Cooking a rack of lamb

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megaduff

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Hi all,

Looking for some advice for a recipe I want to try but haven't had experience of.

I've just bought 2 racks of lamb (already French cut, with the bones showing) from my butcher, both weighing around 500g each, just over 1kg in total and wondered what the cooking process/time should be.

I asked my butcher and he said to pre-heat my fan oven to 220 degrees Celsius (about 430 f) for 10 minutes, then lower it to 160 degrees Celsius (320 f) and cover the racks in foil and cook for 40-45 minutes. Then remove the foil and cook for another 40.

To me this seems like a real excessive amount of time for a lamb rack and checking videos out on YouTube, most people are cooking it for around 20 minutes (at a slightly higher temperature). So over an hour just seems like it will give me far too well-done meat (I prefer medium, medium-rare in lamb).

Can anyone advise? Which method would you recommend? I know I'm doing 2 at the same time in the same oven, so maybe that would necessitate the need for longer roasting, but I just don't want to end up with an overdone dish.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks,
Chris
 
You are correct in thinking a rack of lamb needs a short cooking time. Its wise to sear the fat in a frying pan first as otherwise the short cooking time will mean that you have an uncooked fat layer. I'd say roast for 10 minutes and then check with a skewer which should come out feeling warm. Maximum time would be 20 minutes. But, don't forget to rest the rack for at least 5 minutes after removing from the oven. 220 C sounds too high to me 180-90 C should be fine.
 
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Roasting 2 of that size will not make a difference in cooking time.

I make a rub using garlic, rosemary, usually some lemon zest and a bit of juice plus salt and pepper, rub it on the lamb and let it sit for about 30 minutes.

Then, i roast or grill at a temp of 425 to 450 F for about 20 minutes for rare, 25 minutes for med rare.

Oh, i trim excess fat off, though do leave some.
 
I use a meat thermometer..takes the guessing out of the equation..

Preheat my oven to 450 F with a cast iron pan in it...I let it get good and hot so after about 15 minutes in a preheated oven, I take the pan out with an oven mit, and place it on high heat for another minute,,canola oil, then sear your lamb on the fat side for a two minutes. Then, move it around to sear the end, then flip to the bone side down and directly in the oven it goes for about 15 minutes..it is hard to tell anybody how long because all racks are't the same shape or size..I have a thermometer with a probe that has a wire and a remote so I pull it at 125 and take it out of the pan and place it on a cutting board with a tin foil tent for about 10 minutes while I get the rest of the table set and the other sides plated, then I cut and serve..
 
Thank you for your kind welcomes and for the advice!

Yes, I just didn't think that small cuts of lamb would need that long in at all, so I'll give it a go for around 20 minutes or so in the oven after a good sear in a hot pan!

I would like to invest in a heat thermometer too, so I'll try and get one before Sunday. It's for a Mother's Day lunch so I definitely don't want to mess this one up!

I guess that means I'll have to re-think the timings on accompaniments too and start the potatoes/veg a bit earlier than planned to be ready around the same time as the lamb.

Thanks again for all your help!
 
megaduff said:
I guess that means I'll have to re-think the timings on accompaniments too and start the potatoes/veg a bit earlier than planned to be ready around the same time as the lamb.

Thanks again for all your help!
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When I have a piece of meat like rack of lamb that requires last minute attention, I usually go with sides that hold well like mash, or white beans. They can be done a bit earlier and left on the back of the stove with lids on to stay warm.
 
Morning Glory said:
I hope the Mother's Day meal goes well. :thumbsup: I also hope you stay around on the forum. If you want to do a quick intro to tell us more about yourself, then this is where: New to CookingBites?
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Thank you, and yes I fully intend to hang around, I've been given some great advice and am sure I will need more in the future! I'll check out the Newbies section too! 👍
 
megaduff said:
Thank you, and yes I fully intend to hang around, I've been given some great advice and am sure I will need more in the future! I'll check out the Newbies section too! 👍
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Great - we are not only here to advise. In fact the forum is mostly about discussing food and cooking.

Best of luck today. :okay: Let us know how it goes.
 
Well, I've got to tip my hat to you all, took your advice and invested in a meat thermometer and cooked for around 20 mins (with an extra 5-6 to crisp up the herb crust, around 190) and it turned out fantastic - one happy mother! In all honesty, I probably could have taken it out sooner, it was absolutely perfect when it came out but I noticed even once it has been put on plates and we began to eat that the pink was slowly disappearing, but it was still brilliant - nice and tender and juicy.

Ended up giving the herb crust ala Ramsay a go and it turned out great too, so definitely will be adding this to the list of fancy dinners for next time :D

Thanks again for all your help!

82940


82939
 
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I have to say your lamb rack looks fab! I took the liberty (as a mod.) of increasing your lovely photos to full-size so we can all see them better.

What's next on your cooking agenda?
 
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