fffr %m UÏÏ H-'^ Lamb in Family Meals j;^ UNITED STATES HOME AND PREPARED BY AUJ)) DEPARTMENT OF GARDEN BULLETIN AGRICULTURAL ^^^ AGRICULTIJRF NUMBER 124 RESEARCH SERVICE CONTENTS Buying lamb 1 Identification of cuts „ 1 Signs of good quality 2 Amount to buy 3 Storing lamb 4 Fresh lamb 4 Cooked lamb ^^ 4 Canned lamb and lamb products 5 General cooking principles 5 Cooking temperature 5 Cooking time „^ 5 Degree of doneness 6 Cooking frozen lamb 6 How to cook lamb 7 Selecting cooking method „_ 7 Broiling 7 Outdoor broiling 8 Pan broiling g Panfrying 9 Roasting 9 Rôtisserie cooking 12 Braising 12 Simmering I3 Cooking variety meats 13 Lamb gravy „ 14 R ecipes 15 Index to recipes 21 Acknowledgment is made to the National Live Stock and Meat Board for supplying photographs of retail lamb cuts. Prepared by Consumer and Food Economics Institute Agricultural Research Service Washington, D.C. Slightly Revised May 1977 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 il LAMB IN FAMILY MEALS: A Guide for Consumers c"> Let lamb lend variety and appeal protein, less fat, and fewer calories to your weekly menus. than it used to have, and you can Once a seasonal meat served usually buy it well trimmed and chiefly in the spring, juicy and ready to cook. flavorful lamb is now available Best of all—because all cuts of throughout the year. You can serve lamb are tender—even the least ex- tasty lamb shish kebabs in summer, pensive cuts can become appetizing hearty lamb stew in winter, and, and satisfying main dishes when of course, the traditional spring you prepare them with imagination. roast leg of lamb. In this bulletin you'll find— Lamb, like other meats, is rich • Illustrations to help you iden- in essential body-building protein, tify the lamb cuts you're likely to in iron, and in the B vitamins— find in retail markets. niacin, thiamin, and riboflavin. • Tips on selecting quality lamb. Lamb liver and kidneys are es- • Help in estimating how much pecially good sources of these lamb to buy to feed your family. nutrients. • A guide to storing lamb. Improved breeding, feeding, and • Directions and timetables for marketing practices are steadily im- cooking lamb. proving the quality of lamb cuts. • Main dish recipes featuring As a result, today's lamb has more lamb. BUYING LAMB Lamb is meat from young sheep dicate the section of the carcass usually less than 1 year old. Most from which the meat was cut. of the sheep annually sold for meat Study the illustrations (page 10 to are marketed as lamb. 11). With a little practice you will Lamb is pinkish red in color learn to recognize the different cuts. with white, brittle fat. The bones are porous and reddish. Other lamb cuts While most lamb is marketed Boneless stew lamb, small pieces fresh, some is sold as frozen products or cubes of meat, usually are cut and some as canned products. from the neck and shoulders, but they may come from any part of a Identification of Cuts lamb carcass. Learn to identify meat cuts by Ground lamb generally is made their appearance. Names often in- from neck, breast, shanks, and 1 flank, although boneless lamb from essed under sanitary conditions, any cut can be used. Sometimes and that it has been honestly ground lamb is shaped into patties. labeled. This mark appears on each A lamb cushion shoulder is a wholesale cut of an inspected and square, flat piece of meat formed approved lamb carcass, and it may by removing bones from a shoulder or may not appear on smaller retail and leaving a pocket which can be cuts. The colored stamping fluid is a stuffed. harmless coloring and need not be A leg steak is a slice usually cut trimmed from meat before cooking. from the middle of the leg, con- Processed meats—canned or taining a round bone. frozen lamb or lamb combination Saratoga chops are boneless lamb dishes—are accurately and informa- chops made from the inside shoulder tively labeled if they are prepared muscle. under Federal inspection. Such Variety meats products also meet established re- quirements of meat content. Brains are soft, very tender, and All fresh and processed meat delicate in flavor. products that are shipped from one Heart is very firm and smooth State to another must bear a mark textured. It is one of the less tender of Federal inspection. The Federal variety meats and requires long, slow cooking. Meat Act of 1967 assures con- sumers that all meat is inspected Kidneys are smooth and bean either by the Federal Government shaped, and comparatively mild in flavor. or an adequate State