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Roast Leg of Lamb

5K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  ras1187 
#1 ·
Hello all,

I have roasted alot of different things, but my hands-on experience with lamb has been limited due to taste preferences of the clientelle of this area.

Today, we had roast leg of lamb on special, and I was called on to roast it. Heres what I did, the results were mediocre, I felt that there could be better.

1.) About 10 lb leg of lamb, already tied; I rubbed it with tuscan & montreal blend seasoning, a little dried thyme.

2.) I placed it in a 2 inch hotel pan with a grid tray liner with mirepoix underneath; placed in middle of a 350 convection oven.

3.) 1 hour later, mirepoix is caramalizing, interior temperature is 40, I thought my thermometer was wrong, I calibrated it, still 40.

4.) 45 minutes later, mirepoix is black burnt, I shake my head, discard, check the temperature, 80, move to a clean lined hotel pan and throw back in oven.

5.) 45 minutes later (total cooking time 2.5 hours so far), seasonings are starting to burn, but interior temperature is only 110. For fear of buring the seasonings completely, I pull it out and decide to heat up individual slices to order in a pan sauce.

Heres what I thought I could have done to make it better. Lower oven temperature, wrap the lamb in foil. Any other suggestions? Is it my imagination, or does lamb seem longer to roast as opposed to more common proteins like beef?
 
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#3 ·
I usually roast leg of lamb for about 20 minutes per pound at 375. I know that a lot of people will say lower temp but I feel that has a tendency to dry meat out as it requires longer time for the meat to be exposed to heat. When I grill a thick filet mignon I don't do it on the cooler part of the grill. When I saute, I use high heat. I know a lot of people will say heresy, but the last two times I have roasted turkey, I did them at 475 and they turned out incredibly moist. The next time I do a leg of lamb, I am going to try 475 to see how it does.
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the suggestions so far, I also forgot that I rubbed the leg with olive oil before inserting in the oven too.

This is also a convection oven, so does 275-325 consider the 50 degree differences?

Should I omit mirepoix, or should I add at a later time?

@Cheflayne

What precautions would you take to ensure that the lamb doesnt burn on the outside at such a high temperature?
 
#5 ·
Now, here in the UK, we understand that everything is "bigger" in the US! I have to say that a 10lb leg of lamb is not something i'm used to, 4/5 lb being the maximum that i'd still call "lamb".
For more years than I care to remember, I have roasted lamb, bone in, at 350F until the internal temperature is around 60C. The meat remains moist and medium rare, which is how Brits seem to like it. Mirepoix below it? By all means, with a litre of water you have the perfect base for a sauce.
 
#6 ·
10 lb was my rough estimate after lifting it and making a guess. Chances are you are right, it probably was less.

This was a bone-out leg of lamb, pretty much everything was done when we bought it. Pre-fabricated and already tied up neatly. I was aiming for a medium-rare, but I think i got impatient with this thing after it was barely rare after 2 hours in the oven.

Thanks for the water suggestion, I put in about 1/2 a cup of water with my mirepoix, but didnt want to add more for fear of diluting the flavor too much. My mirepoix dried out and burnt though, so next time I will add more water.
 
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