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Lamb Shank dissapointment

Discussion in 'Food & Cooking' started by gnnairda, Jan 31, 2010.

  1. Jan 31, 2010 #1
    gnnairda

    gnnairda

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    I started off by sauteing my mire poux then
    seared the lamb shanks on medium on 4 sides 2 minutes each
    I then deglazed both pan/bot with some red wine and placed them both into a larger pot
    added chicken stock till covering the shanks.
    added spices
    baked on 320F for 2 hours wasn't fall off bone yet then waited another 30 minutes still not fall off bone and finally after another 30 minutes i gave up and just ate it.
    I was testing the doneness by seeing if its falling off the bones.

    it was kind of stiff but still moist however was not falling off bone tender as I hoped it would be.

    The shanks were bought frozen and I defrosted them half in fridge and then in room temperature. The chicken stock added was room temperature

    could had it been that I baked it too long? seared the shanks too much? I do know that on the last sear instead of taking it off the electric stove I just turned it off instead of taking it directly off it. maybe the stock was meant to be added hot?
     
  3. Jan 31, 2010 #2
    thegardenguru

    thegardenguru

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    I sear mine.

    Add stock.

    Cover.

    Bake at 325°F for 3 hours.

    Falling off the bone. And moist.

    I always braise lamb shanks with whtie wine, not that that matters.

    Joe
     
  4. Jan 31, 2010 #3
    chris.lawrence

    chris.lawrence

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    slow and low mate...

    anything in the 300s is WAY too high; it may dissolve the collagen in to gelatin eventually; however its squeezed out all of the juices from the muscle fibres to a point where the only liquid in it; is the liquid its resoaked from the brasing stock.

    Keep it no higher than 72degC and wait

    law of nature will take over.
     
  5. Jan 31, 2010 #4
    gnnairda

    gnnairda

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    Thanks for the tidbit. Well my oven only goes as low as 170F which is around 77 Celsius ( don't think would be that much of a diff). Would I then braise it in the oven for 5 hours?
     
  6. Jan 31, 2010 #5
    cyberdoc

    cyberdoc

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    Yep, low and slow is the way to go.:thumb:
     
  7. Jan 31, 2010 #6
    blueicus

    blueicus

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    Judging by your original recipe chances are you didn't cook it long enough. 3 Hours is close if you put in hot braising liquid, but if your braising stock was cold to warm when you put it in the oven you will need to increase the cooking time by another 2 or 3 hours (yes, the liquid takes that long to heat up in the oven).

    For braising you generally want to hit around 80-85 degree celsius, but if you cook at a lower temperature be prepared to increase the amount of time you spend cooking (say 8 hours) to make sure as much collagen decomposes without drying up the meat. Cooking in the oven above 300 will yield a perfectly fine product and will require a little less cooking time than if you cook it at around 200 or 250. However, if you are cooking at a higher temperature I suggest you don't cover your vessel completely and leave some vents for evaporation as that will keep your braising liquid from boiling.
     
  8. Feb 1, 2010 #7
    teamfat

    teamfat

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    The last batch of lamb shanks I did were browned, then braised in a wine and stock mix for about 3 hours in a 275F oven. They turned out pretty good, as tender as I expected them to be.

    My wife doesn't like lamb that much, so I don't cook it that often. I myself love it.

    mjb.
     
  9. Feb 1, 2010 #8
    chris.lawrence

    chris.lawrence

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    very sorry however I should add a side note to the temp i posted previously was the temp of the meat. The braising stock should be between 72-80, which due to laws of temperature loss (the most substantial here being evaporative cooling), the oven would need to be at around 110-120degC.