Half leg of lamb… slow cooker or not?

[allnewname]

I’ve read mixed reviews for a recipe … shove lamb and a lamb gravy in slow cooker …. Seems simple enough, but some reviews say it comes out rock hard. Do NOT want to ruin this v expensive chunk of lamb… any experience?

I don’t think there’s enough fat in a leg to slow cook consistently well. Shoulder slow cooks beautifully. I think it’s best roasted with garlic and Rosemary over sliced potatoes or butterflied and grilled or bbq-Ed.

Depends how you like it. Shoulder of lamb is the one to cool slowly, in my opinion. Leg of lamb you can cook slowly if you want it to come off the bone. Not if you want it pink obviously. With a leg I often butterfly it as I like lamb really pink, and frazzle it for 30 minutes covered in redcurrant jelly. Butterflying it is pretty easy with a very sharp knife (look on youtube).

Ha! My post crossed with yours. Am in agreement!

Leg is a roasting joint.

IMO it would be a ruinous waste to put lamb leg in a slow cooker with gravy.

Roast will be much nicer.

Slash it all over and shove garlic lemon rosemary and cinnamon in the cuts. Cut the potatoes small roast and then finish them off in an airfryer tossed with ras al hanout while the lamb rests. Make your normal lamb gravy and add tub of hummus and the juice of a lemon to is. Serve with green beans and a tomatoe/parsley salad.

Yes, slow cooker is not the answer, thanks

Let us know how you’re a turns out. I’m really looking forward to ours!

I do leg of lamb in the slow cooker but I'm not looking for pink lamb, I just prefer it really tender. I also do it the day before so it's easier to slice cold and reheat in gravy, delicious, I usually freeze portions of it then for handy dinners. I always buy some when I see an offer, I don't add gravy as such into slow cooker, just some veg and very small amount of liquid and then make gravy from the juices at the end. It's absolutely lovely but not classic roast lamb obviously which is nice too if you can be guaranteed tender lamb.

Leg of lamb does not work well in the slow cooker. I tried it. Ruined it. Regretted the waste of an expensive piece of meat. Ate it nonetheless, but it needed to be slathered in sauces to be made edible.

Leg does not contain enough collagen for the slow cooking process. It comes out dry.

We roast a leg slow, but maybe we shouldn't?

Mine turned out amazing in the slow cooker! I dotted it with garlic & rosemary and covered it with anchovies & the oil. Then browned it in an enamel pan on the hob. Transferred to slow cooker with thyme, mint, bay leaf and some balsamic. I cooked it on low for about 12 hours. It fell off the bone when carved & was beautifully pink in the middle. I glazed the pan with a tiny bit of wine added this to last hour of slow cooking.

I served it once with flatbreads, Greek style, and a second time more traditional style with veg and roast potatoes. I used the leftover liquid, mint sauce, redcurrant jelly, reduced to make a sort of gravy over leftover slices.

Reporting back… completely delicious. Followed a bbc recipe from Lorraine pascale. Bunged lamb in le creuset with loads of herbs, garlic and onion and some white wine. Cooked for 3.5 hrs, fell off the bone, really tasty. Probably could have done something with the juices, but didn’t, possibly could have done with some gravy but we scoffed the whole thing very quickly with roast spuds and veg. Might persevere with a slow cooker option another time…