lamb to be a problem, once in a while when making shishkebab, I use vinegar based marinade, but even then it is mostly to make the meat more tender rather than killing the smell. For m garlic does the trick, I do not use rosmary, as I hate smell of it more than any lamb I have ever eaten. I guess you just have to get used to it.

 

[Andy M.]

Andy, from my end of the Internet I often find it impossible to tell when people live in main population centers with plentiful food shopping or one horse towns with a part time market. I have no idea what your average lamb shelf period is.

All I can say is that I have not noticed any stronger odor in raw lamb.

I have also found that New Zealand lamb has a stronger flavor than US lamb. I attribute that to what they are fed.

 

[taxlady]

I have also found that New Zealand lamb has a stronger flavor than US lamb. I attribute that to what they are fed.

From what I have read about New Zealand lamb, they aren't fed anything

They just forage wild grass. They don't even flock, because there are no predators. NZ Lamb is virtually organic.

 

[buckytom]

my wife won't touch n.z. lamb, but likes american lamb for that exact reason.

 

[Steve Kroll]

The blood from cryovaced pork does not exactly smell like roses; more like the old Secaucus, NJ

Could it be this is part of the problem with lamb, too? It seems like almost all of the lamb I've seen sold in grocery stores is packaged in cryovac bags. I get lamb direct from the farm and freeze it and I've not noticed anything particularly off-putting about the raw lamb I buy.

 

[taxlady]

my wife won't touch n.z. lamb, but likes american lamb for that exact reason.

The grass, the not flocking, or the virtually organic?