Help! Leg of lamb

[Cantbelievethatimafoolagain]

Every time I cook leg of lamb it's hard and tough. I want to make slow cooked leg of lamb for Christmas. I tried it the other day and cooked it at 150c for 4 hrs. Other recipes have the temperature higher at about 170 and cook it for longer so I don't understand why the meat isn't falling off the bone.

any tips?

Wrong cut. You are over cooking it.
Try shoulder, it has more intermuscular fat which melts down and keeps the meat moist on a longer slower cook.
Also if the meat isn't great in the first place, ie not hung at all it might not be you, meat quality varies hugely!
Editing to add- if you want a long slow cook it would need to be the kind of recipe where you either add a lot of fat to it or like in a slowcooker/pot roast type thing when it is cooked in stock/gravure or something. But I'd still get shoulder instead!

@Cantbelievethatimafoolagain It will be tough after that length of time! Leg of lamb is 20 mins per lb and an extra 20 mins for pink lamb. Extra time for not pink. Add diners of garlic and sprigs of rosemary for classic French lamb. I cook shoulder in the same way because in my view it’s very very difficult to keep it moist. I would cook in wine or stock for slow cooking and, in my oven, at less than 150. My oven auto roasts on 160!

@Onlyvisiting @TizerorFizz
thanks for your advice. It has to be leg of lamb and not shoulder as leg of lamb is currently half price in Tesco! My cousin always cooks it for Christmas dinner and it's lovely and moist.

Seer the outside. Stab all over and insert slivers of garlic and rosemary, put a sliced carrot and onion at the bottom of the tin and lamb on top. Add lid or loosely wrap lamb in foil. Cook at 150 for about 3-4 hours. Should not be dry

@TwigTheWonderKid i did exactly that!

The more you extend the time and reduce the temperature the better it will be.

The french cook it for 8 hours!

Too hot if you have a fan oven, it's 150/130 fan and you need stock of some kind and a trivet of veg plus cover in foil.

Otherwise if you just cook 25 mins per found at 180 it will be tender but be much quicker

Marinade it for at least a day. I cover mine in garlic, oil rosemary and salt. Double wrap in foil. Roast in the foil until the last 20 mins of cooking. Always comes out juicy.

This is a fantastic recipe, never fails and very easy

flawlessfood.co.uk/slow-cooked-leg-of-lamb/

https://tomkerridge.com/recipes/slow-roasted-lamb-with-boulangere-potatoes/

Was recommended on here - when I did it the meat fell apart. Was also incredibly easy - stick it in the oven and come back later.

(OK - it's shoulder not leg, but it's the same general area of the beast...)

^ as above, but also push pieces of anchovy into the cuts as well as the garlic and rosemary. About an hour into cooking you'll wonder what the hell you've done, but at the end of cooking it will be fantastic (it just melts away to give a lovely umami flavouring that works so, so well with lamb). I'll also put a glass of white wine in the bottom of the roasting pan before it goes in the oven.

Agree with PP that you need a slow cooked shoulder of lamb - not a leg- for melt inthe mouth, falling off the bone lamb.

This recipe is fabulous- really easy and best lamb I've ever tasted. The gravy is delicious too - I don't have a hand held blender so tip it in my food processor and then warm up again in the pan.

www.fatsoflife.co.uk/slow-cooked-lamb-shoulder-with-roasted-cherry-tomatoes/

@Cantbelievethatimafoolagain Why not do a standard roast leg of lamb then. My roast is moist and wonderful but we like a bit of pink lamb. More well done on the outer edges but I don’t get the slow cook idea. It’s so easy to roast efficiently with a good joint.

I think also it may be my oven. I have a nerf oven and there's so many options. Anyone know whether to put it on circo roasting or circo therm?

also thanks to all the suggestions. I will try it again

*Neff

Make sure you leave it to rest.

Low heat long cook, I cook mine on a low heat for around 4 or 5 hours and it falls off the bone.

I do a leg of lamb in pomegranate juice every Easter in the slow cooker. It takes about 8 hours before it falls off the bone. Iirc the recipe says 6 and it definitely takes longer .

My recipe has been pretty fool proof.

Roast the lamb for about 20minutes at 200. Then take out of the oven and reduce temp to 140. While out of the oven add a pint of water to the baking tray, stock cube, red wine, garlic and herbs and sliced carrot. It should be sitting in an inch or so of liquid.

Wrap the whole thing in foil so it's relatively sealed and cook for 3-4 hours. Check every 30-60 minutes to ensure the liquid hasn't evaporated. If gets too reduced (half or more) add more boiling water and re-cover. Makes a fabulous gravy too.

Hi, OP -

I also have Neff ovens and they are quite poor at keeping to the stated temperature. DH finally bought some oven thermometers. Now we set the temperature at whatever it takes to hold the internal temperature correct. It has made a big difference.

(We had them fixed once, expensively and temporarily. We will redo the kitchen within a year or two and put in a range cooker, which is why these ovens are not being replaced)

I am Team Traditional Roast. With rosemary, garlic, marinade, anchovies, olivade, vegetables, etc as you like. The leg is the only cut suitable for a roast; the shoulder and shank need long slow cooking and both contain elements missing from the leg contributing to the delicious outcome.

I don’t think a leg needs to fall off the bone; that’s for shoulders and shanks. A leg should be pink and juicy.

Good luck with your oven. You have my sympathy

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/slow-cooked-leg-lamb

I've done this slow cooked lamb leg multiple times and it is absolutely delicious. So easy too. Slow cooked meat doesn't need to be rested but it is happy to hang around for a while while you finish everything off.

Yeah - I "cheat" and use the slow cooker! 7 - 8 hours and leg of lamb is perfect.

@Cerialkiller Are the temperatures for fan ovens?

Yes they are. Adjust up 10 for non fan.

@Cerialkiller

thanks!