Best roast leg of lamb recipe | Jamie Oliver lamb recipes (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep lamb moist when roasting? ›

For lamb that oozes exquisite scrumptiousness you should baste your meat every 15 minutes while it is cooking in the oven. Basting is when you pour the juices and fat that have escaped from the meat back over the meat to keep it moist and add flavour.

Roast leaner cuts of lamb in a hotter oven (450°F) to get a lovely brown crust and a well-cooked center; cook fattier cuts of lamb low and slow (325°F) to render all the fat and allow the lamb to cook in its juices. Due to residual heat, your lamb will continue to cook even after you pull it out of the oven.

The lamb in the slow-cooker was juicier than that from the oven, but lacked the oven lamb's exterior crispy bits (we love crispy bits). The solution was to take the vegetables and lamb from the slow cooker and run them under the broiler to crisp things up a bit. We'd eat either version again in a heartbeat.

Whether boneless or bone-in, the perfect leg of lamb should be either oven-roasted until blushing pink on the inside (with an internal temp around 130°F) or roasted long and slow for several hours until the meat is very tender and falls apart to internal temp around 175°F (I often use the slow cooker for that).

For the perfect roast lamb, we recommend seasoning the surface of the meat, and then searing it, especially fat side down in a pan before roasting. Why bother with searing? Contrary to some stories, searing is less about locking in moisture, and all about improving the flavour!

The meat turns out to be very tender if cooked low and slow in the oven. These cuts get even more tender if braised in some sort of liquid. The center cuts of lamb — loin, ribs, and breast — are naturally tender, so they do better with quick-cooking methods.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place the lamb racks on a sheet tray and season all sides liberally with salt and pepper. Press all sides of the the meat into the remaining seasoning on the sheet tray to evenly coat. Heat two medium cast-iron pans over medium-high heat.

When meat is sliced with the grain, it often results in tougher, chewier pieces. Follow this tip: The grain of the meat refers to the direction in which the muscle fibers run. Always slice lamb against the grain, cutting across the muscle fibers rather than with them.

Should you sear lamb before slow cooking? To maximize the flavor of your lamb shoulder roast, you'll definitely want to give it a good sear before braising. It'll take about a half hour over medium-high heat for the meat to turn deep golden brown on all sides, essentially caramelizing while sealing in the juices.

Lower temp = more succulent meat – Tough cuts like lamb shoulder need slow-cooking to tenderise them. The lower the roasting temperature, the less total moisture evaporation and thus juicier meat. 3-hour lamb is cooked at 180°C/350°F, while the 12 hour lamb is cooked at only 100°C/212°F.

How do you cook lamb without drying it out? ›

Bringing the lamb up to room temperature before you put it in the oven will help. Wrapping in foil also helps to keep steam in, and slows the meat burning on the outside. Equally, basting it periodically will also keep it from drying out and burning.

Baste meat every 30 minutes while it cooks to keep it moist.

This should help keep it from drying out and make it more flavorful. This is especially helpful for larger selections of meat, like roasts, but you can also use it on steak, pork chops, or even a simple chicken breast.

Slow cooking in liquid transforms tougher cuts of lamb into fork-tender meat. Neck, shoulder and belly, either diced or as whole joints, are the best cuts for slow cooking and need to be cooked for at least 2 hrs at 150°C to soften the meat.