How
long does it take to cook a boneless leg of lamb? Until it's done… To begin,
the cooking time will obviously vary depending on the size of the leg.
That
can vary greatly, and a 1.5kg cut will be completed much faster than a 3kg one,
all else being equal.
Then
there's doneness. Do you prefer your leg medium-rare or well-done? That will
make a significant difference in cooking time.
This
leads us to the next point, which is the cooking method.
If
you want a well-done boneless leg of lamb, cook it low and slow. Of course, you
could simply roast it at a high temperature, but it will most likely come out
tough and dry.
Braising,
slow roasting or even sous vide cooking would be preferable. Which can take
hours and hours (try sous vide for 20-ish hours at 68°C or a traditional braise
at 90°C for 6-10 hours).
If
you want medium-rare, or even medium-rare, a traditional dry, high-temperature
roast can work if you let it rest long enough and cut it very thinly.
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Depending
on size, I'd expect anywhere from half an hour to two hours at 170-ish °C to
get the core temp to around 50°C, with it rising to the desired 54 during the
quarter-to-half hour rest period at 30-50°C.
Leg
of lamb, on the other hand, is a little tough for that, so I'd go with slow
cooking here as well.
Sous
vide (again, for 20-ish hours) at 54°C works well; however, my preferred method
would be a slow roast at 80°C for however long it takes for the core
temperature to reach 50°C, followed by an hour's rest at 54°C if I had the
time.
Otherwise,
I'd start it at 180°C for ten minutes or so, then drop it to 120 for another
ten or twenty minutes, then let it go at 90-100 until the core temperature is
up to 48-ish°C, then let it rest at around 50-ish°C until the core temperature
reaches 54°C, which could realistically take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes.
However,
this technique will produce a poorer result than a long slow roast at lower
temperatures.
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There
will be more 'overcooked' meat on the outside, and it will most likely be tough
and dry. If you're careful about temperature control, timing, and basting, it
can work out fine, but it's a bit of a gamble.
Other
methods necessitate specialized equipment not commonly seen in domestic
settings (such as Delta-T cooking, which essentially means the oven will
maintain a set temperature difference between the core temperature and cooking
temperature, which is a thing on professional combination steamers), constant
monitoring by a skilled craftsman (such as broiling on a charcoal grill), or an
end result that isn't a traditional-ish roast, but it all boils down to meticulous
tempering.
I
always recommend going low and slow for domestic use. Household appliances
don't hold temperature very well, and you don't want to be 100% on edge all the
time when cooking at home, and low and slow cooking simply leaves a much larger
margin for error.
If
you want a traditional medium or medium-rare roast, you'll need (or really
want) an instant-read thermometer (suitable meaning with a probe that can be
stuck inside a roast). The one I always use at work is a 4€ digital affair from
Amazon that works perfectly.
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At
least once, that thing was (commercial) dishwasher safe, but I'm not about to
let our dishwasher/kitchen porter make a habit of it.
Alternatively,
you can do a lot of trial and error to gain enough experience to judge doneness
by touch.
Sticking
a metal skewer in and touching your lips is how I learned, and it's the least
bad option — but getting it right takes practice, and the results will never be
as precise or reliable as those from even a cheap instant-read thermometer.
Hey,
we professionals tend to use thermometers for larger roasts, and we are in the
best position to have acquired the necessary experience/skill.
There's
no shame in using one, no matter what some dimwits stuck in the nineteenth
century said.
Or
simply braise it with some roasted vegetables and red wine. It's a completely
different style, fully cooked (and then some), but tender and flavorful in its
own right.
There's
a lot of leeways, and you get a world-class sauce for free, which is always
nice because everyone wants a lot of sauce with their roast, and faffing around
with bones to make stock, reducing that for days, and so on, just to get enough
decent jus is a major hassle.
Sure,
the commercially made fonds-in-a-jar available at most well-stocked
supermarkets around here are quite good, but not exactly cheap.
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A
braised 'roast' will produce its own sauce...
Yeah, I went off on another tangent or five.
It
takes as long as it takes to finish it the way you want it to, using the cooking
technique you want to use. Sorry, but there isn't a more straightforward or
useful answer to the question “how long does it take to cook a boneless leg of
lamb”.
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