It’s normal to feel wary of cooking with lamb since it’s so delicate and prone to drying out in the oven. However, when we spoke with Kareem El-Ghayesh, nominated for a James Beard award for his work at Austin’s KG BBQ and ambassador for the American Lamb Board (ALB), and Megan Wortman, Executive Director of the ALB, we learned that it’s surprisingly easy to keep it moist and tender.
“Marinating is a great way of retaining moisture,” El-Ghayesh says. “If you’re doing a rack of lamb, which is one of my favorite cuts ever, you want to do a dry rub and you want to let that sit in the dry rub for a few hours.” Salt isn’t just an important component for making lamb less gamey. When allowed to sit on raw meat, it alters proteins and encourages meat to hold onto its inherent moisture.
“If you’re doing a lamb leg, I like using a marinade on it with fresh garlic, olive oil, [and] warm spices […]” El-Ghayesh tells us. “Clove, nutmeg, cumin [–] think of those almost holidays spices[. T]hese go really well with lamb. It’s not just to mask the gamey flavor […] it ends up pairing very, very well.” When doing a wet marinade, be sure to avoid a common mistake that makes lamb mushy and only marinate it for 15 to 20 minutes.
Top lamb cuts and how to cook them
From nose to hoof, just about every part of the lamb is delicious. But, to bring its flavor to life, you first have to know how to properly prepare every cut.
“The lamb racks, I like to smoke, grill[,] or oven roast,” says Megan Wortman. “T-bones, I like to grill or pan sear[.] Lamb leg, smoke or oven roast[; use] dry heat.” With a properly prepared rub or marinade, lamb responds incredibly well to dry heat methods. Many cuts are already tender, so hot and fast cooking methods create a beautiful Maillard crust on the exterior while leaving the interior juicy and slightly pink.
But, while most cuts benefit from dry heat, others need more time. “Lamb shoulder, you want to smoke and braise,” Wortman says. “So[,] either roast it in the oven or put [it] on a smoker for six hours until it gets a really nice color[. Then,] you’re going to put it in a pan … cover it tightly … add more butter and more stock[,] and just let it braise until it becomes shreddable and tender.” Lamb shoulder is full of connective tissues that have great flavor potential, but only if you cook it low and slow. As a bonus, leftover shredded lamb is perfect for all kinds of recipes, from improvised carnitas to savory shepherd’s pie.
