De-boning shoulder of lamb

Alfietinker

Well my hamper arrived from Jimmy's Farm and my surprise joint was a shoulder of lamb - 1.7kg.

I've got visitors for dinner on Sunday so I thought this would be ideal. I've found lots of yummy recipes for boned and rolled shoulder, but my joint has the bone in.

Is there a technique to 'de-boning' it or can I just cut the bone out? Sorry if it's a silly question but I've never dealt with this before and I really don't want to make an idiot of myself.

Milkmaid_2

I would leave it on the bone as this helps with keeping the joint moist, but if you do want to bone it then you have quite a job on your hands if you have never seen it done.
If you do feel like giving it a go then you need a very sharp and pointed knife, keep in mind the main shoulder blade is triangular and has a small round bone joined to the apex of the triangle.
Take a deep breath and feel for the main triangular bone with your knife point, then slowly work your way along the bone keeping the knife horizontal against the shoulder blade , make small sweeping cuts. Work your way along the bone turn over and do other side.Then work along the small round bone.
When all bones out then roll and tie with string .
As I said not easy......good luck !
Wh

Alfietinker

Is that what the bone does then? Keep it moist? That's my main concern as I'm terrified of it going dry if I were to just roast it.

I've never cooked it before you see and I just typed in "shoulder of lamb" into BBC and most of the recipes are boned.

Edit: I've just found this

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/confitshoulderoflamb_13755.shtml

which cooks it with the bone which looks a lot easier. I thought maybe I could just do the 'first' cooking and not bother with the 'torte' making afterwards. Yes, I think I'll do that.

Milkmaid_2

Any bone in meat will be more succulent and moist IMO as the bone acts as a heat conductor. Guess it is easier to carve with the bone out but, like I always comfort myself with, looks ain't everything lol
On the whole it is difficult to end up with it too dry as there is usually a good ratio of fat throughout a shoulder, unlike a leg which has most of the fat on the outside

Alfietinker

Oh I didn't realise that at all, I just assumed as the recipes were boned that was preferable.

I can count on one hand the times I've cooked a roast that I was really nervous of it all going wrong - especially with such a nice piece of meat!

Milkmaid_2

You will be fine ! Just keep an eye on it during cooking and don't cover it with foil. Rest the meat for half an hour or so in a warm place, such as under the grill, turned off!, if you have a cooker that has the oven at the bottom then a grill compartment then the hob, if that makes sense. That way the meat fibres will have time to relax and the meat will be tenderer. Let us know how it went!

Alfietinker

Yes I've got a double oven so I can keep things warm in the top compartment. Ooh er, I so want it to go right! I'll report back on Monday.

lovelyjubbly

Just to give an alternative view, I allways bone my sholder of Lamb, I used to get the butcher to do it for me untill I tried myself, just feel for the bone and cut it away, it is not really difficult if you have a sharp knife, the joint has never gone dry, just don't cook it too long, and, as said above, take it out to rest, you need to roll it up neatly, tuck all the odd shapes into the middle and tie it several times along the length, I usually tie it once longways as well to stop it bulging at the ends. It carves great without the bone, you can also put stuffing along the middle if you like, go on give it a try!

albacore1854

No chance of shoulder going dry, unless you cremate it.Its so full of fat.Not my cup of tea for a roast unless I bone it, and de-fat it

Alfietinker

As promised here's how I got on. The verdict was it was delicious - I was so pleased!

I went for the slow cooking option and adapted a recipe. I left it as it was (bone in), sealed it in a little olive oil on the hob and then rubbed in some sea salt and some garlic over (not too much). I put 100ml of white wine in the tin and a couple of sprigs of rosemary, put the meat in and covered it tightly with foil. At 11am it went in the oven at gas mark 2 and stayed there until about 6pm.

When I took the foil off the meat and lifted it, it just fell off the bone it was soooo tender. I sliced it up roughly and put it on a plate in the top oven to keep warm while the roasties finished.

I poured as much fat from the tin away as I could before making gravy and there was a lot of fat - I guess it had all melted from the meat. I was pleased with the quality of the meat because when I went to clear up I looked at the jug I'd poured the fat into and it had set solid like lard - not a trace of watery stuff anywhere - which pleased my neighbour as she took it to fry her sausages in tonight.

If I ever cook it again I'll definitely do it this way, it was so tender and meaty it just melted in your mouth.

A very pleased Alfietinker.

gt568

As it says in the title...does anybody have a guide or a link of somekind as to how to do this...I've got a shoulder I need to debone today...

Cheers...