The Pandemic Made Lamb More Popular in America(bloomberg.com)
bloomberg.com
The Pandemic Made Lamb More Popular in America
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-31/how-the-pandemic-made-lamb-more-popular-with-american-consumers
46 comments
Leg of lamb is a pretty tender cut of meat closer to steak or ribeye in my experience.
Recently I roasted a leg of lamb for maybe 2.5 hours until the core temp was 135. It was a perfect medium rare in the thickest parts.
I suspect you should target something like 2-6 hours. Kenji has a chart you can follow for cook times on Serious Eats.
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/10/sous-vide-leg-of...
Recently I roasted a leg of lamb for maybe 2.5 hours until the core temp was 135. It was a perfect medium rare in the thickest parts.
I suspect you should target something like 2-6 hours. Kenji has a chart you can follow for cook times on Serious Eats.
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/10/sous-vide-leg-of...
You really don’t need to sous vide it for 36 hours it’s a waste of time and money.
Depending on the size 5-6 hours in a sous vide is more than enough and it’s much better if you simply roast or braise it.
I used to sous vide everything then I’ve learned to cook better and I sous vide as a mostly pointless exercise for most food perpetration other than reheating.
Depending on the size 5-6 hours in a sous vide is more than enough and it’s much better if you simply roast or braise it.
I used to sous vide everything then I’ve learned to cook better and I sous vide as a mostly pointless exercise for most food perpetration other than reheating.
I haven't cooked lamb sous vide, but I'd be amazed if a "leg roast" needs so much time. Won't it end up sort of mushy?
When I do that to beef it isn't mushy, but fork-tender. With shank or ribs, the flavor is still intense. Guess I'll find out if the same is true for a lamb leg. Beef comes out of the water bath pale and unappetizing, but crisps up nicely in the air fryer.
I think that depends on the cut of beef. 36h is great for brisket or short rib. But 36h would be bad for fillet mignon.
Leg of lamb is not tough generally, I personally would cut that down to no more than 18 hours if it is bone-in and probably like 8-10 hours if boneless, depending on size.
Edit: A few websites suggest something between 5-8 for boneless.
Edit: A few websites suggest something between 5-8 for boneless.
Nice... lamb is very tasty, and it is one of the animals that is better raised in pasture, even in hilly terrain.
Goats are the same as well.
The best lamb if I have had was one raised in mountainous pasture in Albania where wild tea and wild oregano is raised.
Goats are the same as well.
The best lamb if I have had was one raised in mountainous pasture in Albania where wild tea and wild oregano is raised.
I love lamb but absolutely hate goat. I've eaten a lot of goat (unfortunately) as I used to live in Africa and when traveling, it was often the only meat around (like in small villages). It has this weird greasy and sickening smell.
You might find the taste different other places; in the USA if you find goat meat it's likely been raised on sweet feed and corn and sheltered from things that might spoil the flavor. That often makes more difference than the breed; tho we run different breeds for meat here too and that also has an impact.
Unfortunately lamb has higher emissions than eating beef[0].
[0] https://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/a-meat-eaters-guide-to-c...
[0] https://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/a-meat-eaters-guide-to-c...
Not that I want to really get in to this, but I hope people know that “lamb” is just a baby sheep. Sheep normally live to be like ~8 years old, but lamb is a sheep that is less than 1 year old. Even if they are raised in nice conditions, their lives are cut quite short.
Not sure why you're being down voted.
Eating meat for survival - if there are no other options - sure - gotta do what you can to survive.
Eating meat for taste pleasure - is it really justified that millions of sentient beings have to suffer horribly and in addition to this the environmental damage and the horrible working conditions for fellow humans in factory farms created by our demand for meat.
We generally consider babies as innocent... the idea of killing babies of other species just so we can derive some sensory pleasure from it is frankly barbaric[0](yes go ahead down vote me to oblivion) - but from an ethical standpoint - how can we place our pleasure above the lives of other non-human animals and biosphere health?
Future humans will agree: https://youtu.be/sS7NRtEJBcA?t=28
Damian Mander - founder of International Anti-Poaching Foundation put it best: https://youtu.be/BUMGBwgGYWw?t=100
[0] Barbaric as in non-civilized as explored in this video:
Richard Dawkins: No Civilized Person Accepts Slavery So Why Do We Accept Animal Cruelty?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4SnBCPzBl0
Eating meat for survival - if there are no other options - sure - gotta do what you can to survive.
Eating meat for taste pleasure - is it really justified that millions of sentient beings have to suffer horribly and in addition to this the environmental damage and the horrible working conditions for fellow humans in factory farms created by our demand for meat.
We generally consider babies as innocent... the idea of killing babies of other species just so we can derive some sensory pleasure from it is frankly barbaric[0](yes go ahead down vote me to oblivion) - but from an ethical standpoint - how can we place our pleasure above the lives of other non-human animals and biosphere health?
