Absolutely. Though lamb fat is a little trickier to use than beef or chicken. If you want to go classic, you can always cook up a Shepherd's Pie with leftover lamb fat. Or if you want to make a rich dish, you can use it to make some Pilaf.
Use your lamb tallow in hot dishes, such as roasting vegetables, or searing meat, especially lamb. Don't use lamb tallow in dishes that will be cooked and served cold, as the fat will s0lidify. Cook the tallow in a crock pot for the easiest rendering, since cooking it on the stove makes it more likely to burn.
Yes, you can freeze lamb fat for up to 12 months. The best way to do this is to store the lamb fat in an airtight container until cool, then smooth off the top surface, seal the container, and place it into your freezer.
Grilling temperatures usually range from 375–450°F (190–232°C) and so when lamb is grilled at these high temperatures, the fat melts down and drips onto the grill or cooking surface (which should be wiped and removed as soon as possible).
Tallow is the rendered fat of cattle and sheep predominantly, although other animals can be brought into the equation, such as horses, goats and other dead stock. (Pig fats have a totally different composition and are too soft to become tallow and form a group called greases.
Lamb and beef have similar calories, total fat, protein, vitamin, and mineral content—but lamb (especially grass-fed lamb) is the winner when it comes to omega-3 fat content. Grass-fed lamb also has higher quantities of the healthy fat CLA, which is beneficial for cognitive, cardiovascular, and metabolic health.
Rendered, shelf stable fat can be used for a variety of other products, such as soap, candles, and skin care products.
These medium-length branched-chain fatty acids make up a small percentage of the total fat, but because they are fairly volatile and have a very low odor threshold, humans can detect them at low concentrations. They give lamb its particular "gamy" flavor.
“Lamb fat's known for having a pretty strong flavor,” he explained. “When people talk about lamb being sort of gamey—for lack of a better word, 'lamby,' usually the thing that's most responsible for that is the lamb fat.
When you buy a rack of lamb it usually comes with a thick layer of fat on top. Whilst this is okay to cook, it will take a while to render down, so it's best to trim it off. You can ask your butcher to do this or you can do it yourself.
Place the lamb, fat side up, on a rack set in a roasting pan; spread garlic paste all over lamb. Roast in oven until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat registers 135 degrees, for medium rare, about 2 hours.
Although lamb is a high-protein source, it should never be served raw or undercooked. Drain the fat and cook it separately before giving it to your dog. Too much fat in your dog's daily diet can lead to severe health issues like pancreatitis. It's always best to keep portions to a manageable amount.
A 3 oz. serving of American lamb contains 3 grams of heart healthy monounsaturated fat. 40% percent of the fat in American lamb is heart healthy monounsaturated fat. On average, 3-ounces of lamb fits easily within the daily fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Lamb trim is great for making a rich, meaty stock or sauce. Minimum weight is 480 grams.
A natural, versatile and delicious replacement for oil or butter, it brings a superior taste and texture to so many dishes: from adding irresistible crunch to roast potatoes to creating a silken, sumptuous sauce. Cook: shallow fry for the crunchiest chips or sear deeper flavour into steaks.
Several reports have concluded that 'yellow fat' in lamb carcasses is inherited as a simple recessive trait [11,12]. A deficiency in the 'xanthophyll oxidase' system was early suggested as a probable explanation of this trait in sheep [1].
From the bottom of the lamb, the belly, comes the breast cut. It has a lot of fat and therefore a lot of chew, so lamb breast needs slow, long cooking to break down the toughness. Usually presented as a rolled joint, perfect for roasting. Cook: braise, stew, roast.
As mentioned earlier, “phytol” - the cause of the unique smell is contained in sheep fat. Also, sheep consists of more unsaturated fat compared to beef and pork, which is easily oxidized. So the oxidized odor might give a “gamey” smell.
Lamb that is raised on a diet of grass have a more intense pastoral flavor than those raised on a diet of grain. Lamb from Australia and New Zealand is pasture fed on mixed grasses and American raised lamb is first fed a diet of grass but finishes on grain.
Prepping lamb for smoking
I recommend trimming that down fairly close to the meat. I want my lamb to taste like lamb, but the more fat you leave on it the lambier it will be. That being said, cooking the lamb fat-side down will prevent a lot of that fat from coating the rest of the meat.
Pure fat doesn't grow mold, it goes rancid. So if there's mold on it it's because it wasn't rendered long enough and/or it wasn't strained properly. If there are any bits of meat or sediment left in the lard after rendering it, those will grow mold.
Nutrition and animal scientists have cautioned against the use of animal fats as a healthier substitute to vegetable oils. While warning that the intake of animal fat is dangerous to health, the experts noted that it could cause serious health complications including heart attack.