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Lamb cuts

poster
poster Posts: 1,346
in EggHead Forum
What are the lamb cuts that are not as gamey? Ive had lamb that a love and some that i did not like. I believe it was a leg of lamb that we did once that was incredible, and some sort of chops that was not. Is it the cut? Or the breed/origin? I want to try again, but am not sure what direction to go
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Comments

  • jtcBoynton
    jtcBoynton Posts: 2,814
    Age.  Country of origin - American has a reputation as being milder than Australian.
    Southeast Florida - LBGE
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 36,765
    Like beef, the quality and cut make a major difference in the taste and texture. I find a more consistent flavor and texture with the rack or chops and a wider range with the leg of lamb.  Lamb is graded like beef regarding the standing cut and also with the tenderness so that may also have been factor.  FWIW-
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  • SGH
    SGH Posts: 28,988
    poster said:
    What are the lamb cuts that are not as gamey? 
    To specifically answer the above quoted;
    1. The Loin. 
    2. The first 8 ribs. I will explain why the first 8 if you like, but it's self explanatory for the most part. 
    3. The Scrag cut of the neck. 
    While all 3 of these cuts can be gamey as well, they will at a minimum be "less" gamey that all other cuts in general. 
    Some user tips to reduce gameyness. 
    1. The younger the lamb the less gamey. 
    2. Brine or heavily salt the meat. This will help reduce the game taste. 
    3. Marinate the lamb in milk for 12-24 hours. 
    Note on the above text. Fully half of the gamey taste of lamb comes from the "Fell" or "blue membrane". Always remove as much of it as you can when you clean lamb. A very large portion of the gamey taste also comes from the fat and sinew as well. 
    The strength of the game taste is determined by 3 things. The breed, its age, and how/what it was fed. 

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  • Eoin
    Eoin Posts: 4,304
    You will tend to get a gamey smell on lamb that has been sealed in plastic, but it will generally go away if you let it stand. Buy from a butcher who has locally sourced meat on display / not wrapped rather than the supermarket.
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  • poster
    poster Posts: 1,346
    Well i saw a rack of Canadian lamb on sale and figured i would give lamb another go. I threw it in the sous vide in its own cryovac at 134 for an hour and a half then trimmed the majority of the fat, then seared it for 5 min at 650. It turned out fantastic i wasnt planning to document so just got the one quick pic before it all went
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  • Hntnhrd
    Hntnhrd Posts: 713
    Would removing the fat help also? Wild game fat is extremely " gamey" so I would think that may be the problem with off tasting lamb. 
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  • poster
    poster Posts: 1,346
    I think so, although lamb does have a lot of fat, and impossible to get rid of it all. I did get 95% of the hard fat off though which is probably the biggest culprit. My next step would have been to soak in  milk as SGH suggested, and im sure you know works on wild game too. Overall im definitely doing this again, i was completely happy. Nice change in the protein rotation
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