Future humans will agree: https://youtu.be/sS7NRtEJBcA?t=28
Damian Mander - founder of International Anti-Poaching Foundation put it best: https://youtu.be/BUMGBwgGYWw?t=100
[0] Barbaric as in non-civilized as explored in this video:
Richard Dawkins: No Civilized Person Accepts Slavery So Why Do We Accept Animal Cruelty?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4SnBCPzBl0
Thank you for the support. Yes my comment you are responding to is a flat factual statement. Since becoming vegan I have learned that I had built up a lot of cognitive dissonance around animal agriculture and I believe most (but not all) meat eaters in the USA carry that dissonance. It can be upsetting for cognitive dissonance to be activated and I believe that’s why people downvote things like this. I certainly wasn’t rude, short, inflammatory, accusatory or judging.
I will check out those links thank you!
I will check out those links thank you!
In the US it's pretty hard to find mutton, I don't think I've ever seen it served at a restaurant or grocery store. But then again, I think everyone agrees that lamb tastes way better than mutton.
I grew up near the Navajo reservation and it was easy to find mutton there, probably one of the few places that is true. Mutton stew is the common dish, but I have had mutton navajo tacos and other things once upon a time, but I can’t particularly remember the taste.
A lot of mutton tends to go in the stew pot or the grind with spice, except for a few cuts. There are chops (which I like), and the rib eye (the rack, as it were). Typically, what you would think of as the premium cuts on a beef steer are kept on mutton, and the rest is cut for the grind or stew cuts, as far as I know. I like mutton, but I also like goat. I don't mind gamier meat flavors, though and was raised hunting so there's that.
Yeah I don’t mind gamy meats, I have had kudu, gemsbok, springbok, javalina, elk, ostrich, venison (many times) etc...
The mutton near the reservation often lived fairly long lives, so I wouldn’t terribly be surprised if stew was common for even the desirable cuts.
The mutton near the reservation often lived fairly long lives, so I wouldn’t terribly be surprised if stew was common for even the desirable cuts.
Goat is available. I usually get it from https://www.shepherdsongfarm.com
They sell pasture raised lamb as well and ship to you.
I’m not associated with them, just a happy customer.
They sell pasture raised lamb as well and ship to you.
I’m not associated with them, just a happy customer.
Mutton is a staple at Gates BBQ restaurants in KC: https://gatesbbq.com/menu/
Yep, I absolutely know this, and their meat is tastier when less than 1 year old. This is especially true with goats (their meat gets gammier as they get older). Also, young piglet whole section is one of the best thing I have ever had. (pigs get fatier as they age)
I do understand that for some folks in western countries this amounts to somme kind cruelty, in poorer countries, that raise living creatures in the open, this is a necessety.
A farm that is pasture raising, might not have enough grass for every lamb to go be grown in the winter.
I do understand that for some folks in western countries this amounts to somme kind cruelty, in poorer countries, that raise living creatures in the open, this is a necessety.
A farm that is pasture raising, might not have enough grass for every lamb to go be grown in the winter.
I have no judgement for people in poorer countries. They gotta do what works for them and I support that. In the USA where I live, animal agriculture is grotesque and torturous, so I don’t eat any animal products. I actually work at a small rural farm which produces plenty of eggs, but even there the chickens are treated as things which produce money more than living creatures. It all seems cruel and unnecessary to me.
It sounds like eating lamb has a material basis in poorer countries (potential lack of food), but in places like the US that is not the case. It is done solely as a “tasty” food product.
It sounds like eating lamb has a material basis in poorer countries (potential lack of food), but in places like the US that is not the case. It is done solely as a “tasty” food product.
As long as large companies can buy votes through lobbying, the condition of animals will not improve. I’m not a vegetarian but when I see how they’re treated in the US it sickens me a little. Thankfully I don’t live there so I know my chickens and goats are those that I see hanging out in front my house.
Buy from local farms yo... it is a bit pricier, but worth it (from taste alone). Your average grocery store is probably mass grown/produced, but almost every city will have a store or two that sell animals from local small farms. If not, at least farmer's markets will have.
I live in the USA dude... you can chose pasture raised animals here as well. During the early days of the pandemic my sister bought a whole lamb, and 5 pasture raised chickens from a family farm in Massachusetts so our family didn't have to risk going to the grocery store often and risk exposure (my parents are in their mid-ate 70s).
Nothing wrong with eating pasture raised animals from a local family farms. It can be pricier, but if you can afford it, go for it.
Since they forage grass (which captures carbon), they tend to be almost carbon neutral. Your vegan soy beans are probably raised and processed with some intense farming method, using lots of fuel, and are probably more damaging to the environment. Things like vegetarian meat substitute (like beyond meat), are worse to the environment than grass fed/pasture raised animals from small farms.
Also, things like 'almond milk', are very intense users of water, which has become very scarce in central California.
BTW, this is what pastures in Albania look like. 100% natural
http://abroadcooks.blogspot.com/2017/01/albania-tave-kosi.ht...
