# Who likes lamb?



## Ronni (Apr 26, 2022)

In Australia, lamb was plentiful and was as popular as chicken.  Here in the US it’s an expensive cut of meat. But I discovered that ground lamb isn’t as expensive and I’ve developed a rub that really brings out its flavor. That, and my Mum’s mint sauce, make it one of Ron’s favorite meals!!  

I’ve discovered that a lot of folks think lamb has too pungent a taste and don’t care for it. How about you?


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## JonSR77 (Apr 26, 2022)

My wife likes lamb.  Very common around here in gyros.  Usually mixed with other meats.


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## Warrigal (Apr 26, 2022)

Lamb has become rather expensive in OZ of late. What's more, I'm pretty sure that most of it is hoggart, which is somewhere between true lamb and mutton in age. The older the beast, the stronger the flavour.

There is nothing nicer than a baked leg of lamb with gravy, baked vegetables and mint sauce. It should be slightly pink when carved, not overdone.

Hubby and I used to have a spit in the back yard and occasionally cooked a whole lamb for parties. Great conversation piece but very hard to cook all the meat evenly. For our daughter's 21st we did the spit thing but also baked a further four legs of lamb in ovens so that there was plenty of well done meat for people to choose if they didn't like their meat too rare.


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## Marie5656 (Apr 26, 2022)

*LOL..I have a memory of my mom not liking it because it tasted "Wooly".  She made it some times for my dad.  Never had it again until I married Rick..as he liked it.  He loved when I went to a local market and found Ground Lamb, so I could make lamb burgers,,a sepeciality  of his mom*


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## J-Kat (Apr 26, 2022)

Only had lamb chops a couple of times and they were okay but not something I would want to have regularly.  One does not find lamb in the grocery stores typically in my area and, if it is available, it is quite pricey.


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## Warrigal (Apr 26, 2022)

Anyone remember Glen Ford and Shirley MacLaine in the old western The Sheepman? It was one of my favourites back then.


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## Knight (Apr 26, 2022)

Recently Sam's club had center cut lamb chops on sale for $5.95 a lb. they came 12 to a pack. Since they don't weigh much it wasn't to much in the way of cost. Broiled & herb seasoned they taste great.  Leg of lamb going for $8.95 a lb. bought one & vacuum sealed it for freezing. Probably going to cook it in our smoker. No smoke just herb incrust it & cook at 175 for about 12 hours.


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## Capt Lightning (Apr 27, 2022)

I love lamb, but prefer the taste of  hogget or mutton.  These are harder to find, but occasionally we get a whole carcass from our farming friends and butcher it ourselves.  Even this is becoming rare as there are few abattoirs that cater for private work. 

A shoulder of mutton slow cooked is hard to beat.


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## Aunt Bea (Apr 27, 2022)

Lamb is something that I rarely cook at home, but I do enjoy it when I go to a nice restaurant.


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## terry123 (Apr 27, 2022)

Never had it but I don't think I would like it.  I don't eat a lot of meat anyway and I have never seen it in stores here or advertised.


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## hollydolly (Apr 27, 2022)

Love lamb...lamb chops, shoulder of lamb, chump chops....rarely have leg of lamb too much waste with a big bone in it.. ... It's as Ronni says it was in Australia for her.. it's as available here as  readily as Chicken,  always has been. I rarely have it now, because it's fatty and I'm trying to cut the fat in my diet a little bit.. but it's my favourite red meat !


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## Capt Lightning (Apr 27, 2022)

I agree that some cuts of lamb can be fatty, but depending  on how you cook it, you can remove a fair amount of the fat.   I've got a nice top leg joint of hogget in the freezer, and I'll probably cook that for Sunday dinner.  

If you like a meat with low fat, venison is great, or if you can get it, water buffalo.   There are several farms here in Scotland that raise water buffalo for meat.


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## Lewkat (Apr 27, 2022)

Love rack of lamb and loin lamb chops any day.  Expensive, however.


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## hollydolly (Apr 27, 2022)

Capt Lightning said:


> I agree that some cuts of lamb can be fatty, but depending  on how you cook it, you can remove a fair amount of the fat.   I've got a nice top leg joint of hogget in the freezer, and I'll probably cook that for Sunday dinner.
> 
> If you like a meat with low fat, venison is great, or if you can get it, water buffalo.   There are several farms here in Scotland that raise water buffalo for meat.


