calling sous vide lamb experts

Canugghead

Months ago I sous vide and seared a boneless leg of lamb, forgot the time/temp (but can search if needed)
">  We were very disappointed because the texture was like mush.  So I threw it in the freezer and forgot about it until now ...

Defrosted, cut into stew size cubes and simmered in lazy cook's Tikka Masala sauce and voila, this time the lamb was perfectly tender, not mushy at all! I'm clueless how that's possible?

btw, the sauce is good but not enough heat for us.

nolaegghead

IMHO, there's really no benefit to SV leg of lamb other than heating it up evenly before searing the outside.  I've SV'd it, but it's just like 132 for a few hours to get it all warm.  Lamb leg is like steak.  Guess depends on the end use, it might benefit from a higher temp long cook, but I can see it getting mushy.

I like to cube, marinate an kabob it mostly - to a MR internal temp (roughly) and a nice crispy outside. 

Canugghead

Yup, learned my lesson, probably why I didn't bother noting the time/temp, thanks Nola. How about lamb shoulder since it's a tougher cut?

nolaegghead

@Canugghead - I don't have any experience with lamb shoulder, but I agree with where you're going - it would have enough inter-muscular fat and connective tissue that it would benefit from a collagen breakdown.  So I'd try 140 for 24 hours to start.  BTW - I just pull these numbers based on pulling from my ass and analyzing what I know and making an educated guess if I haven't done it before.

Canugghead

Thanks @nolaegghead I've sv chuck roast in the mid 130's for 24 as well as 48 hours, prefer 48.  If I do lamb shoulder I may go 36.

caliking

I did SV boneless leg of lamb once and was not so impressed, but I think the problem was more the rub that I chose. In your case, I think the braise in the sauce actually ended up being a boil, and tightened up meat by driving by some moisture out if the meat. Sort of like if you boil lamb/goat meat or beef, you can end up with a tough, dry texture if you don't do it right. Here, it worked to your benefit! I used to do rack of lamb for 24 hours, but found that the texture was better after SV x 12hrs.

Canugghead

@caliking good analysis of how boiling can toughen up meat but it may not be the case for me .... after defrosting I sampled a piece before mixing with sauce and it was already nice and  'unmushed'; I also did not boil vigorously, just gentle simmer to heat up. 

caliking

I think you may be on to something then. Something about the freezing and defrosting processes drove some moisture out of the meat to improve its texture? This could be a helpful tip for me at some point.

rtt121

Lamb Gently Heated in a water bath for many days.  When our chef deems it ready we remove it from the bath and braise it with herbs.  Just when you think we will serve it, we then freeze it for two months.  Tonight we will reheat this for you  $99.98

:P