Post by davenott on May 1, 2016 18:48:05 GMT
i thought I'd post this to help anyone considering cooking a whole lamb in a WFO.
My oven is well insulated, so I was able to cook this using just retained heat.
Sourcing a whole lamb; whole lambs are fairly readily available, and most good butchers will be able to provide you with one. I went direct to a farm I know and they provided me with one of theirs. I paid £135 for mine and it weighed 25.5kg. Make sure they know you want it whole, and not as a whole lamb chopped up in pieces in a box!
Dimensions; my lamb was 3ft 11" long, and 11.5" high but it's neck was raised several inches higher, so I cut this with a saw and lowered it, as my oven entrance is only 12".
Preparation of oven; I lit a big and sustained fire the day before to maximise my heat retention, and then let the oven cool overnight with oven door and chimney fully open to lower the oven air temperature (as against hearth temperature) to my desired starting temperature of between 125 - 135'C.
Preparation of lamb; The night before I removed the wind pipe and lungs which were still attached. I then brushed a marinade all over the inside and outside of the lamb. I made my marinade with just under a pint of olive oil, a large handful of freshly picked rosemary leaves, a couple of chopped garlic cloves, the juice of 3 lemons, salt (I used smoked Molton) and pepper. I then wrapped lamb up tightly and stored it in a cold place. The following morning I reapplied the marinade and then placed the lamb over 2 large roasting trays, each with a rack in to raise the lamb slightly away from the heat of the hearth,and then covered the lamb fully in foil. I added some left over white wine to the trays to help keep it moist, and some veg.
Temperature recording; I used a wireless double temperature probe, one probe in the deepest part of the meat and the second probe raised above the hearth, to measure the oven air temperature rather than the hearth floor temperature. I was aiming for an internal meat temperature of 70'C.
Cooking method; with the help of a second person, I loaded the lamb into the oven and then closed the door. I cooked the lamb at between 125 - 135'C then just left the lamb to cook for 7hr10 min, I then opened oven door, removed foil and popped back in for another 20min to brown. I raised the oven temperature for last 20min to 140'C. I control the oven temperature by opening and closing the chimney aperture, only slight movement of the aperture is required to give me fine control of the temperature (see my whole pig post)
The lamb was really great and very moist (the much thinner rib meat was slightly dry, but the rest moist.) It tasted great
My oven is well insulated, so I was able to cook this using just retained heat.
Sourcing a whole lamb; whole lambs are fairly readily available, and most good butchers will be able to provide you with one. I went direct to a farm I know and they provided me with one of theirs. I paid £135 for mine and it weighed 25.5kg. Make sure they know you want it whole, and not as a whole lamb chopped up in pieces in a box!
Dimensions; my lamb was 3ft 11" long, and 11.5" high but it's neck was raised several inches higher, so I cut this with a saw and lowered it, as my oven entrance is only 12".
Preparation of oven; I lit a big and sustained fire the day before to maximise my heat retention, and then let the oven cool overnight with oven door and chimney fully open to lower the oven air temperature (as against hearth temperature) to my desired starting temperature of between 125 - 135'C.
Preparation of lamb; The night before I removed the wind pipe and lungs which were still attached. I then brushed a marinade all over the inside and outside of the lamb. I made my marinade with just under a pint of olive oil, a large handful of freshly picked rosemary leaves, a couple of chopped garlic cloves, the juice of 3 lemons, salt (I used smoked Molton) and pepper. I then wrapped lamb up tightly and stored it in a cold place. The following morning I reapplied the marinade and then placed the lamb over 2 large roasting trays, each with a rack in to raise the lamb slightly away from the heat of the hearth,and then covered the lamb fully in foil. I added some left over white wine to the trays to help keep it moist, and some veg.
Temperature recording; I used a wireless double temperature probe, one probe in the deepest part of the meat and the second probe raised above the hearth, to measure the oven air temperature rather than the hearth floor temperature. I was aiming for an internal meat temperature of 70'C.
Cooking method; with the help of a second person, I loaded the lamb into the oven and then closed the door. I cooked the lamb at between 125 - 135'C then just left the lamb to cook for 7hr10 min, I then opened oven door, removed foil and popped back in for another 20min to brown. I raised the oven temperature for last 20min to 140'C. I control the oven temperature by opening and closing the chimney aperture, only slight movement of the aperture is required to give me fine control of the temperature (see my whole pig post)
The lamb was really great and very moist (the much thinner rib meat was slightly dry, but the rest moist.) It tasted great