[Richmond]

How do people have their mutton butchered? Same as for lamb/hogget or just joints and mince. We're sending a 5yo ewe off next month and thinking about the meat.

[Twotwo]

I usually have a leg cut in half .. for bigger family gatherings.. low and slow it’s lovely. The rest diced or chops which make wonderful casseroles. If your butcher does sausages they can also be really good.

[SallyintNorth]

Similar.  Joints and chops for slow roasting / pot roasting.

Sausages; mutton sausages are awesome!

Plenty of diced for yummy stews.

Plenty of minced for the best moussakas, bologneses and lasagnes ever.   

Mutton will be fatty, cook in ways that you can skim off fat if the fat bothers you or anyone else.  A friend always pre-cooked mutton mince and skimmed it before making an awesome moroccan tagine with it the next day.

[Richmond]

Thanks folks. Having eaten 3 yo Soay hogget and decided it's the best thing we've ever had we're keen to try our own mutton. Previous mutton experience not good (not our meat) so always good to get others' input. Not looking forward to sending our girl off though. She's only going as had mastitis earlier this year and we can no longer breed from her. There are only so many pet sheep we can hang on to ........ Sending her with a couple of lambs though so she won't be on her own in the trailer.

[Womble]

If I could only choose one to eat for the rest of my life, it would definitely be mutton.

Mutton flank makes amazing soup, but another way to cook it is to slow roast it until all the fat is off, then treat it as if it's pulled pork or Chinese crispy duck.

Does anybody have a good recipe for mutton sausages BTW?  We have decided not to have pigs this year and ate the last of our saved pork sausages last week. We do have a mincer and a freezer full of mutton though, so....

[Richmond]

Our (now ex) neighbour used to bring mutton burgers to the local annual BBQ.  Just added a few herbs and seasoning I think. They went down pretty well.

We've just processed an old turkey hen who was pretty massive. Over 7lbs of breast meat alone which we've minced and frozen ready for  all sorts of things. I do something I like to call Gobbler Pie, basically a shepherd pie with turkey mince instead of lamb.

[SallyintNorth]

Your Zwartbles mutton will make incredible sausages with very little help.  A little seasoning and the merest hint of mint, or other herbs if you're not a fan of mint.  (I don't like mint to mask the taste but our butcher puts in exactly the right amount for me.  Which is, "I *think* I can just detect mint, can I?")

[SallyintNorth]

Previous mutton experience not good (not our meat) so always good to get others' input.

Rest!  Rest!  And rest some more!

Never ever ever eat meat that's just come off the grill or out the oven.  Always always always let it rest in a warm place, min 10 mins for young meat cooked very hot, up to 30 mins for older meat.  (This is one of the reasons, probably the biggest reason, people often say things are better the second day.)

Oh, and I would always ensure the butcher hangs the carcase for a minimum of 5 days, especially for an older sheep.  Our butcher hangs our mutton for 9 days.

[SallyintNorth]

Not looking forward to sending our girl off though. She's only going as had mastitis earlier this year and we can no longer breed from her. There are only so many pet sheep we can hang on to ........

 

[Brewster]

What breed do you have Richmond? I slaughtered a 5 year old Balwen ewe this year and butchered her in the same way as my hogget. The meat was delicious, not tough or fatty, and I had no problem griddling the chops. I suspect lowland breeds might have more fat possibly and she was small so maybe not a typical mutton carcass.

[Richmond]

The ewe we are sending off is a Wiltshire Horn.

[Shropshirelass]

Yes we get all our animals back in cuts the way we want it all vac packed, & do them as meat boxes - I get everything back like the bones for the dogs. But I always advise the customer & what its like as there's technically 2 types off mutton - It can be classed as mutton from anything over 12 months old but its also referred to as (Hogget - younger animals), then you've got older animals such as cull ewes & rams.

I was having this discussion with the slaughterman who does our Xmas geese & any home kills for us & he did a lamb for a relative that the abattoir wouldn't accept as it wasn't fit to travel due to an old leg injury - the guy is a trained butcher & slaughterman who used to run his own butchers shop & said the same but he said you've got to be careful how you cook it - younger animals you can treat the same as lamb, but with older animals their better as mince or diced & burgers & sausages or for stewing which can be done on the bone - they'll also be less fattier than lambs. Also remember is sending entire tups send them off after spring as their musky smell can sometimes taint the meat this time of year.

We don't send many off, last year we sent 2 off & this year there's 1 maybe 3 or 4 depending on how the ewes get on with lambing. I don't like culling them out but its a necessary evil, its sods law 1 of them that could be on the list is 1 that loves to come up for a scratch & a fuss & she rears really nice lambs including triplets this year. But we've been having issues with her feet which I'm trying to solve.

[Shropshirelass]

The ewe we are sending off is a Wiltshire Horn.

Richmond it may be worth you filling out the relevant paperwork to get the horns back if you send a few off, I did it & its free & easy to do, abattoirs don't like you getting the extras back but if I can make more use out of an animal I will. I usually get around £15-£30 per pair of horns off stick makers & crafts people for rams horn & around £5-£10 for lambs horns.