Young lamb has a specific, but pleasant taste and aroma. Its meat is fatty and at the same time quite tender. However, not all sellers offer such a high-quality product to their customers. Therefore, when buying lamb, you should be extremely careful and carefully examine the meat lying on the counter.
It is better to buy mutton either steam room, up to three hours after slaughter, or chilled. In this case, you can determine its quality by external signs. Buying a frozen product is a rather risky business, since instead of tender meat of a young lamb, you can get tough and old lamb, or goat meat in general.
Signs of tender lamb
Delicate lamb always belongs only to a young animal. The most delicious and delicious product is considered to be milk lamb, which has not yet turned 8 weeks old. Very tender meat and lamb up to 4 months. The fact of the castration of the animal is also of great importance. The meat is most delicious from those lambs that have been subjected to this operation.
Young and tender lamb is distinguished by its light color. Moreover, the lighter the meat is, the younger it belonged to the lamb. It is better not to buy a product of a dark and uneven color, since it was probably cut from an old animal, repeatedly frozen, or was simply stored improperly for a long time.
The fat of a young lamb is white, sometimes with a barely noticeable yellowish tinge. It also separates well from meat when fresh. A rich yellow or grayish fat appears already in adult rams, whose meat is rather tough and unpleasant in taste.
You can also determine the tenderness of meat by smell. Young lamb always smells, albeit specifically, but pleasantly - fresh milk. Moreover, its aroma is not too pronounced. Old lamb has a richer smell, given off by animal urine. It is better to refuse to buy the latter, since the meat will be tough, and it will be rather difficult to kill its amber even with spices.
When pressed on tender fresh meat, a dimple forms on its surface, which instantly levels out and returns its natural light red color. Repeatedly frozen food at the point of pressure may discolor or fill with blood.
You can insure yourself when buying lamb by purchasing meat on ribs. Since the ribs of a ram grow all its life, in young animals they are small, and the meat between them is very tender and pleasant to the taste.
How to keep lamb tender while cooking
Cooking lamb is quite simple - it does not require certain skills and spices. But before that, it is necessary to cleanse the meat from films and remove excess fat if there is too much of it on the meat. Although it takes a little longer to cook than other meats, it is important not to overcook it, otherwise it will turn out dry and harsh. Before cooking, lamb can also be marinated in salt and spices or soaked in milk for half an hour - then it will surely turn out tender and tasty.
