Recipe links  

After you've just about run out of room on your ranch sooner or later you'll need to start thinking about culling out a few either for sale or for, well,. . . . . dinner.

Blackbelly are pretty tasty sheep, not like the lamb or mutton you'd find in stores. They are much less gamy and the fat is more toward the outer portion of the meat, not being marbled like you might normally see in a steak or some of the other lamb breeds. Still, the flavors are great. 

When we culled out our first ram in late '07

I measured the meat weight to be somewhere between 40-45% of the total animal weight (and this ram was abnormally small - hence the trip to the butcher). All at once I had around 30 lbs of meat which is a pretty large amount for a family unless all you eat is lamb and nothing else. A typical 100 - 150 lb animal means somewhere between 40 - 70 lbs of meat -- If you eat 2-lbs of meat every single day then that will last you most of the month on just a single yearling. If you'll raise these sheep for your own good pleasure then you won't need many to keep your freezer full.

Since the first cull we've been experimenting with different ways to cook the lamb but found that if we simply treated and seasoned it like we would normally do for beef that the meat generally was soft and juicy - but be careful not to overcook it else it gets rubbery. The recipes that you might use to tenderize beef work exceptionally well with lamb. In my mind it's unfortunate that sheep are much smaller than cow. This means we won't be bringing home T-bones but there are several perfectly sized roasts for the crock-pot, lots of chops (T-bone equivalent), and nice ribs or crowns.

As for this page thought I'd re-direct you to places with great recipes and variety, especially for the culinary artists of your family. 

Let me hear from you & Bon Appetit

                                  --David       

Sheep Creek Farm Lamb Recipes

American Lamb Board

Basic-Recipes.Com

Superior Farms

What's Cooking America

 iChef

Recipes we've tried and liked . . . . .

What better place then a down home shepherd like yourself, but man-o-mano, they must love to cook!

All types of great stuff on this website. These people are funded by the lamb industry of producers, feeders, and processors. Board members are appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture and are overseen by the US Department of Agriculture.

Many mixed recipes. Not a lot of pictures but an awful lot of meals.

Lamb growers and producers since 1963 this website feature many recipes and cooking tips for lamb and nutritional information. Explore the site for even more treats and information.

I liked this site because not only does it have lamb recipes but it has pictures, other entrees, a wide variety of other home cooked meals. Look around.

If you're like to cook by a certain method then this will be the place for you to start looking. There are different categories by cut or by cooking method here.

Now here's a site where people actually rank the recipes by voting for them. Don't want to take a chance on something iffy? Well you might have a little more confidence since someone else has tried it first.

This cookbook is 100% lamb recipes and nothing else. It contains over 100 recipes that will keep anyone busy for nights on end. If you like lamb, this might be a great investment. Comes in either a CD or spiral bound book  

The Barbados Blackbelly Sheep Association International is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and improvement of the Barbados Blackbelly and American Blackbelly sheep breeds by way of public promotion and education of its membership. The proceeds from the sale of Lamb Lovers Cookbook support the purpose and programs of the Barbados Blackbelly Sheep Association International.

Very easy recipe and we especially liked the herbs and thought that this crust would also work really well on chicken. The recipe calls for 145 F for the final internal temperature. Just be aware that at this temperature the meat still looks raw but it tastes great. If you like it more well done then try an internal temperature of about 160 F.