[suzi]

im trying to find what i did wrong.

i sent off 2 lots of older lambs (11 months) and 2 4 month old lambs

the whole lot is fatty grissly and chewy

i get the mutton (the slaughter didnt seperate out to tell me what was lamb and what was mutton)

they were fed on mole countrys ewe nuts as well as add lib hay grass and a mineral block. as well as lots of treat. all kept with love and kindness.

im doing it again next year.

what did i do wrong please

[vfr400boy]

What breed was they ?

[twizzel]

Breed, age, stress at slaughter, chilling and hanging the carcass can all affect meat quality. Are you sure the animals you sent are the ones you got back? If so my bet would be on stress or something that’s gone wrong with slaughter/hanging.

[silkwoodzwartbles]

Given your pork and lamb were all awful, I'm going to go with it's the slaughterhouse/butcher that you used that is at fault. Are there any others locally that you could use next time?

[Backinwellies]

neither lamb  nor hogget (11 month old is not mutton)  should be fatty ............. sounds like you may have been over feeding the hard feed and treats.   When there is plenty of grass they do not need anything else. ... 

 If yr lambs are ready at 4 months then I'm guessing a commercial breed which definitely dont need extra feed.    Rarer and hill breeds take at least 6 months to finish. We sent several of ours off at 14 months as hogget and these are tasty, with barest of fat.

Try less love and kindness in the form of feeding extras ....  leave to eat grass with ocassional (3 times a week?)  small hand full of nuts to keep them friendly.

[twizzel]

neither lamb  nor hogget (11 month old is not mutton)  should be fatty ............. sounds like you may have been over feeding the hard feed and treats.   When there is plenty of grass they do not need anything else. ... 

 If yr lambs are ready at 4 months then I'm guessing a commercial breed which definitely dont need extra feed.    Rarer and hill breeds take at least 6 months to finish. We sent several of ours off at 14 months as hogget and these are tasty, with barest of fat.

Try less love and kindness in the form of feeding extras ....  leave to eat grass with ocassional (3 times a week?)  small hand full of nuts to keep them friendly.

Feeding nuts shouldn’t make the meat tough or gristly. Yes the meat will be fattier but I wouldn’t expect it to be tough. Stress at slaughter would do it though, or not cooling the carcass properly or hanging it properly. Or it’s not been cooked properly…


What colour was the meat? Was it very dark red or a lighter red colour? How long was it hung for.

[SallyintNorth]

Also cooking...  All meat but especially home-reared meat needs time to relax after cooking.  Remove from heat source and keep warm until the meat relaxes and the juices run out.  Min 10 mins for a chop, half an hour plus for a joint.  Do not cut until relaxed.  Those minutes can make the difference between an unchewable lump and a gourmet meal. 

[suzi]

What breed was they ?

cheviot, icelandic X fresian and 2 fresian x cheviot

[suzi]

Breed, age, stress at slaughter, chilling and hanging the carcass can all affect meat quality. Are you sure the animals you sent are the ones you got back? If so my bet would be on stress or something that’s gone wrong with slaughter/hanging.

there was 2 4 month old and 2 11 month olds. the slaughter didnt label the older as mutton as requested. so i put it down to that to start with. then the pork was crap too.

it was a longer journey (my fault i messed up sending some pigs. it made sense for them to go together).

they went the day before they were processed. so possibly stress of knowing what was coming??

they were hung longer than planned. my mum was dying in hospital. it was a 7 hour round trip to collect. so maybe

[suzi]

Given your pork and lamb were all awful, I'm going to go with it's the slaughterhouse/butcher that you used that is at fault. Are there any others locally that you could use next time?

im moving so wont be using him again anyway. but he wasnt my local 1. i used him because he was the only place that could take bigger pigs. i had 3 that had to go. they were vile!

[suzi]

neither lamb  nor hogget (11 month old is not mutton)  should be fatty ............. sounds like you may have been over feeding the hard feed and treats.   When there is plenty of grass they do not need anything else. ... 

 If yr lambs are ready at 4 months then I'm guessing a commercial breed which definitely dont need extra feed.    Rarer and hill breeds take at least 6 months to finish. We sent several of ours off at 14 months as hogget and these are tasty, with barest of fat.

Try less love and kindness in the form of feeding extras ....  leave to eat grass with ocassional (3 times a week?)  small hand full of nuts to keep them friendly.

the lambs wernt fat at all, they were just huge. they were born big too. the hogget (i didnt know that. thank you ) 1 was fat. the cheviot. he was a nasty lad and food was the only way i could do anything without risking a limb or 2 haha

i had the lambs grazing with my dairy ewes which did need the hard feed. they struggled to keep weight on.
the lamb is tough more than anything else. it cooks up like mutton!

[suzi]

Also cooking...  All meat but especially home-reared meat needs time to relax after cooking.  Remove from heat source and keep warm until the meat relaxes and the juices run out.  Min 10 mins for a chop, half an hour plus for a joint.  Do not cut until relaxed.  Those minutes can make the difference between an unchewable lump and a gourmet meal.

i cut a shoulder of lamb this morning i cooked last night. i couldnt cut it without a super sharp knife! the poor collies were chewing and chewing trying to get through it. the older collie x couldnt chew it (she has no issues with her teeth either!!)

i wish it was my cooking on this one

[twizzel]

How long were they hung for? We have hung from 2 days up to a week and been fine. Again we’ve dropped off at abattoir the night before and never had a problem, in fact it gives them time to settle from transport which can be stressful in itself.


Technically if the 11 month olds didn’t have their first 2 teeth pushed up they would have been killed as lamb. Once 2 teeth pushed up they have to split the carcass, but it would be hogget and not mutton.


I still reckon it’s an issue with hanging or chilling, or the cooking. Have you said anything to the butcher/abattoir? I guess you paid a fair amount of money for what you say is inedible meat;  surely the butcher must have known it wasn’t going to be any good.

[suzi]

ive had my dad cook it whos a t rained chef incase it was me. it was again awful. id prefer it was me tbh. thats the easy answer.

hanging wise, they were hung for 7 days i think. the meat is cut rough. the lamb chops look like theyve been torn rather than cut. the sausages some are thick sausages others are skinny and full of air. tbh they look like ive done them as a first attempt at home as a veggie not got a clue.
the sausages my romanian rescue dog (who eats anything and is fine) threw up on the sausages. ive binned 140kg of them now. i wont give them to the kids as they made the dog sick!

[Backinwellies]

It sounds like you should return to abattoir and complain .....  taking meat with you for them to try cooking .

Maybe time to name and shame and see if anyone else uses this abattoir?