Who has cooked Mutton?

Mattman3969

Living real close to Owensboro, Ky the home of Moonlight BBQ ( so called best BBQ). They do have pretty good mutton. I have gotten a hankerin lately for some mutton but feel it would be a crime to buy it when I have an egg sittin on my back porch. My question is anybody in the egg brotherhood cooked any of this? Any ideas or suggestion are appreciated

Doc_Eggerton

I would like to, but have no idea where I could buy it here.  Lamb chops are about all I have available.

Mattman3969

Hey Doc that might be an issue for me,IDK. I do have a realitive that raises sheep as a last option I will wait till slaughter time.

Skiddymarker

@Mattman, @Little_Steven is your guy, he likes sheep for other than biological purposes and has posted a number of lamb cooks. 

caliking

Lamb is great smoked or grilled. Chops are better grilled, a leg is better smoked until it is about med rare. Rack of lamb comes out very well also.

Little Steven

Skiddymarker said:

@Mattman, @Little_Steven is your guy, he likes sheep for other than biological purposes and has posted a number of lamb cooks. 

Hahaha! All my purposes are biological. I'm half Scot and half Welsh. Had no choice.

@Mattman, I have cooked lots of mutton but only in Indian. It should work fine low and slow.

fishlessman

i like lamb cooked rare with a heavey sear but if your going for that heavey mutton flavor, you can do a leg overnight low and slow, wrap in foil with some soda water at 180, and continue to cook it til 210, it will pull and have that strong mutton flavor. still prefer the sweet taste of a rare piece of lamb better though

Aviator

Interesting thread, will follow. Surely some Britts will be jumping in here with some cooks.

The Naked Whiz

If lamb is also acceptable, I buy boneless legs of lamb from Sam's club.  This is what I do with it:

Boneless Leg of Lamb

Mattman3969

Thanks for the input guys. @whiz - that looks simply awesome!!! I should have mentioned I am thinkin bout a pulled mutton.

fishlessman

Mattman3969 said:

Thanks for the input guys. @whiz - that looks simply awesome!!! I should have mentioned I am thinkin bout a pulled mutton.

heres a link if you can find a shoulder, it can be done with the leg if thats all you can find though

http://www.dizzypigbbq.com/recipesKentuckyLamb.html

fishlessman

and if your local meatmarket doesnt have it, look to see if there is a halil market around, they have it, this was the one in my area getting a delivery

Little Steven

mmmmm! Barbacoa!

caliking

Yep, good tip about the halal butchers. Can usually find goat meat at the butchers  in Indian or Pakistani neighborhoods/shopping areas. There should be some spring lamb coming up for slaughter with Easter being around the corner. Check with Greek or MiddleEastern butchers as well.

jdwrightmd

As a native of Owensboro, I will state without reservation that while Moonlite is good, for mutton there is no place better than Old Hickory Bar-B-Que on Washington Avenue.  I live in Maryland now, but every time I manage to get back home, I always take an empty cooler to be filled up with mutton.  Good call on the Halal butchers too, the one here in Laurel has mutton (goat, not sheep) but it works well for creating the Western Kentucky BBQ taste.

HDumptyEsq

Aviator said:

Interesting thread, will follow. Surely some Britts will be jumping in here with some cooks.

I say, I say! The butcher I use gets his lamb from a farm in Chattanooga.

 Mutton is just older sheep than lamb - lamb is typically slaughtered at 6 months or before. Mutton was popular in the UK after the war as they let the sheep grow bigger for more meat per animal and it was on ration. My grandmother used to boil it!!!!! Agh! I'll never forget the smell permeating the house.

A quick cook is almost impossible with true mutton as its very tough, older meat and tends to have that gamey scent, to a greater extent. Braised in a DO with a ton of root veggies like carrots for sweetness, parsnips, turnips, fennel and celery root. Thyme and rosemary are obvious additions but try marjoram to counter the gaminess. 

Little Steven, being half Welsh could probably attest to the sweetness of Welsh Spring lamb - none better in the Universe.

Mattman3969

jdwrightmd said:

As a native of Owensboro, I will state without reservation that while Moonlite is good, for mutton there is no place better than Old Hickory Bar-B-Que on Washington Avenue.  I live in Maryland now, but every time I manage to get back home, I always take an empty cooler to be filled up with mutton.  Good call on the Halal butchers too, the one here in Laurel has mutton (goat, not sheep) but it works well for creating the Western Kentucky BBQ taste.

Owensboro native here as well. Still live within 20 min of moonlight. Where did you live??

SGH

Sir mutton is a unique meat. Are you aiming for that sweaty under arm taste that mutton is famous for or are you looking to tame it down? What cut are you cooking and what end taste are you looking to achieve? If you will give a tad more info I can probably point you in the right direction if no one else does.

JohnInCarolina

Reminds me of the "man hands" Seinfeld episode.

Mattman3969

@SGH - I appreciate your interest and I am sure your advice would rock the mutton but I skipped this. The amount of meat I was going to have to buy from the meat locker made me decide to skip it. But thank you anyway. If I change my mind I will hit you up.

SGH

@Mattman3969‌
As always you are more than welcome my friend.

Mattman3969

@sgh or anybody else, I just bought a mutton “shoulder”  Anyone with advice ?    I’m thinking of going all Dizzy Pig on it 

Aviator

That kinda looks too big for a mutton shoulder @ 6#. 

Mattman3969

You are correct.  It says leg on the package.  I gotta learn to read better. 

Theophan

I've never had mutton in my life, and would love to try it sometime.  I was thinking of stopping at the Old Hickory BBQ in Owensboro, KY, which I've read is famous for mutton BBQ on a trip to Michigan and back, but it would have added 4h to my trip, and I'm just getting too old for long drives.  It was only about 6h for each of two days, but that was plenty for this old guy.  Adding 2h to each day just seemed like too much.

There's a grocery kind of near me with a lot of Hispanic stuff, occasionally goat.  I'll have to ask them if they ever have mutton.

Fred19Flintstone

One of Billy Crystal’s finest performances.

https://youtu.be/RUV4e58SkXc

I saw an interview recently that was done a couple of years ago coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the release of The Princess Bride.  It was with a number of cast members and they talked about iconic lines from the movie that fans say to them still.  Billy Crystal said he was at a restaurant having a meal when a fan walking by stopped and whispered in his ear, “Is it lean?”

Mattman3969

I’m very familiar with Old Hickory   Way better than Moonlite imho.  

My mutton (if it could be called that) was not very good.   The leftovers will be vac packed and used for something else this winter 

Gulfcoastguy

My family raised a few sheep. They were born in February and we generally butchered in October or November so they weren’t mutton. That was in my pre Egg days. Good luck.