Roasted Rack of Lamb Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the best temperature to eat rack of lamb? ›

A high-heated oven (450 degrees F) is recommended for roast lamb rack. And it will take somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes to cook. This part of the lamb is typically served pink--rare (internal temperature of 125 degrees F) or medium-rare (internal temperature 135 degrees F).

Roast leaner cuts of lamb in a hotter oven (450°F) to get a lovely brown crust and a well-cooked center; cook fattier cuts of lamb low and slow (325°F) to render all the fat and allow the lamb to cook in its juices. Due to residual heat, your lamb will continue to cook even after you pull it out of the oven.

Before roasting, sear the lamb fat side down in a cast iron pan to help develop a beautiful caramel color on the outside of the lamb chops. This simple recipe combines brown sugar, mustard seed and mustard powder to create a balanced caramelized crust.

Cook all raw lamb steaks, chops, and roasts to a minimum internal temperature of 145° F (62.8° C) as measured with a food thermometer before removing meat from the heat source. For safety and quality, allow meat to rest for at least three minutes before carving or consuming.

Slow cooking in liquid transforms tougher cuts of lamb into fork-tender meat.

Fattier cuts of lamb should be roasted long and slow at a low temperature, while leaner cuts of meat should be cooked at a high temperature for the first several minutes and then at a lower temperature the rest of the time. Braising is a popular technique for cooking less-tender cuts of lamb.

It depends on the cut. If you cook a lamb shank low and slow, it will become more tender as long as you don't let it dry out. A lamb chop, on the other hand, will reach optimum tenderness at medium rare. After that it will become tougher as it cooks.

The lamb will need to cook for about 20 minutes per pound (2 hours for a 6-pound leg of lamb; 2 hours and 40 minutes for 8 pounds). An instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat, not touching the bone, should read 145 degrees when the lamb is medium-rare.

Cook the lamb.

Arrange the lamb with the ribs pointing down. Cook for 15 minutes at 450ºF, then flip over and cook for another 10 minutes until the lamb has an internal temperature of 130ºF.

Why is rack of lamb so expensive? ›

French trimmed Rack of Lamb price is more costly due to the meticulous and labor-intensive work required of butchers when French trimming the meat. Although, it is worth the expense to produce top-quality and tasty Lamb Chops that also look amazing!

Arrange the oven rack, so the lamb will be in the middle of the oven. Score the fat, sprinkle with salt and pepper, wrap bones in foil, place in pan fat side up: Score the fat, by making sharp shallow cuts through the fat, spaced about an inch apart.

A rare, or pink, lamb chop that has been seared well on the outside should be fine because any bacteria on the outer surface will have been killed by the heat. But minced or diced lamb or mutton should never be served pink. It needs to be thoroughly cooked and browned. The same goes for burgers.

Get the Lamb Out of the Fridge 90 Minutes Before Cooking

Taking the chill off the meat gives you a way more tender rack of lamb, with an even cook and a juicier end product. If you think about it, you have to cook the exterior more in order to get the inside up to a proper temperature if it's really cold.

As the end of the cooking time draws near, press the outside centre of your lamb lightly with tongs or a clean fingertip to judge its degree of doneness. As a rough guide: Very soft = rare – bright red, raw centre. Soft = medium rare – pink inside with a red centre.

In our experience, we found most lamb cuts, whether a rack of lamb or lamb loin chops, taste best when served medium rare. So, the meat's internal temperature should reach 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54 degrees Celsius). It will have a nice, juicy pink center, and seared exterior.

Whether boneless or bone-in, the perfect leg of lamb should be either oven-roasted until blushing pink on the inside (with an internal temp around 130°F) or roasted long and slow for several hours until the meat is very tender and falls apart to internal temp around 175°F (I often use the slow cooker for that).

The internal temperature of meat will continue to rise after you pull it from the oven, so it's good to follow these guidelines: Medium rare: pull from oven at 135 degrees and let rest until it reaches 145 degrees. Medium: pull from oven at 150 degrees and let rest until it reaches 160 degrees.

Lower temp = more succulent meat – Tough cuts like lamb shoulder need slow-cooking to tenderise them. The lower the roasting temperature, the less total moisture evaporation and thus juicier meat. 3-hour lamb is cooked at 180°C/350°F, while the 12 hour lamb is cooked at only 100°C/212°F.