quick photo of the lamb prosciutto hanging

[mattwright]

I got a lamb leg from a company in Idaho that does fantastic quality organic lamb. Unfortunately the way it was cut didn't make it ideal to cure bone in as I had originally hoped.

So, the leg got boned out and pretty much naturally fell in to three distinct muscle groups. These got a cure of salt, sugar, pepper, rosemary and juniper, and left alone in the fridge for a bit.

We just got round to hanging them. Decided to roll and tie each one like a pancetta, and they are now hanging to dry. I reckon a couple of months will see them fit!

[grisell]

They sure look great at the moment!

[Ryan C]

looks fantastic matt!!

I've done something similar with sugar in the cure and inside beef bungs and it was amazing (the beef bungs got a bit fibrous so I had to peel them off before eating though)
I'd love to see more people curing lamb as I think it's a close second to pork. Be sure to let us know how it goes.
Any idea why lamb/mutton isn't cured more often? price maybe?

Good luck

Ryan

[mattwright]

Ryan - I think two things - price and demand. If you ask me, you have to really enjoy lamb to like it cured - the game flavors tend to get condensed, and that turns a lot of people off. I know here in the US lamb isn't a favorite with a lot of people, which I consider a huge shame.

Coming from the UK I was shocked at how little lamb is eaten here, and the stuff that is ends up to be pretty crappy quality - unless you go out of your way to find some decent stuff.