I don't particularly like lean meat.. ( I had kangaroo yesterday)... I do like the fat on Lamb chops and also on Rump steak  but I'm trying to cut down my intake of fat


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## Alligatorob (Apr 27, 2022)

Ronni said:


> Who likes lamb?


I do, but have never cooked my own, just in restaurants.  You made me think about it, I'll have to look the next time I am at the store.  I usually go for the lower fat meats, but would still give it a try.


hollydolly said:


> I had kangaroo yesterday


Wish we could get it easily.  A very good lean meat option.


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## Pinky (Apr 27, 2022)

I disliked lamb .. until I went to Australia. I was pleasantly surprised how tasty it was when cooked properly!


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## IKE (Apr 27, 2022)

You'd think that considering some of the off the wall things that I've eaten in my life that there wouldn't be too much that I wouldn't eat but I've probably been given lamb 1/2 dozen times in my life and I don't care much for the taste or even the smell of it while cooking.


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## caroln (Apr 27, 2022)

I remember dreading Easter dinner when I was a kid.  Mom always had lamb and I didn't much care for it.  Ate a  lot of sides!


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## Warrigal (Apr 27, 2022)

Pinky said:


> I disliked lamb .. until I went to Australia. I was pleasantly surprised how tasty it was when cooked properly!


Chewing on a lamb cutlet is pure heaven in my book.
Even better if you can have 2 or 3 very hot, straight from the griller.


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## MountainRa (Apr 27, 2022)

Capt Lightning said:


> I love lamb, but prefer the taste of  hogget or mutton.  These are harder to find, but occasionally we get a whole carcass from our farming friends and butcher it ourselves.  Even this is becoming rare as there are few abattoirs that cater for private work.
> 
> A shoulder of mutton slow cooked is hard to beat.


Never heard the term ’hogget’. You truly can learn something new everyday .

I like ground lamb but rarely eat due to the expense.


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## Em in Ohio (Apr 27, 2022)

Ronni said:


> In Australia, lamb was plentiful and was as popular as chicken.  Here in the US it’s an expensive cut of meat. But I discovered that ground lamb isn’t as expensive and I’ve developed a rub that really brings out its flavor. That, and my Mum’s mint sauce, make it one of Ron’s favorite meals!!
> 
> I’ve discovered that a lot of folks think lamb has too pungent a taste and don’t care for it. How about you?
> View attachment 218909


I love lamb, especially fatty portions that are very crispy.  BUT, the last two packages of lamb that I bought from two different places were BAD (as in rotten or tainted).  So, I'm afraid to invest in it again.


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## Timewise 60+ (Apr 27, 2022)

I do like lamb chops when we are at a restaurant that serves them.  We also like preparing and cooking a leg of lamb, although we usually have to order one from our butcher.  If it is prepared properly, leg of lamb is really a fine roast!  We only have it for special occasions.   New Years, Easter, etc.


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## RadishRose (Apr 27, 2022)

I love broiled loin lamb chops, medium rare, with nothing more than a bit of salt. Also a roast leg of lamb with a few slivers of garlic inserted throughout.


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## Capt Lightning (Apr 27, 2022)

MountainRa said:


> Never heard the term ’hogget’. You truly can learn something new everyday .
> 
> I like ground lamb but rarely eat due to the expense.


Hogget is a sheep between 1 and 2 years old.  Lamb is up to 1 year and  Mutton is 2 years and older.


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## win231 (Apr 27, 2022)

I love lamb.
Whenever I go to a small farm nearby to buy fruit, I always spend time at a pen on the property & pet lambs, goats & sheep.
I love the way they run up to me.
I know that's not exactly what you're asking.


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## Warrigal (Apr 27, 2022)

Timewise 60+ said:


> I do like lamb chops when we are at a restaurant that serves them.  We also like preparing and cooking a leg of lamb, although we usually have to order one from our butcher.  If it is prepared properly, leg of lamb is really a fine roast!  We only have it for special occasions.   New Years, Easter, etc.


One way to cook a leg of lamb that is truly delicious is to use a skewer or other sharp implement to drive holes though the flesh and poke slivers of garlic down into the holes. This imparts extra flavour. Rubbing fresh rosemary leaves into the surface is also good. 

The leg doesn't have to be spring lamb. Cooked slowly even mutton will become tender. Leftovers make good sandwich meat or you can cut thicker slices and dip them in batter to make fritters.


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## Warrigal (Apr 27, 2022)

Capt Lightning said:


> Hogget is a sheep between 1 and 2 years old.  Lamb is up to 1 year and  Mutton is 2 years and older.


