Roasting Legs of Lamb

[bambino]

Hi :chef: 's

Just wondering if you can help me out. An old friend gave me a tip on how to cook the perfect roast lamb, but unfortunatley, I forget.

It was along the lines of pouring water into the pan / on the meat every so often to stop the meat from drying out.

Can anyone shed any light on this technique??

[Seekrit]

And as well as this (sorry bambino, i have no idea but I'm cooking a roast lamb tonight too!) how long should one roast a leg 'o' lamb? :chef:

[PMS]

I usually get my roasts from either coles or woolies. They should have some directions on the back telling you how long to cook it for. I made a lamb roast last weekend ; I didn't put any oil or water in the pan. The roast was very tender and delicious!

[Ana Gram]

It's called basting. I do it to all my roasts, usually with a marinade. Basically you just brush the meat with the marinade or it's own juices every half hour - to hour depending how long you are cooking it for.

[Jem]

i usually cook my roasts with water and oil... makes them very moist and tasty:D

[Mister Noodle]

My advice would be NOT to put any water in the pan.

Take the leg, rub a handful of oil over it, stick it on a small roasting rack if you have one, if not use a couple of carrots, or anything to get it up off the bottom of the pan) in a roasting tin.

Sling on some freshly cracked black pepper, and a sprig of rosemary if you have any. No salt, you don't want the juices leaking out.

Put in a preheated oven (hottest it gets) for 5-10 minutes, then turn down to around the 200 mark, and leave it there for... anything from 45 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on the size of the leg. Use your judgement, really - but one trick is to pull it out and stick it on a white plate. If the juices that come out are really red, stick it back in for a while longer.

Salt it when it comes out, or at least after the outer skin has toughened up a bit.

[Jem]

My advice would be NOT to put any water in the pan.

Take the leg, rub a handful of oil over it, stick it on a small roasting rack if you have one, if not use a couple of carrots, or anything to get it up off the bottom of the pan) in a roasting tin.

Sling on some freshly cracked black pepper, and a sprig of rosemary if you have any. No salt, you don't want the juices leaking out.

Put in a preheated oven (hottest it gets) for 5-10 minutes, then turn down to around the 200 mark, and leave it there for... anything from 45 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on the size of the leg. Use your judgement, really - but one trick is to pull it out and stick it on a white plate. If the juices that come out are really red, stick it back in for a while longer.

Salt it when it comes out, or at least after the outer skin has toughened up a bit.


i know where im going for tea :D

[bambino]

OMG my mouth is drooling.....keep it coming, truely appreciate the tips :chef:

[Seekrit]

I just called my dad and his partner hehehe

Ineke recommends putting Strawberry Jam and Rosemary on the roast before roasting it! I have to say, I've had her lamb roasts before and they're divine!

[Mister Noodle]

The thing with water in the pan is that while it creates lots of gravy, it also lets the juices out of the meat. You can keep pouring them back over the top, but I've always found that they're quite reluctant to stay reabsorbed, and you end up washing the flavour out of the meat itself, so to speak.

If you seal the roast with a very high temperature just to start out, the outer layer creates a barrier that stops the roast from leaking at very much - so it just can't dry out (unless you really try to wreck it :D)

There should be enough pan juices to make gravy, even so. Once the roast is out, put some boiling water in the pan and give it a good swish/scrape around (stick it on the stove if necessary) until it's all dissolved. Then pour into a saucepan, leave it to settle a minute and spoon off as much of the fat from the top as you reasonably can - and boil down until you get a nice strong flavour. It won't be thick, but it'll taste great.

[dannii]

ooooh yumm that sounds great... im going to remember them tips! thanx mister noodle!!!:yelclap: