FIVE points to remember when cooking and buying lamb meat!
Dear Friends,
Are you hesitant to buy lamb meat because you just have never prepared it and don’t know how? I really do understand! Before we started our raising sheep a few years ago I had never cooked much lamb meat either. It was hard to find in regular stores, and if there only a couple cuts were available to choose from. Now I love it (and you will too)! Lamb meat stocks our freezer and we eat it at least a couple times a week. With a few tips you too can make delicious lamb for your weeknight suppers and special occasions! If you can cook chicken and beef, you can cook lamb with some simple adjustments.
1. Avoid letting it dry out during cooking! Lamb meat is leaner and less marbled than other red meats. I cook it using techniques more similar with cooking chicken than beef. The fat tends to be on the outer edges and melts out so it is important to keep it moist when cooking and avoid letting it dry out. Like most meats, letting it dry out makes it tough. I cook a lot of lamb meat in our slow cooker with various veggies for low-fuss delicious meals when we get in from evening feeding chores. But marinating your meats or just being attentive and adding broth, sauce, wine, or even warm water during cooking, can make a big difference. When making larger cuts make sure to give it a good sear and then lower the temperature to keep the inner meat tender. Remember chops are small pieces of meat so don’t overcook them! Or cook them low and slow to the “fall apart stage” in a stew or soup.
2. Don’t over-complicate your recipes to start. Lamb is really a food of the people and had humble beginnings. It is a versatile meat enjoyed in many cultures so cook it with any spices YOU like and it will be delicious. You don’t have to make a fancy recipe to enjoy it and cook it well. Sometimes, simple really is best! After you get more comfortable and familiar with it, there are so many delicious recipes out there from different cultures to try!
3. Remember lamb is an ancient ancestral food! Sheep were one of the first animals domesticated by humans and have been domesticated since 10,000 B.C.! Sheep meat is eaten all over the world. It is only in the last 60-70 years in the U.S. that it has been less popular. There are a few theories on this. But I think the biggest reason is that since they eat less grain and are mostly pasture based, they just didn’t work well with in the vertically integrated and consolidated farming systems that we have today. Thus, sheep meats were never promoted or subsidized in the same way crops and other livestock were. But this is off-topic. Just remember, humans have been eating lamb for millennia all over the world. Like the insurance ad “it’s so easy a caveman can do it.” If all those people have been cooking, getting nourishment, and enjoying lamb meat meals for centuries, you can do it too!!
4. Be open to trying new things. Sheep and lamb meats in this country are changing. If you tried lamb a long-time ago or from another farm it may have been a little greasy and ‘gamey’ and you didn’t like it. This comes from grain-feeding some of the traditional wool breeds. But we (and a lot of producers) are switching to hair breeds that don’t have the lanolin and same fat profile, so they are much less gamey, in my opinion. Also, our more pasture-based feeding helps avoid greasiness. We do supplement with a little grain, but are not pushing it on our animals and their diets are mostly hay and grass during the growing season. Our meats are also getting better and better with our breeding strategy. It is not like meat I had as a kid from my aunt’s wool sheep or even the full-bred Dorset sheep we started with a few years ago, so I encourage you to give it another try!! Eating lamb might be the doorway to you becoming a farm-to-table adventurous foodie! And if you already are one - we should be friends!!
5. Buying local lamb direct from a trusted farm is the best way to go! A large portion of the lamb meat in this country is imported from places on the other side of the world and then inspected here and label as a US product to be sold through the box and grocery stores. All that shipping is a crazy carbon footprint. So buying direct from a farmer (LIKE US) and stocking up your freezer is an easy win-win-win. Good for you because you get a local, high quality, and traceable product. Good for us because you are supporting our farm. Good for the environment because we use conscientious practices and there is so much less transport. Also, when you buy from us, we are getting our lambs processed by a local butcher, so you are giving support to another small business. Furthermore, by supporting a local farm (like us) you are helping to keep diversity in our food system, which adds strength and resiliency that is much needed in this time of changing climate. (So, it is actually a win-win-win-win-win 😉).
I hope these tips and points to ponder will give you confidence to try some lamb! I feel better and healthier eating our lamb and a gratefulness for every meal because I know how it was grown and treated. I didn’t feel this way when buying our meat from groceries or box stores. I’d like to share those benefits with you!
Are you ready to cook up some lamb meat? We have meat shares available if you live in Ohio or western WV. (We are hoping to offer shipping in the future so be sure to keep in touch if you live elsewhere). A quarter share sampler (about 8 lbs of various cuts) is an awesome way to try our lamb and start your direct-from-farm food journey. It is a great sized amount to try some different recipes and cuts without overwhelming your freezer! Shop — Quarter Penny Farms (quarterpennyfarmsoh.com)
May you have many enjoyable meals!
Warm Regards,
Jill
