lamb cooking times - help and advice, please

[stuckmum]

Hi there, hope someone can help with my baby brain stupidity

I have a recipe for leg of lamb in a nigel slater book that i have used before and it was really tasty, eventually. Problem was it took about twice as long to cook as the recipe said. Embarrassing cos I was doing it for my parents, but worked out ok. This time I've stupidly made a point of inviting lonely SIL for easter dinner, so it needs to be right.

I've got the butcher to take the bone out this time, so I've got a boned leg of lamb and a recipe for lamb on the bone that has the wrong cooking time anyway.

So... If I blast it for 20 mins then turn the heat down to gas mark 6 how long should I cook it for per kg? There's no stuffing. It weighed 1.16kg with the bone, dunno how much without for now, just started defrosting it.

Sorry for such a stupid question, feel like I should know this or be able to work it out myself, my brain just isn't functioning right now

it sounds as though you like it falling off the bone (so to speak) rather than pink? i'd be cooking it on a slightly lower heat in that case, to give the inside a chance to catch up with the outside. it's a half leg at that weight, yes? for well done i'd give it 2 hours with the bone, so maybe hour and a half on gas 5.

more to the point, get it soaking in cold water now otherwise it might not defrost in time

wait util it;s defrosted and re-weigh it, then look here and work out the new time - or post it's weight and let someone else work it out for you!

according to the quality atandard beef and lamb who i found rather good for recipes and more conservative with timings than the current celeb type chefs (who seem to eat meat far rarer) it is 30 min per 450g plus 30 mins at 180/190 degrees so i reckon about 1 hour 45 min from that (but am knackered so dbl check with calculator)

If you are worried about timing i would put it in a little early then if it cooked before roast potatoes/ the time you wanted pull it out cover with lots of foil and allow to rest and just be sure to have piping gravy (same logic as christmas dinner)

if it's for tomorrow - it will defrost wih plenty of time.

just see it was 1.16 kg with the bone, should need less now, reweigh when defrosted

Thanks for all that, everyone.

mileniwmffalcon - I've a cast iron plate on top of my cooker which seems to help things defrost pretty quick, thank goodness

I'll check the weight again when it's defrosted, should have done that before I froze it so I could plan ahead better, but wasn't thinking.

I quite like my lamb pink, but last time it was completely raw using this recipe in the time it said. I've had this problem with Nigel Slater stuff before, he says this recipe is for well-done, don't know if it's him, or my cooker (lpg, not mains gas, though I thought I was getting quite good at judging what needed adjusted and by how much). The stuff always sounds nice in the book, but have never had much luck. Guess I should either get rid of the book or just use it as a starting point for ideas when (if ) I get my own brain back again.

Hopefully that's one less thing to panic about tomorrow, fingers crossed. Should probably not have invited anyone when I'm in this state, but felt sorry for SIL, she's been left out of all the other family stuff (lucky her) cos of some stupid feud. Family-in-law, who'd have them?

Best go, think I hear DD starting to cry for breakfast...