Lamb preparation and cleaning


 

Lance

TVWBB Super Fan
I am pretty sure that I can obtain a lamb off the local economy but I have a couple of questions before I do. I want to get the lamb live so that I can feed it grain for a week so that I can flush out the junk it has been eating. Is this sufficient time to clean the lamb's system? I have a guy who can skin the lamb. Are there tricks to cleaning the lamb or is it just like a normal animal? How do you normally smoke lamb? Do you cut it into primal pieces or do you cut it into individual cuts? How much useable meat can I expect to get from 1 lamb? Thanks for the help.
Lance
 
My. Good questions.

I like grass-fed lamb but if the grass is crummy or you're not sure you'll want to do as you plan. Grain-fed/finished or a grain supplemented grass diet will make the meat milder, something many find desirable. To actually finish lamb with grain you'd want 5-6 weeks. You might be able to get away with fewer but I am not really sure. I think I'd find a very young healthy lamb at least a month away from slaughter or go with grain for those last 4 weeks or so.

No tricks to cleaning that I can think of. Trim off the fell before cooking.

I smoke whole shoulders (low/slow), smoke-roast legs (higher heat, low internal finish unless I'm cooking for people who don't do lamb less than well--Cubans and other Hispanics, Greeks, Middle Easterners, all of whom I cook for). Loinstenderloins I rack or bone and grill or cut into T-bones and grill. Neck I leave with the shoulder or trim off and stew.

You can figure about 30-32% yield from live of boneless meat, 35-44% yield from live of bone-in or a mix of bone-in and boneless.

Hope this helps.
 
Kevin,
What exactly do you mean when you say finish the lamb? Is it fattening the lamb or cleaning out previous dietary influences? What type of knives do you need for butchering the lamb? I have some kitchen knives, a small cleaver, and a skinning knife. Is this sufficient? Thanks for all of the information.
Lance
 
Lance
Beware - Don't give the lamb a name.

My son was stationed with the UN force in Timor a few years ago and fresh rations were not readily available where they were. They decided to get a baby goat from the locals and fatten it up for christmas. They gave the goat a name, that was the end of that. The goat became their detatchment mascot. They ate chicken for christmas dinner that year. He returned on another rotation about 2 years later - the goat was still there.

Regards
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">No tricks to cleaning that I can think of. Trim off the fell before cooking </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Lance the "fell" is a thin membrane which is paper like which covers the outer fat layer.
There are 2 schools of thought regarding triming, generally when we do a whole lamb on a spit we leave the fell on, it helps to keep the shape and helps to retain the fat and juices for longer.
The theory for removing the fell is that it gives the meat a stronger flavour and stops rubs and smoke from penetrating the the skin-side meat.

Bottom line is - It depends on if you are going to roast or smoke.

Regards
 
Thanks for the heads up about naming the lamb. I won't make that mistake. I will probably have someone else fatten the lamb so I won't have a connection with it. After looking at the butcher's guide in the cooking topics section, I am probably going to cut the lamb into a few primal cuts and use them for either smoking or grilling. Is the fell also called silver skin? I will probably feed the lamb wheat. Is it worth it to feed the lamb oats? I may have a hard time finding it so I want to know before I spend the time looking for oats.
Lance
 
Yes, fell = sliverskin.

No, don't bother with oats. Whole wheat is better. Can you get a hold of Vitamins A, D and E by any chance? Supplementation is good for finishing.

You'll need to have the lamb transitioned from roughage to feed, ending up with a primarily feed diet.
 
In order to get the vitamins I would have to buy human vitamins and break them up in the feed. I don't know if that would be too much or too little. What do you have to do to transition from roughage to fee? I was thinking you could have the lambe eat grass and then after that feed it wheat. Is that how it works?
Lance
 
Vitamin supp is as follows (for a 70-lb finishing lamb):

Vit A 1000 IU/day

Vit D 300 IU/day

Vit E 50 mg/day

Liquid versions are easiest but do whatever you can.

Yes, in the beginning, you'd feed a small handfull once in the morning, the next day, twice, morning and afternoon, then scale up slowly. Best is if you can use a self-feeder and the lamb will learn to eat out of that as well as whatever roughage is available. After a two weeks of transition you take the next week to essentially just fill the feeder and refill when needed. (Only do this if you can keep the feed free of rain, dirt and marauding critters; if not, feed twice daily--but try to move to self-feeding if possible.) If this is confusing feel free to wing it but keep in find that there needs to be a transition so as not to screw up the digestion of the lamb. That can cause problems.

If it is possible to get some other grains, do (barley in particular), but see if you can nab some molasses. Figure the molasses at about 20-25% of feed weight then mixed with water, moisten the feed with it before feeding.

Local people there might already have a good formula of local ingredients, if discoverable, that would work best for you if you are able to find out that sort of info.
 

 

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