Nothing wrong with eating pasture raised animals from a local family farms. It can be pricier, but if you can afford it, go for it.
Since they forage grass (which captures carbon), they tend to be almost carbon neutral. Your vegan soy beans are probably raised and processed with some intense farming method, using lots of fuel, and are probably more damaging to the environment. Things like vegetarian meat substitute (like beyond meat), are worse to the environment than grass fed/pasture raised animals from small farms.
Also, things like 'almond milk', are very intense users of water, which has become very scarce in central California.
BTW, this is what pastures in Albania look like. 100% natural
http://abroadcooks.blogspot.com/2017/01/albania-tave-kosi.ht...
> Things like vegetarian meat substitute (like beyond meat), are worse to the environment than grass fed/pasture raised animals from small farms.
This is entirely false. Pasture raised animals are generally worse for the environment than feedlot-fed animals, which are already much bad to begin with compared to plant-based foods. You can try to justify it to yourself as “the animals are happier because this is more humane” (which I’m not disregarding, mind you, although I dryly note that not eating animals at all is even better), but from an environmental standpoint raising animals this way is energy intensive and “inefficient”.
This is entirely false. Pasture raised animals are generally worse for the environment than feedlot-fed animals, which are already much bad to begin with compared to plant-based foods. You can try to justify it to yourself as “the animals are happier because this is more humane” (which I’m not disregarding, mind you, although I dryly note that not eating animals at all is even better), but from an environmental standpoint raising animals this way is energy intensive and “inefficient”.
Too late to add to my previous comment but if you live in the USA I don’t see what pastures in Albania have to do with anything. I work in a farming town and I see the grass fed cows in the pasture. I’m quite aware of the pastoral views and open air. And then the animals disappear. It’s the disappearing part that I am concerned with. The animal is raised as property and killed to serve us. If you consider that they are sentient beings with as much right to live as you and I, it all seems rather horrible. Even if one believes pasture raised meat is ethical, the majority of meat consumption in the USA comes from factory farms, a truly grotesque operation.
I think you have misunderstood me. The parent said that in poorer countries they may have to kill sheep when they are young if there is not enough grass to feed them on in the winter. But we do not have the problem of a lack of animal food in the USA. We eat young sheep ("lamb") simply because they are considered to taste better. It is not due to material lack of animal feed.
It is probably true about most of the farmed meat.
A quick image search for "farmed animal lifespans" (https://www.google.com/search?q=farmed+animal+lifespans&tbm=...) certainly points in that direction.
At what age are goats usually slaughtered? Lamb is delicious, but I've had goat that I consider roughly as good as lamb when it's in a flavorful dish.
As a vegetarian, I've sort of forgotten this, but wow, meat is expensive. Except for chicken.
Carbs are cheap, easier to store, package and sell. Part of the reason they are pushing hard on veganism. When refined it's empty calorie though so it ends up more expensive per nutrient in this case. Non-refined carbs are more expensive but still less nutrient dense than meat and you need b12 supplements. Nothing's perfect.
> Carbs are cheap, easier to store, package and sell
Not just carbs, but legumes are about half carbs, half protein, and meet all of those. They take some prep, though.
Nuts are more expensive and only store for 6 months to a year, but they're easy to store, package, and sell.
Not just carbs, but legumes are about half carbs, half protein, and meet all of those. They take some prep, though.
Nuts are more expensive and only store for 6 months to a year, but they're easy to store, package, and sell.
> Not just carbs, but legumes are about half carbs, half protein,
Counting only net carbs (so, not counting fiber) legumes are about 2:1 carb to protein.
Counting only net carbs (so, not counting fiber) legumes are about 2:1 carb to protein.
Meat is also supplemented with B12, same as many vegetarian meals. And with a balanced diet (greens + legumes + seeds) you won't have any problems with nutrients.
The problems arise when people is monochoice ( only meat, only lettuce, etc)
Lamb curry is the best. Plus who can't love a tasty lamb chop? Oh and Shepherd's pie... It's always been my favourite meat. But then I'm a Brit.
Here in India, you're usually getting goat, even if the menu says "lamb".
Hah. I like that.
Yes, one of the surprising things I realised when first making regular US trips from the UK was that lamb was a comparatively exotic meat there.
I like lamb, but it is harder to cook well than steak or chicken. I know lots of ways to prepare steak and chicken that taste good, but I've been less successful with lamb.
There's lots of people moving to the country and setting up hobby farms. It's spring and everyone selling lambs and kids; prices usually dip but this year they're running 2x to 4x usual.
Lots of people who are telling themselves there's a business opportunity are going to run into a wall when it comes to the processing part; can't just do that yourself and slaughterhouses are black magic balls of red tape.
Lots of people who are telling themselves there's a business opportunity are going to run into a wall when it comes to the processing part; can't just do that yourself and slaughterhouses are black magic balls of red tape.
I've been trying to source a whole lamb for the freezer, to keep the cow in there company. I guess the pandemic is why it's been hard to find.