Cull ewe cuts

[twizzel]

I’ve got a 3 year old lleyn ewe that needs to go once her lambs are weaned and given that she might only scrape £50-£60 as a cull in market am contemplating putting her in the freezer. We have a whole lamb going in too so don’t really need joints but was wondering whether she’d be any good for mince? We eat quite a lot of beef mince but never tried mutton mince. Thoughts?

 

[Woolless]

I've never eaten much mutton mince, though I would think there would be a few curries you could make, also moussaka and shepherd's pie.

My suggestion would be dice the legs for curries/stews and you'll get some cracking big mutton chops. Bone and mince the rest. Mutton burgers are fantastic, better than beef IMO.

 

[Lili]

Mutton mince is very good - burgers, lasagne, bolognese etc. You might have to trim a bit of fat off before mincing but it will have a great flavour.

 

[It was already broken.]

Good idea if she isn't fat. Which she probably won't be will she. £50 for a cull doesn't sound exciting that's for sure.

 

[Norfolk Hill Farmer]

Once had a bullock for the freezer and we asked the butchers to mince the less popular joints eg brisket. Unfortunately the mince ended up with too much fat in it and we didn't enjoy it. Something to consider perhaps.

 

[twizzel]

Thanks. I doubt she'd be overly fat, she had triplets and has reared 2 of them this year. Second quality ewes last week at our local market averaged £54.50 hence why I thought she might be better off feeding us for a year

 

[TrewithickFarm]

@twizzle we have our ewes done for mutton and mint burgers - Trevarthens do really good ones for us. You could have half done into burgers and the rest as mince for use.

 

[Highland Mule]

Sell the old dear cull and put a couple of prime lamb away for your freezer instead. Life is too short to be having mutton mince more than once or twice a year.

 

[Johngee]

Once had a bullock for the freezer and we asked the butchers to mince the less popular joints eg brisket. Unfortunately the mince ended up with too much fat in it and we didn't enjoy it. Something to consider perhaps.

You minced the brisket?! That's one of the tastiest joints, if cooked properly.
With regards to the ewe you could steak the top end of the legs, cooking those by braising would be ideal.

 

[polk_farmer]

Burgers and lots of them

 

[Wink]

If you don't need joints, dice the best and mince the rest. It's fantastic stuff. Sold approx 10kg to local pub last week, repeat order. They were using it and marketing it as home made mutton moussaka. They use the diced on the specials board for curries. People love it.

 

[Longlowdog]

I'd have the larger joints diced for stews, curries etc and ask for lean mince from the rest.
We put a 2nd rate shearling in to a giant casserole pot and he tasted amazing so I'm told by all the greedy buggers at my son's wedding who ate the pot dry before I got anywhere near it.

 

[twizzel]

Thank you. I’ll have a chat with the butcher next week... we did a cull ewe for the freezer a couple of years ago but in fairness didn’t eat all the joints hence thinking diced/mince might be a better option.

Burgers sound tasty for the bbq if we ever have a summer