# Food Safety Question - Thawing a whole leg of lamb.



## steveyraff (Mar 27, 2015)

Hey guys! 

I live in the north of Ireland. I have some relatives that live in the south, and they recently came to visit. As a gift, they gave me a huge whole leg of lamb, from their own farm. 

Despite being a good 3 or 4 hr drive away, the leg (which is raw) seemed to be solidly frozen through still - thankfully. 

I took it home and put it into the freezer straight away. 

About 3 days ago, I transferred it to the fridge to defrost. The next day, it was still solid - and yesterday it was still frozen. 

Finally, today it seems to be softened up much better now, despite being very cold to the touch still. I reckon its thawed. 

My question is - is it safe to cook and eat still? Have I done anything wrong and is it normal that it took 3 days to defrost? 

I wanted to stud it with rosemary and garlic and roast it in the oven today - but I'm just checking to make sure I am at no health risk of any kind. 

Also, when it's cooked how long will it last for?


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

Yes, it should safe to eat. Make sure you smell it, that's often the best way to detect if it's gone bad. Depending on the size of the leg, and the temperature of your fridge, it's not unusual for a large piece of meat to take that long to thaw. 

Once cooked, it should last for 3 or 4 days. It will start tasting a little gamish before it actually goes bad. Removing the meat from the bone after 1 or 2 days helps making it last a wee bit longer. 

Enjoy!


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

If you still have usable meat left (day 2) remove from bone and wrap it tight for the freezer.
In a few days to a week get it out chop it up and have Shepherds Pie.

mimi


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

Definitely still safe to cook and eat. Your method of thawing was the best as far as safety standards and the timeline sounds about right for a large bone in cut.


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## steveyraff (Mar 27, 2015)

Thanks guys, was a GREAT success.

Made a paste out of garlic, fresh rosemary, and butter - dotted the leg with some skewer incisions and rubbed the mixture in with some olive oil salt and pepper. Put some carrots onions and potatoes under it in the roasting tin. Will make some gravy from the juices. Already carved off a few slices and it was just heavenly!

Thanks for the advice guys.





  








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## chicagoterry (Apr 3, 2012)

That looks heavenly!

Another nice addition when you are roasting with garlic and rosemary is to stuff half an anchovy into the incisions along with the garlic and rosemary. The anchovies sort of disappear, leaving behind only their umami essence.


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## steveyraff (Mar 27, 2015)

ChicagoTerry said:


> That looks heavenly!
> 
> Another nice addition when you are roasting with garlic and rosemary is to stuff half an anchovy into the incisions along with the garlic and rosemary. The anchovies sort of disappear, leaving behind only their umami essence.


Great idea! I often use anchovies as a seasoning like that, but would never have thought to use it on lamb. Can totally see how that works. When I cook with it in a frying pan it does the same, kind of melts away and just becomes part of the seasoning. Delicious ingredient. I also like those jars of anchovies in oil and eating them just as they are with nice crusty bread!


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## mike9 (Jul 13, 2012)

Anchovies are a great seasoning.  I use them in pasta sauce, vinaigrette, any base with mira poix.  I find it saves on salt too.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

As I've mentioned times before, my wife says she despises anchovies. I wonder how many she has actually eaten since she started eating my cooking? Of course they have all been dissolved, so to speak, in sauces and soups and such.

mjb.


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

steveyraff said:


> ....Made a paste out of garlic, fresh rosemary, and butter - dotted the leg with some skewer incisions and rubbed the mixture in with some olive oil salt and pepper. Put some carrots onions and potatoes under it in the roasting tin. Will make some gravy from the juices. Already carved off a few slices and it was just heavenly! ....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Glorious! Rosemary, garlic, s&p are the only traditional additions that have proven to be perfect on a gigot. Nice and pink, that's how I like it too. Bravo, very nice result!!


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

You thawed it the right way, and based on your photo cooked it the correct way. ENJOY IT NOW


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## steveyraff (Mar 27, 2015)

chefedb said:


> You thawed it the right way, and based on your photo cooked it the correct way. ENJOY IT NOW


Thanks guys!

Yea it was delicious. It was a pretty massive leg so I shared a lot of it with my parents and they made a big dinner from it too.

I was very happy with how it turned out. I like my meat pink like that. Here's the problem though - it was so big, that I got two big dinners from it, and gave away quite a bit. Now I am down to quite near the bone but there's still enough meat on there for another big dinner or two. Problem is, this deep in, its actually pretty much completely raw. I reckon it could do with another half hour in a preheated oven or so.

It's been in the fridge and I'm not sure if I can still safely do anything with what remains - its been a few days and I am not sure if it qualifies as 're-heating' etc so I don't know if that's still safe, or if I should just through it out. It'd be a shame, but as I am sure you've all gathered, I'm a bit overly cautious when it comes to the safety aspects!

Any advice appreciated,

Steve.


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## toni vaughn (Mar 24, 2016)

I am so glad that you asked that question because my situation was exactly as yours. After reading some of the responses, I am heading to the store to get fresh rosemary, let it sit overnight in the seasonings and cook it right away. According to "Still Tasty", it will keep three to four days in the frig and two to four months in the freezer when cooked. Thank you so much!
Still tasty.com is my go to resource for food expiration dates, use by and sell by dates information. Try it'


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## nicko (Oct 5, 2001)

Previous posts removed completely off topic. Start a new discussion please.


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