05/14/2026
As I prep a leg of lamb for a weeknight dinner with friends, I wanted to share what makes our lamb unique.
🌱 Recipes talk about reducing the "gaminess" of lamb. Our lamb is grass-fed (never grain) and slaughtered at around 80-90 lbs, resulting in a very mild flavor. I do notice "gaminess" in shoulder chops, which are not my favorite. We started getting these in a roast, so maybe slow roasting will help. Otherwise, the other cuts are very mild and have an interesting flavor.
🍀 At this weight, it is also more tender. Slaughtering at a uniform weight requires more coordination and more trips to the slaughterhouse.
🌱 Recipes will tell you to debone the roast. I've tried side-by-side leg roasts and removed the bone in one and not the other, and honestly, there's no difference. Again, it's very lean and mild lamb, so no need to remove the bone. I think the concern there is to remove extra fat around the bone, but I just don't see that.
☘️ You know it's pure when the fat from cooking it hardens, and it is pure white. If the animal is fed corn or other grains, the fat is yellow.
🌱 Published data show that pasture-raised/finished lamb (never grain) is healthier in its omega fat composition.
🍀 Did you know that most grains/feeds for growing lambs contain low doses of antibiotics to increase the efficiency of the feed by the animal. This has been linked to widespread antibiotic resistance (Big Chicken is a great book on this). Our lamb is antibiotic-free.
🏃🏻 By doing the work of moving the fence daily and getting the sheep on pasture instead of sitting in a barn yard, we don't use fossil fuels to bring the food to the sheep, it's healthier for the sheep (and their rumen), and it fertilizes and nourishes the soil.
