Bought a Half Shoulder of lamb from the butchers.
It looked very good and I was looking forward to eating it. I vac packed it on the day I bought it, think it was Saturday, then started cooking it on the Wednesday @ 57°c for 72hrs. I took it out and chilled it in ice water then it was in the fridge for 24hrs. I took it round to a friends house to have with some Greek salads and dips. I put the oven on at 200°c, cut the bag open and was hit with a really strong smell of parmesan cheese! I told everyone that it was smelly but they didn't seem to be concerned so I carried on. 30 mins in the oven later and out came the lamb. The smell had dissipated but not gone. I tasted the meat and it was obviously ok but it was tainted with that smell! I was gutted as the texture was awesome. Another few lessons learned here.
1, don't leave meat too long in the fridge before cooking.
2, trim fat where possible
3, Roast in the oven for longer, min 40mins
4, 12-24hrs is enough. Lamb benefits from long cooking but 72hrs is overkill.
The wife commented that the meat needed a bit of flavour going through it. I think this is due to the length of time it was cooked as the fat has pretty much gone after this length of time.
Did a second half shoulder today (17/12/2011). This time I did it for 12hrs @ 56c. Took it round to the in-laws with the Beef Topside! This time the lamb was a triumph! No cheese smell! It was quite rare around the bone. I think some were suspicious of the rareness, maybe thinking it wasn't cooked. Maybe crank the heat up to 62-64c next time?
It looked very good and I was looking forward to eating it. I vac packed it on the day I bought it, think it was Saturday, then started cooking it on the Wednesday @ 57°c for 72hrs. I took it out and chilled it in ice water then it was in the fridge for 24hrs. I took it round to a friends house to have with some Greek salads and dips. I put the oven on at 200°c, cut the bag open and was hit with a really strong smell of parmesan cheese! I told everyone that it was smelly but they didn't seem to be concerned so I carried on. 30 mins in the oven later and out came the lamb. The smell had dissipated but not gone. I tasted the meat and it was obviously ok but it was tainted with that smell! I was gutted as the texture was awesome. Another few lessons learned here.
1, don't leave meat too long in the fridge before cooking.
2, trim fat where possible
3, Roast in the oven for longer, min 40mins
4, 12-24hrs is enough. Lamb benefits from long cooking but 72hrs is overkill.
The wife commented that the meat needed a bit of flavour going through it. I think this is due to the length of time it was cooked as the fat has pretty much gone after this length of time.
Did a second half shoulder today (17/12/2011). This time I did it for 12hrs @ 56c. Took it round to the in-laws with the Beef Topside! This time the lamb was a triumph! No cheese smell! It was quite rare around the bone. I think some were suspicious of the rareness, maybe thinking it wasn't cooked. Maybe crank the heat up to 62-64c next time?
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