Cooking Lamb 101: Everything you need to know about cooking lamb

Kiwis love eating lamb but when it comes to cooking it a lot of us are a bit more apprehensive. If you are new to cooking lamb, you may be wondering what the different cuts are and how to cook them. We've got all the tips, timings and recipes you need to learn to cook New Zealand lamb to perfection, whether it's a Sunday roast, barbecue, or slow-cooked tagine.

New Zealand lamb is coveted around the world for its rich taste, tenderness, and the fact that it is ethically sourced. It also has the benefit of combining well with spices and other highly flavoured ingredients. In New Zealand, lamb is closely associated with roasting at Easter in roasts and stews or for quick-cooking as chops, but it’s a versatile meat with lots of different cuts suited to different cooking methods.

Tougher cuts are ideal for slow-cooking and make great braises and stews while prime cuts can be quick-cooked, barbecued or roasted and are best eaten pink. For those looking for something a little different, Lamb also comes conveniently minced which makes it a great alternative to beef in burgers and kebabs, as well as for cooking that most traditional of lamb dishes, shepherd’s pie.

Know your cuts

Understanding methods for cooking New Zealand lamb is crucial to ensure you get the most out of your meat. This section takes you through the different cuts and highlights which cooking methods are best suited to each.

Backstrap

Lamb backstrap is a premium cut that comes from the back of the animal near the spine, trimmed from the middle of the loin. This cut has a slightly milder flavour than a leg of lamb and is free from fat, gristle and bone. In contrast to other cuts of lamb, backstrap is wonderfully lean and meaty, meaning that an individual portion goes a long way. Because of its low fat content, it is important to watch the cooking time to optimise results.

Breast

A very fatty inexpensive cut that’s often minced. Whole, it needs to be slow-cooked until tender and can be cooked on the bone, or boned and rolled.

Butterflied Leg

A popular cut, butterflied legs of lamb are versatile and obtains a robust meaty flavor. The main reason for opening, flattening and de-boning the leg is to cook faster. Because of its uneven thickness, it is a crowd-pleasing cut, with the thinner components being more textural and the thicker parts being tender and succulent, suiting all individual preferences.

Carvery Leg

Carvery leg of lamb is ideal when a smaller leg of lamb is required. The aitch bone has been removed leaving the shank bone in for presentation. It has been tied for ease when cooking and carving.

Fillet

Also called a cannon or loin, this is the eye of the meat from the rack and is like the lamb equivalent of beef fillet. Delicate in flavour, the fillet suits gentle quick, dry cooking methods to retain its juiciness. It’s a very lean, neat piece of meat that should be quick-cooked and served rare.

Flap

This inexpensive cut, when cooked correctly, is an ideal and economical cut that can yield a flavoursome roast. The flap (also known as lamb ribs or belly) is prepared from the chest area. The meat is relatively tough requiring long slow cooking. Traditionally it is deboned, stuffed, rolled and tied for a delicious roast where most of the fat can render and drip away.

Leg

The most versatile of all the cuts, the famous roast leg of lamb is a hero on the Kiwi dinner table. The cut is lean enough to serve pink and with enough fat to remain succulent when well-cooked. A whole leg of lamb on the bone is the iconic Sunday lamb roast, but legs can also be boned, stuffed and rolled to roast. Leg is the best cut to barbecue when it's boned and opened up (butterflied), cut into leg steaks, or diced for kebabs.

Mince

Lamb mince makes a great alternative to beef in burgers, meatballs and kebabs, and it is also the essential ingredient in a shepherd’s pie or certain curries.

Neck fillets

A boneless fillet of meat that is ideally quickly pan-fried or roasted then sliced. A single neck fillet serves two.

Rack

This great looking cut is tender and loaded with flavour. A trimmed rack of six or eight ribs can either be roasted whole and carved, or cut into chops from raw and then quick-cooked. The lamb rack is the most tender, lean meat when trimmed of exterior fat needing only a brief oven roast, best served medium-rare. Traditional lamb rack has an exterior fat cover, whilst modern rack has all the fat cover removed. Frenched rack has rib bones trimmed and cleaned of meat down close to the meaty eye of the loin.

Rump

Sometimes referred to as mini roasts, this versatile cut offers an accessible alternative to a lamb leg roast. This is a boneless square of meat from the top of the leg. The rump can be thickly sliced into boneless rump chops, or kept whole then roasted, or barbecued and carved. When roasted and rested, it is very tender with a lot of flavour. There is a layer of fat and skin on the top which crisps up beautifully when cooked. This can be removed before or after cooking. A whole rump will serve two to three people and is best served pink.

Saddle

The saddle is two racks of lamb still attached normally, boned, stuffed, rolled and tied into a prime roasting joint that feeds six people.

Schnitzel

Lamb schnitzel typically comes from the topside or thick flank. Thin slices cut across the grain of well-trimmed, boned topside or thick flank, make neat portion-sized lamb schnitzels. It is a versatile and easy to cook option for a range of everyday meals.

Shank

Shanks are from the bottom section of the leg just below the lower leg joint. They are a popular ingredient during winter due to their fabulous texture and rich flavour. Easy to prepare, they simply need slow, gentle cooking to release their full potential. They can be 'French trimmed' which is where a small piece of meat is removed from the bone to make the shank look more appealing.

Shoulder

This flavourful, ample cut consists of nicely marbled meat that has a pronounced sweetness. This fatty cut can be left whole on the bone, or boned then rolled into a roasting joint. It can be traditionally roasted but is best slow-roasted, pot-roasted or braised with liquid until practically falling apart. Shoulder can also be diced for stewing, or cut into shoulder chops. A pre-sliced roast is convenient, but it tends to dry out in the oven.

Silverside

Taken from the hindquarter, the silverside is a small, roughly 400g cut with very little marbling of fat and a wide grained texture. This is a premium lean cut of meat and is perfect for steaks and a quick roast.

Thick Flank

This is a plump, boneless cut with a medium tender, lean, fine grain. To achieve maximum flavour and texture, the thick flank is best seared then roasted. The whole thick flank forms a neat shape to cut across the grain into steaks making it a more versatile cut that can be used for an excellent small roast or sliced to make neat schnitzels.

Topside

A relatively small cut from the top of the leg with no bone and little fat, making it a lean and convenient mini-roast for a midweek meal or those short on time.