Mutton

[Blod]

I wonder how the carbon footprint of slow grown, minimal input mutton compares with intensively finished beef?

 

[Kidds]

Seems a lot of folk on this thread don't even know what their own product tastes like or how to cook it. I am genuinely surprised.

 

[Woolless]

Mutton burgers are a must! Much tastier than beef burgers.

 

[Bury the Trash]

I wonder how the carbon footprint of slow grown, minimal input mutton compares with intensively finished beef?

That comparison would take take some doing,and properly considering weight of usable meat produced pound for pound of course.
The sheep meat would be a healthier option, or rather grass finished and sold as such,i should think that older sheep would also be better choice for getting finished ( re: slowly) on poor quality grazing unlike lambs which mostly take better feed to finish relatively speaking, quickly

 

[Blod]

Older ewes were young once! Have you forgotten?

 

[Guiggs]

Had Mutton Curry for tea last night @Guiggs absolutely gorgeous it was as well. Cooked the day before and the excess fat skimmed off before cooking again to reduce the sauce and add flavour, consumed with basmati rice and home made Chapattis, Green Tomato Chutney and a Cherry Tomato and Yogurt Dip

That sounds pretty dam tasty...maybe you could cook it for a couple of weary campers in the summer

There's quite a lot of interest in mutton it would appear, a few people I know have inquired also, I'd say there's at least as much interest as I usually have in my lamb!
What sort of price do people think its worth?
I don't want to scare potential customers off as I think this might have legs, excuse the pun!
I'm thinking average cull price plus kill and cut and a bit of time and fuel money?
Or what about a £/kg price?

 

[Blod]

I would rate 4 yr old ewe as highly as 2 yr old weather so:

Less than lamb because it's been around and (if a ewe) doesn't "owe" ewe..... Sorry , you!

On the other hand, a niche product, limited availability.... So more than lamb!

 

[Bury the Trash]

Older ewes were young once! Have you forgotten?

......embarrassed smile.................i am .derr......................I have thought of a cunning response though................It would be part of a completely slow/low input system - late lambing (May) any exceptional lambs might go as normal,but a certain number as per requirement would (after a sensible time after weaning) go into a cheap to keep store period and on to poorer even cheaper grazing as time goes by. - hopefully doing untill the end..................... edit ir killed at 18 months - 2 yrs and they would not have lambed as they could be terminal types...just my theory.also it would not be called mutton as thats a bit of a turn off -

 

[Bury the Trash]

I would rate 4 yr old ewe as highly as 2 yr old weather so:

Less than lamb because it's been around and (if a ewe) doesn't "owe" ewe..... Sorry , you!

On the other hand, a niche product, limited availability.... So more than lamb!

My idea is for animal to satisfy a particular market not a old ewe that has had trouble they can go to kebabs- shearlings that never had a lamb maybe - but it all would depend on a big enough market. of course.
get me ?....

 

[Kevtherev]

Smokies?

 

[Blod]

I don't think age really matters, it's health and hence body condition that matter. We have withdrawal periods for drugs that I am sure are religiously observed. With that in mind, I would happily eat an aged animal.

I fed that listeria affected ewe to my family, after I checked with the vet next door if he would like some. His answer was a resounding "yes, anything but the brain" because he knew, and more importantly, trusted, my judgement on her being otherwise fit to eat.

Would I buy mutton? No way! For the same reason I won't buy British lamb after September. There are too many ram lambs about to taint the market.

 

[Kevtherev]

 

[Dwangwa]

All this talk of mutton has made me get the Mutton loin noissettes out the freezer for this week. I will cook some of them as I would lamb (pink) and see how they turn out and the rest perhaps a bit longer and slower. Have been dipping into a good book on Mutton also - much a do about mutton by Bob Kennard.

Many thanks for buying 'Much Ado About Mutton', and glad you liked it! Quality Mutton is making a comeback (it was more popular than beef in Victorian times), with local supply chains growing rapidly. Sources of information are the National Sheep Association's quality mutton initiative (www.nsamutton.org.uk) and of course my own www.aboutmutton.com. I also Tweet things muttony as @aboutmutton.
Bob Kennard

 

[Chasingmytail]

got a 5yr old wiltshire horn in the freezer - we had killed here and the butcher cut up. Fantastic meat however so much fat so needs to to be cooked slow and somewhere where the fat can drip out. Even the children loved the chops I cooked in greek style however I found too fatty. Be brilliant on BBQ.

 

[Chasingmytail]

Can the joints still be roasted in the same way as a lamb?
The neck still used for stews?
I'm assuming leg/shoulder would need cooking slower over a lower heat?
Any recommendations for recipes? Mutton curry obviously!

I struggled with this however I worked on the principle of slow and long and using the same slow long cooking as lamb but even a few hours longer. I used a tagine recipe and chopped up the meat worked amazingly (dont add fruit to mine too sweet)http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/moroccanlambtagine_6696 , leg roast same as but slow and long, shoulder could be similar to leg or add stock, chops worked well in foil in greek style http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/lamb-kleftiko. all you cant do is cook pink or flash fry. But watch the fat. work well in a braising liquid where you could allow the stock to solidify and scrape off.

 

[Chasingmytail]

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1094/sevenhour-lamb

 

[Old Tip]

That sounds pretty dam tasty...maybe you could cook it for a couple of weary campers in the summer

There's quite a lot of interest in mutton it would appear, a few people I know have inquired also, I'd say there's at least as much interest as I usually have in my lamb!
What sort of price do people think its worth?
I don't want to scare potential customers off as I think this might have legs, excuse the pun!
I'm thinking average cull price plus kill and cut and a bit of time and fuel money?
Or what about a £/kg price?

We charge the same per kilo for Lamb, Hogget and Mutton, sell more Mutton than lamb
And I am surf we can rustle up a curry for a couple of wayward travellers

 

[Kevtherev]

@General-Lee
Where do you sell your old ewes?

 

[General-Lee]

@General-Lee
Where do you sell your old ewes?

Ones that are living[emoji51][emoji38] go to Exeter market.

 

[Guiggs]

I struggled with this however I worked on the principle of slow and long and using the same slow long cooking as lamb but even a few hours longer. I used a tagine recipe and chopped up the meat worked amazingly (dont add fruit to mine too sweet)http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/moroccanlambtagine_6696 , leg roast same as but slow and long, shoulder could be similar to leg or add stock, chops worked well in foil in greek style http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/lamb-kleftiko. all you cant do is cook pink or flash fry. But watch the fat. work well in a braising liquid where you could allow the stock to solidify and scrape off.

Must admit I don't get the whole fruit with meat thing at all and once made a Moroccan lamb tagine and it was disgusting..just too sweet, bloody Nigella lawson!!