Lamshinke (Ham-Tasting-Lamb)

Ahh.... A Sandwich my Rabbi would be proud to eat. Ham of Lamb? Or is it the other way around? I love the term Yiddishe Kop because it sums me up in just two words. For the past 18 years (since I've eaten Treif) I've been on a mission to reproduce classic Pork Cured meats but only using Kosher Meats only. I am really proud of this one!!! I hit a grand-slam!!! 

The story continues but changes direction a bit with this new cured meat using Lamb. Yes I have used Lamb several times but could not resist doing something else with a tweak or two. When you come across something like this in the meat case you just don't walk by. If you're anything like me you don't let opportunities like this pass you by. Anyhow I decided to make a Lamb that tastes like Ham. Glasses are not necessary you read it correctly. I've done it before using Duck, Veal and Lamb. The Lamb one is not posted because it only came out good and not extraordinary. Let's talk about the name for a sec... I love funky and original names. Lam is Yiddish for Lamb and Shinke is Yiddish for Ham.....BOOM!!! What's up with the pic? LOL

Anyhow assemble the ingredients. These are the ingredients that will convert Lamb into a Ham-Tasting-Lamb. If you're using whole spices I.E Coriander, Grains of Paradise and whole Cloves you will need to grind them. The Nutmeg if used will need to be grated. Combine Salt and Cure # 1 in separate bowl. 

MY NOTES ON CURING HERE

 

I got lucky with this boneless Leg of Lamb. I didn't have to remove much of anything. First coast Lamb with the Salt/Cure mixture getting it into every nook and cranny. After you have applied the Salt/cure mixture apply the rest of the ingredients also getting them into every nook and cranny. 

Vac Seal and place in refrigerator. This baby will take about 21-25 days to cure. Go ahead and give it a smack and a rotation everyday. I'm still debating about how to proceed. A few things are for sure. The Lamb will be glued together using Transglutaminase The cooking process will be Sous-Vide, and possibly a little smoke.

All Cured!! I decided to cure the lamb for 23 days. It had some thick spots and I wanted to make sure it was cured through and through. I used an equilibrium cure method so I wasn't concerned about over curing. I rinsed it off and dried very well. 

I am going to glue this Boneless Leg of Lamb together using Transglutaminase (Activa RM). The TG will bind all the proteins into one tight cylinder. Make sure when you use TG that you get it into every nook and cranny or it will not bond properly.  

Using 24 inch plastic wrap stretched across my very large cutting board (wife helped) I rolled, squeeze, stretching plastic wrap, cinched the Lamb into a very tight cylinder. You must squeeze the ends inward while rolling. 

When you get done and you will tie off the ends with butcher string. You're gonna need some help. This is a two person job. Can't stress this enough but you need too roll this baby tight. I used probably 15 feet of plastic wrap. 

VAC SEAL....I used two bags. Place in refrigerator for a minimum of 24 hours to allow proteins to bond (I used 48 hours). I am always concerned about bags breaking during SV so that's why I used 2 bags. Better safe than sorry. 

Time for cooking. I set the IC at 113℉ to warm age the Lamb. I normally use 104℉ but I wanted to try something different. I  recently read in a forum that 113℉ is also used to warm age (Nathan Myhrvold). Read my link on warm aging before trying this yourself. I warm aged for 3 hours and 30 minutes. After the elapsed time I cranked up the temp to 133℉ and tossed in boiling water to hasten the climb to 133℉. I hit 133℉ in 60 secs. Only way to do this if you ask me. Anyhow I cooked the lamb for 7.5 hours after that. After the cook I placed in a large container covered in Blue-Ice and cold water to cool off rapidly (shocking). I am lucky...I have a commercial refrigerator so I just tossed the whole thing in there to cool off and bring down to safe temps. Stayed in refrigerator for two days. 

Anyhow out of bag.....all dried off. Perfect... I mean this couldn't have turned out any better. Flawless bond!!! Again I want to stress the importance of the plastic wrap and making a tight cylinder. If you can't roll this up tight it will not look like this. 

I coated with Lamb with Honey using a BBQ brush. Apply a thin layer covering the whole Lamb. Coat the Lamb with a generous amount of Ground Cloves and Ground Pepper. I smoked at 200℉ for about an 90 minutes.... than I cranked it up t 350℉ for about 15 minutes. Note: I used my propane smoker instead of my WSM which is my preferred smoker because the weather was bad. 

A thing of beauty. Cooled off and refrigerated overnight.  
Review and pics below. 

Review- Just about perfect. Amazingly good. If I didn't know better I would think I was eating Ham. Spices were perfect. I might add some more Cloves next time to the outer layer but other than that it was perfect. Temp and Time was spot on too. Slicing was easy. Using a Pro-Slicer helps. I vac packed all the meat using butcher paper to separate slices. I used 1.25 setting on the Berkel to slice for storage but for the above sandwich I used .75 because I wanted it very thin. The texture and taste were amazing!!!!  There was NO GAMEY taste at ALL!!!! The Lamb taste was mild. I will do this again. 

