Is Julia so off re roast leg of lamb
I followed the recipe
overshooting for the duration (2 hours) to aim for medium-well, but dispensed from using my (too slow to rise) thermometer. I ended up with
which is less than very appealing.
I know "individual ovens vary", etc... but this is off by a mile. Can you suggest how this might have happened?
Update
Please comment on the use of 350F for roasting a leg of lamb. One might roast at 425F, and keep in the oven for 60-90 minutes. Alternatively, one might use 275F, and keep the roast overnight in the oven. But what kind of cooking would you be aiming for if you used 350F?
Update 2
Yes, yes, she's a goddess. We love her. She inspired and inspires us. Etc.
But I'm not looking for a defence of Julia's wisdom. Nor am I looking for variables in the recipe (after reading "individual oven varies" on a thousand recipes, it sinks in to take it with a grain of salt).
Would you care to critique the recipe? George M says to up the temperature. That's a good start. What else would you change to get a lot of flavor yet a perfectly tender roast?
Best Answer
There are a lot of variables here:
- Oven temperature: As you mention, this definitely can be plenty off, but honestly most newer ovens are all right and meat isn't the most sensitive thing to baking temperature. You'd probably have had other issue before if it were the cause here.
- Meat weight/shape: Bigger means longer cooking times. The weight is a good first approximation, but the shape matters too: if the recipe was based on a flatter piece of meat, it'd have cooked faster.
- The starting temperature: If the recipe was based on room temperature meat, but yours was chilled or previously frozen, it'll certainly take longer.
I'd guess your issue was more than just oven temperature, but it's hard to guess whether it's weight/shape or starting temperature or both.
In any case, as everyone seems to already be aware, the only real way to be sure is a meat thermometer. You're never really going to be able to find recipes that match your exact situation well enough to avoid this kind of thing otherwise.
Pictures about "Is Julia so off re roast leg of lamb"
Should leg of lamb be covered when roasting?
There's no need to cover a leg of lamb with foil while it roasts. Due to the longer cooking time of slow roast shoulder, it's a good idea to cover it with foil to help retain moisture. Take the foil off for the last 30 minutes of the cooking time to let the skin crisp up.Which way do you roast a leg of lamb?
Place the lamb, fat side up, on a rack set in a roasting pan; spread garlic paste all over lamb. Roast in oven until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat registers 135 degrees, for medium rare, about 2 hours.Should leg of lamb be roast fat side up or down?
If it's ridiculously thick, you can take some of it off. (OR, cut shallow cross hashes in the fat layer\u2013NOT so deep that you go down into the meat\u2013so that it renders faster.) But I always leave a layer on and roast it fat side UP. This helps keep the meat moist, and bastes it as it cooks.Do you cut the fat off leg of lamb?
Marbling through the meat is known as intramuscular fat and it makes the lamb juicy (and tasty!) throughout. External fat is fat to be removed before cooking as it can cause spitting and is generally unappetising.More answers regarding is Julia so off re roast leg of lamb
Answer 2
I would say that being so far off is uncommon, but not especially unusual.
Ovens really vary that much. I have personally measured an oven to be 40 C off the dial temperature. And they are only a small source of variability in a sea of varying parameters. That would include things like the meat's starting temperature, the meat's geometry, the use of a rub, the cooking vessel's material and geometry, the density of the meat cut, the ratio of radiation to convection and conduction heating going on in your oven, and probably other things I am not thinking of now. It is the whole reason people use thermometers. If you don't, you will every now and then have occasions like this one.
Answer 3
What may be off is not so much the timing, as your perception of what 'cooked' means in this context. We're talking Julia Child, so we're talking French standards. Personally I'd prefer my lamb bleeding a bit less, but I assure you much of my family would consider your photo perfectly acceptable.
I'd up the temperature a bit though, as I'd think the outside should be a bit more crusty?
Yummm... is there enough garlic in there :-)?
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Images: Julia Filirovska, Maria Bortolotto, Karolina Grabowska, Anna Tarazevich