system. Previ- ously, Federal inspection was re- Liver is fine textured, and distinc- quired only in plants dealing in tive and mild in flavor. Whole liver interstate or foreign commerce. should have a moist, smooth surface when purchased; sliced liver may Grade stamp or packer^s brand appear slightly porous. The grade stamp is a guide to the Sweetbreads, the thymus glands, quality of federally graded retail are white and soft and have a very cuts of lamb. It tells whether a delicate flavor. lamb cut is USDA Prime, Choice, Tongue is firm in texture and is Good, Utility, or Cull. one of the less tender variety meats. Grade depends on the proportion Lamb tongue is usually sold cooked of meat to bone, the color and and ready to serve. texture of the lean, the firmness of lean and fat, and the degree of Signs of Good Quality marbling (flecks of fat throughout muscle). Most of the federally Inspection mark and label graded lamb on the retail market is The mark of Federal inspection USDA Prime or USDA Choice. on a lamb cut (reading, ''U.S. Because meat grading is optional Inspected and Passed") tells con- and is paid for by the meatpacker, sumers that the meat came from a not all lamb is federally graded. healthy animal, that it was proc- Some meatpackers use brands, in- Price is not indicative of the quality, tenderness, or nutritive USDA value of a cut of lamb. Lean meat from all parts of the lamb furnishes CHOICE high-quality protein. Amount To Buy stead of grades, to represent the The amount of lamb to buy de- quality levels of their products. pends on the number in your family, Each packer may sell products their ages and preferences, how you under several brand names, with plan to use the meat, and available each brand representing a different storage space. Unless you have ade- quality level. These may or may not quate freezer storage space, buy match the standards of Federal only the amount of lamb that you grades. can use within the refrigerator stor- age periods suggested in the table Appearance on page 4. Appearance of fresh lamb is an important guide to quality—espe- To estimate the number of serv- cially if the grade or packer's brand ings of boneless, cooked meat from does not appear on the meat. a pound of various retail lamb cuts, Meat from high-quality, young see table below. lambs has pink, firm, fine-textured lean. Cross sections of bones appear Yield of boneless, cooked meat jrom red, moist, and porous. The lean retail lamb cuts meat from older, high-quality lambs Approximate yield of is light red; the bones appear drier, cooked lean and some fat from 1 pound of fresh harder, and less red than bones of lamb as purchased i Cut of lamb younger lambs. 3-ounce Volume, servings chopped External fat should be firm. How- or diced ever, its color should not be taken as an indication of the quality of Number Cups Ground lamb the lamb. The color of fat varies Leg roast : with the breed and age of the ani- Bone-in __ 2>^ to 3 mal, and with the type of feed it has Boneless. - S'A 2 been fattened on. Shoulder roast: Bone-in 3 IH Prices Boneless 3 to 3/2 2 Many factors influence the retail Stew lamb 3 2 price of lamb : The store where it is sold, the popularity of the cut or 1 Assumes that most fat is trimmed brand, the amount of handling or from meat before it is eaten. These figures allow no more than 10 percent processing necessary to get the meat fat on a cooked, bone-in cut and no to market, and the season of the more than 15 percent fat on a cooked, year. boneless cut. STORING LAMB Fresh Lamb tightly in a packaging material that is both moisture and vapor resist- Refrigerator storage ant. For more information on Fresh lamb can be stored at freezing lamb, consult Home and refrigerator temperatures between Garden Bulletin 93, 'freezing Meat 35° and 40^ F. or at lower tempera- and Fish in the Home." ^ tures in the meat compartment of Meats (including cooked meat some refrigerators. It generally dishes) purchased frozen should be keeps best if loosely wrapped. How- kept frozen at 0*^ F. until used. ever, prepackaged fresh lamb may Stored at 0° F. (in a freezer or be refrigerated in the original wrap- freezer-cabinet of a refrigerator- per if it is to be used within 1 or freezer combination), fresh lamb 2 days. retains its high quality for the ap- Lamb variety meats, ground proximate lengths of time specified lamb, and stew lamb are highly in table on this page. In frozen food perishable and cannot be stored as compartments of home refrigerators, long as other lamb cuts.