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Shefele "פּאַסטראָמע" Pastróme

Shefele "פּאַסטראָמע" Pastróme

Lamb Pastrami with a touch of Yiddish flare. Why? Why not I say!!! I have made Beef, Turkey and Duck Pastrami so why not try Lamb and see what happens. I have a killer recipe that must stretch its wings. Besides I love lamb. BTW-Shefele is Lamb in Yiddish. 

Let's begin the journey by saying I have been wanting to make Lamb Pastrami for quite some time but sourcing American Lamb is hard and I am very picky. I went to Ray's Meat Market in Gig Harbor and purchased the perfect boneless Leg of Lamb. I looked at about a half a dozen until I found the right one. I wanted the leg to be big but have the right shape. My buddy Mike works there and he was nice enough to bring them all out for me to pick from.  

Unpacking the Lamb and evaluating how I wanted to proceed. Yes every step is important. 

Ok....all unpacked. This is the step where I decide how I am going to reconstruct the Lamb into a Pastrami. I looked at every opening and decided on a course of action. I planned on using Transglutaminase to bind the meat. I wish my daughter was home to assist with the camera. I was not able to take pictures and apply TG and wrap in plastic.

So I applied the TG to every opening, nook, cranny, and to every knife mark. I wanted all the proteins be bind and be seamless. I used probably 6 feet of plastic wrap to ensure the the shape of the lamb. I used rope and several tying techniques to secure lamb. 

Vacuumed sealed up to ensure shape and help bind the proteins. It will take a minimum of 24 hours for the proteins to bind. 

A thing of beauty. I waited about 30 hours before unveiling.

Perfect!!!!

As always I took the whole spices herbs,(Bay Leaf, Grains of Paradise, Coriander,Juniper berries, Whole cloves and mustard seeds) and placed them in a dry pan and applied a little heat to them to bring out their oils. Ground in a spice grinder. NOTE: Picture is not from this recipe. 

Click Here for Recipe & Click Here For Dry-Cure-Notes

One technique that is unique to my process is the way I apply the dry-rub and cure. Some people combine the salt/cure, herbs and spices together first then apply to meat. I like to first combine the Salt, cure then apply to meat making sure I get it into every nook and cranny. When you apply everything at once some of the rub is going to run off the meat and you never know how much cure actually got on the meat. It's imperative that the right amount of salt and cure makes its way on to the meat. 

Now the simple part. Combine the rest of the ingredients and pack them on to the meat. There will excess rub that will fall to the side but don't worry about this. Make sure to coat every inch of the piece of meat. No rub will go to waste because the excess rub will be tossed in bag.

Carefully place your meat into a vacuum seal bag making sure not to scrape off too much rub. Make sure all salt and rub gets into that bag. Refrigerate and flip every day for 21 days. If this was a smaller piece of meat it would only need about 14 days. I am using a precise equilibrium cure so I am not worried about over curing because that can't happen. 

Meat is all cure now and ready for the next step. I actually cured the lamb for 25 days instead of 21. I think it's important to point out that I was right on the cusp of having to inject the cure but only time will tell if I was right or not. It's girth is somewhat big and I wanted to make sure the salt and cure made its way into the center. 

Rub applied and ready for smoke. I spray a little canola oil on the lamb to help the rub adhere. 

In my smoker and will cold-smoke for 9 hours using A-Maze-N cold-smoker. Note: outside temp was only about 60 f and by night time it had fallen to about 47˚ƒ. 

COLD SMOKED FOR 9 HOURS

Next step will be a double vacuum bag seal. The Lamb will be Sous-Vide at 131˚ƒ for 12 hours. note: important part!!! After the long thermal bath I will shock the lamb in an Ice-Water bath, refrigerate overnight. The following day or there abouts I wll hot smoke the Lamb. 

This beautiful lamb was Sous-Vide for 12 hours at 131˚ƒ. Came out perfect. I am coating coarse ground black pepper for the next step. 

Hot smoked between 180-205˚ƒ until an internal temp of 142˚ƒ is reached. 

The review following gratuitous pictures. 

 

Review- It came out great as expected. I used a lot of my other recipes to extrapolate a perfect recipe. It cured actually 25 days instead of 21. It was on the thick side and was concerned about cure reaching the center. Any thicker I would have injected the cure at 200 ppm than dry-cured for 21 days. The 131˚ƒ was perfect!! I will say having a professional Berkel slicer really helps. Slicing this by hand and getting this thin slices is the key to a perfect lamb pastrami. If you don't have a slicer you may need to cook it at higher temp or a little longer to get if softer to slice.  

Note: things to consider. Cure the lamb in this stage which will help the cure penetrate the center.  After cured apply TG and wrap up. 

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