The age is determined by the teeth and years ago, to avoid misrepresentation, true lamb carcases were stamped with the word LAMB repeatedly down both sides with a red dye. Doesn't happen now and the word 'lamb' is used for all the sheep meat in the supermarket.


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## Bellbird (Apr 27, 2022)

There are 5 times more sheep here than people. 26 million against 5 million. I prefer eating hoggett it has more flavour, pour mint sauce over it and its beautiful. Chops, gravy, potatoes, greens a lovely meal.


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## Capt Lightning (Apr 28, 2022)

Warrigal said:


> The age is determined by the teeth and years ago, to avoid misrepresentation, true lamb carcases were stamped with the word LAMB repeatedly down both sides with a red dye. Doesn't happen now and the word 'lamb' is used for all the sheep meat in the supermarket.


True lamb (under 1 year) is all you'll get in supermarkets here.   Keeping sheep for more than a year becomes costly.  Shearing, medication, supplementary food etc.  all increase the price of the meat, so what was once a fairly common food, is now only a treat.
If you want hogget or mutton, you most likely need a specialist butcher or Asian food shop.


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## Lethe200 (Apr 28, 2022)

LOVE lamb - also goat, but the latter is _really hard to find, _even here in Northern CA where goat milk and goat butter are available in almost all large and specialty grocers. Capt Lightning's post is true here as well, but specifically it's the Caribbean and Muslim (halal) stores that carry goat, often frozen.

Spouse grew up in Hong Kong so he loves mutton, but we haven't found any in years. It's mostly hogget (thanks, I myself didn't know that term!), I think.

Lamb is easily available as nearby Sonoma County raises a lot of sheep, in addition to their wines and dairy cattle. The least expensive lamb, however, is from Australia or NZ, prepackaged cuts - rack of lamb, leg of lamb, loin or shoulder chops, shanks.

It's mostly the fat that gives lamb that strong smell, btw.

Although we love the strong gamy taste of lamb and goat, one of the specialties of some Sonoma County sheep ranchers is flavorful lamb. I don't know what breed(s) they raise but it has a very clean lamb flavor - lean and not gamy, but somehow well-flavored. A lot of times lean lamb is so mild you could easily mistake it for beef, but this meat is unmistakably lamb.

Bruce Campbell of CK Lamb, the pioneering rancher/agriculturist behind the Select Sonoma County program which promoted the best products from small artisanal SC producers, died in 2014, but his herd was bought and his breeding program continues under Rex Williams.

Sonoma County is one of our favorite places to visit (and dine!); whenever I see lamb on the menu I make sure to order it


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## Pinky (Apr 28, 2022)

Lethe200 said:


> Although we love the strong gamy taste of lamb and goat, one of the specialties of some Sonoma County sheep ranchers is flavorful lamb. I don't know what breed(s) they raise but it has a very clean lamb flavor - lean and not gamy, but somehow well-flavored. A lot of times lean lamb is so mild you could easily mistake it for beef, but this meat is unmistakably lamb.


@Lethe200 
I found that the lamb roasts I had in Australia smelled very similar to roast beef .. that really surprised me, as the lamb cutlets my sister and I used to buy here (Toronto) smelled and tasty very gamey, which turned us off.


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## SeaBreeze (Apr 28, 2022)

Ronni said:


> In Australia, lamb was plentiful and was as popular as chicken.  Here in the US it’s an expensive cut of meat. But I discovered that ground lamb isn’t as expensive and I’ve developed a rub that really brings out its flavor. That, and my Mum’s mint sauce, make it one of Ron’s favorite meals!!
> 
> I’ve discovered that a lot of folks think lamb has too pungent a taste and don’t care for it. How about you?
> View attachment 218909


We buy lamb sirloins and my husband grills them over charcoal.  We will often eat them with oven roasted Brussels sprouts or cauliflower.  They are pricey, but well worth it IMO.

There is no way I would buy or eat mutton, I don't like gamey anything.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/the-difference-between-lamb-and-mutton-2356034


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## Purwell (Apr 28, 2022)

I do indeed like lamb but rarely buy it now, can't say that I've ever eaten mutton and it does not seem to be readily available here n the UK.


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## WheatenLover (Apr 28, 2022)

I don't eat veal, lamb, or mutton. The veal is because of the way the calves are raised, and lambs are too cute, and mutton... just no. Really, my  meat choices are sparse:  rarely pork, more often beef or chicken. Sometimes I wish I ate more kinds of meat, just for a change.


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